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Clearing her throat, she blinks away her tears before sucking in a deep breath. “So to end my little plea for forgiveness, in the corniest and most girlish way,” she adds, and I can’t help but laugh at that until her eyes turn serious, the hazel turning to a dark brown as they cloud with more tears. “I need to say, my name is Baylor Moore, and I am completely and utterly in love with you, Jayden Mitchell Sinclair,” she says, her eyes never leaving mine.
My heart, it has burst through my chest and is waiting for her to take it, but before I can move to her or say anything, she says, “And I’ll never hold that in again because I want the world to know I love you and only you. Yeah, the future is so unclear, but as long as you are with me, loving me, I’ll see my way.”
She then drops the mic against her thigh and looks at me, but I can’t move. The room, it’s silent, everyone’s eyes on me, and shit, my mom is bawling like a damn baby. Jude and Claire are giving me that encouraging smile, and Jace is looking at me like I’m an idiot.
“You know what to do, dude,” he says, and I do know what to do.
But as look back at her, I’m speechless. This girl. My God, she’s hell on the heart, and I knew from the beginning she would be. That never derailed me either, and this little bump in the road can’t. We are strong as long as we are honest and we love each other. Man, I’ve waited for her to tell me those three words since the moment I met her, and what a way to tell me, in a way I would never expect her to.
It is so unlike her and it proves so much.
Her actions, they blow me away.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I call to her, “Get your ass over here.”
Handing the mic to Jude, she cautiously walks over to me, and it’s so quiet that you can hear a pin drop as she stops in front of me. “I’m rea—”
“Shut up,” I say sharply, holding her gaze. “And say it again.”
Her eyes hold mine for a long time, tears spilling over and rolling down her cheeks as she breathes deeply. Then a small, watery smile covers her sweet lips, and I’m breathless. Rendered speechless at the mere thought that I get to spend the rest of my days with this gorgeous disaster of a woman.
“I love you,” she says, her lip wobbling. “I love you so much it hurts.”
Taking her in my arms, I move my nose against hers, my eyes boring into hers as my heart pounds against my chest, trying to get home. “I love you more than that, Baylor, so much more.”
“I should have told you sooner, but I was waiting for you to tell me again so I could say it back.”
“And I was waiting for you to tell me because I didn’t want to tell you and have you not say it back,” I tell her and she grins, her tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Why is it a constant competition with us?”
“’Cause that’s us,” I explain. “And I wouldn’t want to compete against anyone but you, Baylor Irene Moore.”
“Good, ’cause you won’t,” she challenges, her nose moving against mine. “Because I love you so damn much, and you aren’t going anywhere.”
Kissing her nose, I whisper against her lips, “That’s all I need to hear.”
And as I press my lips to hers, her fingers threading into my hair as her body molds to mine, I know that I just won.
Just like I knew I would.
I always expected Jayden to go first.
I mean, how could he not? He should have gone in last year.
Not only is he one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen, he’s a leader. And with the announcement of Shea Adler’s last year in the NHL, Jayden will be an asset to the Nashville Assassins once he retires. He could be their leader. As he stands beside me, his eyes full of blissful happiness, he looks at me and I can only grin.
“Told you you’d go first,” I whisper against his lips as he kisses me softly. Squeezing my biceps, he kisses me again and then again before he finally lets me go to shake hands with my dad. He then turns, hugging his family before rushing down the stairs to the platform where Elli Adler and Bryan Fisher wait for him with his number 59, purple and black Assassins jersey.
As I watch him put the jersey on, and then the hat, my heart explodes in my chest. I expected to be jealous, I mean, I want this too, but I’m not.
I’m proud.
That’s my man down there.
Jayden is the greatest thing about me, and I want him to succeed. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for him, and this is great. Because when I come to visit my dad, Jayden will hopefully be home and I can cheer him on, as long as the Assassins aren’t beating whatever team I go to in the standings. Which they probably will be. They are a great team, but they had a bad year last year after the goalie went down with a hip injury. Now that he is better, they are looking for fresh blood to make another run, and Jayden will be great for that.
He took the Bullies to the Cham
