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I let my smile loose. “What would that make me?”

With a thick voice, he rasps, “My wife.”

Now that sounds right.

“Yes, Khaos Ryker Pierson, I want to marry you.”

He slips the ring on my finger, then he’s standing and we’re kissing.

I did sacrifice everything, but I gained so much more.

The entire stadium erupts in cheers and whistles and shouts of “Congrats!” Somewhere a dog barks, and I know without looking, it’s the Humphrieses’ King Charles spaniel.

“You got my team to help you?” I ask when we take a breath.

“They’re a part of you and I love every part of you.”

The tears flow freely. Khaos never makes me feel guilty for making cheer a priority. He encourages it.

“You’re better than any man written by a woman, Khaos.”

“I wasn’t written by a woman but I was rewritten by one. Line by line, you rewrote my DNA to be exactly—”

“Perfect.”

“—yours.”

Perfectly mine.

I pull him to me for another kiss.

“Kota!”

Parting, we turn to see Tina and Dex at the bottom of the stands, half hanging over the railing to get our attention. Tina and I rekindled our friendship this past month and Dex has been so supportive of Khaos and of us. They’re great. Seriously.

They also have a sign. There’s a hand-drawn anchor on it and a quote about tying the knot. I’ll have to take a closer look at it later.

For now, I wave at our best friends while showing off the ring. It’s not big enough for them to see but they get the idea. We’re engaged!

Next to them are my dad, his wife, and my little sister, Cadie May. While they don’t have a sign, they appear just as excited as they alternate between clapping and waving at us.

My hand freezes midair.

“What is my dad doing here?”

“I invited him. He’s a part of you, too.”

“How did you invite him?”

“Thomas and I go way back.”

He does one of those chin lifts men do, making some of the joy trickle from my dad’s face.

Okay. That’s weird. I’m definitely bringing that back up when we’re alone.

I try to keep the disappointment from my voice when I say, “At least one parent got to see my engagement.” And I’m grateful Khaos made that happen. So grateful. But I wish my mom was on board with our relationship. Khaos is not Graham Pierson. I’m not Seraphina Rhodes. We are not going into this not knowing each other.

For some reason, Khaos has his finger upright, like he’s…pointing…up?