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“You never picked your card for the day.”
“Oh.” She smiled all the way up to her eyes.
I got up to collect her box, then brought it back to her. “It was running a little low. I restocked it earlier, so you might want to look through all of them before making your choice.”
“But I already know what I want,” she said.
“Just look through them.” I handed her the box and headed into the kitchen to kill a few minutes. This wouldn’t work if she didn’t pick through the cards and read all of the new ones. Once I thought enough time had passed, I slipped into the hall to retrieve the ring from my coat pocket.
Sure enough, when I returned to the living room, she’d dropped the entire box, and the cards had spread all across the floor. She had one in her hands and was staring at me with tears in her eyes.
Cadence turned the card around for me to read, not that I needed to see it to know what it said. Her mouth kept opening and closing.
“So will you?” I asked after what felt like an eternity had passed. My heart was in my throat, and I felt like I was being poked with a thousand thumbtacks in all my most sensitive places, because the wait was killing me. I opened the ring box and held it out for her.
She looked through her tears, letting one fingertip trace the stone. Then she looked up at me again. “I can’t give you an answer yet. I need to talk to Sophie first.”
“What?” That answer felt like a punch to the gut. Had I read the signs wrong? Maybe Cadence didn’t want to marry me. I could be right back to being the guy who always fucked everything up, just like that. “But Sophie already told you she’s okay with us,” I said.
“She did. I can’t explain it yet. It’s only— I need to talk to Sophie first, and I need you to be okay with that. Paige is bringing her to your game tomorrow night. And I think I’ve recovered enough I can handle being at the arena through a game.”
I thought I might puke up the contents of my stomach at any moment, but I agreed. After all, at least she hadn’t said no. That had to be a good sign. Didn’t it?
EVEN THOUGH I’Dtexted Paige this afternoon to be sure she was still planning to bring all of the girls to the game tonight, I spent about the first twenty minutes after arriving at the arena up in the owner’s box, anxiously chewing my fingernails. Then some of the other wives and girlfriends started showing up. Several of them had been trying to distract me and calm me down, but it was no use.
“You’re going to say yes, aren’t you?” Katie asked, settling into the chair next to me and giving me a kind but hopeful smile.
Dani brought over a few bottles of water and joined us. She had just come home for spring break, and there wasn’t a chance she’d pass up an opportunity to sneak another kiss with Harry. Or whatever she was planning for tonight. Who knew what it might be?
She screwed off the lid of her water and took a sip. “You’re not supposed to be making any important life decisions for a while, you know. They told you that in the hospital. Not until you’re relatively concussion-free or something.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “She was already living with him before the concussion.” Then she turned to me. “I mean, I’m not saying it isn’t a big decision. Just that you’d already made part of it well before all of this.”
“I want to say yes,” I said, hoping it would be enough for them to stop hounding me. “I need to talk to Sophie first.”
A happy softness came into Katie’s eyes. “You know she adores you, right? She’s going to be fine with this, so stop messing up your manicure.”
“Too late for that,” Dani said, giving my hands a once-over.
“They’re here.” I bounded out of my seat and caught Paige’s eye as she ushered her girls inside.
“Go do your thing so we can enjoy the game,” Katie said, shooing me away.
As it was, the guys had already finished their warm-up, and they’d be back for the national anthem and other pregame stuff any time now. I knew I’d lose all of Sophie’s attention once they skated out—she’d be too focused on Levi to pay me any mind—so I needed to get this done.
I crossed over to the girls, and Sophie flung herself into my arms.
“Are you all better now?” she demanded, squeezing so hard it was difficult to breathe. “Mom said you were coming tonight, but I didn’t believe her.”
“Not all better, but I’m getting there.” I hugged her back. “Listen, I was hoping I could talk to you for a minute before the game.”
“Okay.” She smiled and put her hand in mine.
I led her to a quiet corner, completely aware that two of her older sisters were discreetly following a few steps behind. They found somewhere to sit not far from the two of us, and both of them no doubt had their ears trained on me.
I could appreciate that. Being the baby in my family, I’d spent years with Cam and my sisters constantly hovering to be sure I was all right. Sophie certainly needed it more than I did. Still, I had no intention of hurting her, and I hoped they knew that.
“Sophie Bug,” I said, sitting across from her. She grinned from ear to ear when I called her that. I only hoped she was still smiling when we were done talking. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
