Instead, I told them the truth.
"I am not choosing between him and the rest of my life." The truth felt good coming out of my mouth. "I'm building my life with him in it."
My heart was pounding hard enough that I could feel it in my throat.
I looked up. And there he was. The man I loved was standing near the back of the room.
For a second, everything else disappeared. I didn't care about the reporters or the cameras. I didn't care what anybody planned to write tomorrow.
I cared about him. About the way he was looking at me. About the fact that out of all the people in the world, he had chosen me.
I pushed my chair back and stood. Nobody said anything. Nobody stopped me. I held out my hand. It wasn’t because I expected him to come, but because I wanted him to know the choice was his.
For a second, he just stared at me. Then he smiled. And started walking. Every step felt like an answer. Every step felt like a choice. Every step felt like trust. When he reached me, I didn't wait. My fingers closed around his hand, and I pulled him close.
"Kieran." I breathed his name.
A slow smile spread across Kieran's face. The kind that started in his eyes before it reached his mouth. Then he laughed. The sound wobbled halfway through and came out suspiciously close to a sob.
I lifted my free hand and cupped the side of his face.
Then I kissed him.
The room disappeared in a different way after that. It wasn't because the reporters were gone or the cameras had stopped recording. It was because none of it mattered as much as the man standing in front of me.
Kieran made a soft sound against my mouth and stepped closer. When I finally pulled back, his eyes were shining.
"Come on, baby."
His fingers tightened around mine. Together, we walked out of the media room.
Nobody tried to stop us.
Nobody had any questions I cared about answering.
The hallway beyond felt almost quiet after the chaos of the press conference. The moment we were alone, I pulled him close again.
"I think you finally got through that thick skull of mine."
I laughed too. "About time."
His fingers tightened around mine. "I've spent so long waiting for people to change their minds."
The confession landed softly between us. No walls. No defenses. Just the truth.
He looked at me for another second before shaking his head. "You really mean it."
It wasn't a question.
I cupped his face. "Yeah, baby. I really mean it. I just told the entire league."
Something in his expression broke open then. Relief. The kind that came after carrying something too heavy for too long.
"You know," he said quietly, "all those years, I think what I wanted most was for somebody to look at me and say I was worth keeping."
My throat tightened. I rested my forehead against his. "You are, Kieran. You're worth everything. You're worth loving.”
When he looked at me again, the smile that appeared was brighter than any I'd seen before.
