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“Jeez, took you long enough.” Austin laughs when I finally take the empty seat beside him. At the end of our performance, Austin had gone off the same side of the stage he had entered from. He must have run straight to his seat.
I smack his arm.
“Woah, what was that for?” He massages the spot where I just hit him as if I had actually hit him hard. He’s lucky I didn’t kick him in the balls for the stunt he pulled. That moment of distraction and surprise on my part could fuck up our chances of winning.
“I thought we were a team, asshole,” I hiss, just loud enough for him to hear me. “Why didn’t you tell me you added that video?”
He shrugs. “Cooper asked me not to.”
I bite back responding,“And if Cooper asked you to jump off a fucking bridge, would you?”Instead, I bring my hand to my chest. “And here I thought we were a team. Rude, Hayes. That’s just rude. I swear, if you cost us first place, it’s your fault. You realize that, right?”
“I’d expect nothing less,” he whispers as Principal Horne finally announces the next performer.
“Next up on the stage, please welcome Cooper Graham.”
I sulk back in my seat and cross my arms as his cheers are about three times the amount we got. Of course, people are losing their minds that there is an ex-professional baseball player in their presence.
Big freaking deal.
Chapter 40
Cooper
FromwhereIstandbackstage, I can see Riley smack Austin as soon as she sits down. As I watch her give him a hard time, I laugh.
I feel a little bad for any abuse he might take from her for me roping him in on my plan, but I meant what I said. I wanted Tanner to be a part of the day. It may not have been the way I had always envisioned it, but it was something. As I watched him on the screen on his guitar, I felt transported back in time.
Austin and I had stayed up late one night, long after Riley had gone to bed, watching some of the home videos he had from when we were younger. When we came across this video in particular, an idea hit, and after swearing Austin to secrecy, I put my plan in motion.
Principal Horne finally announces my name, and I take a deep breath.Here goes nothing.
I take the eight steps out to center stage to the microphone, which isn’t actually plugged into anything. When the spotlight flips on, I wince.Fuck me, that’s bright.How did Riley always dance on this stage with those lights? While I wait for the music to start, I feel like I’m in the middle of an interrogation for a crime and sweating fucking bullets.
This is more than just winning a simple bet with her.
I glance down and see Riley now sitting and pouting in her seat like a toddler not getting her way, and I smirk at her. She sticks her tongue out at me, and I wink just as the music starts. She has no idea that I had reserved that particular seat for her and Austin to sit in so that she was front and center.
The opening chords of the Taylor Swift song that I’ve been playing on repeat for weeks play through the auditorium speakers. If I thought finally hearing the song would calm my nerves—similar to how I felt as soon as I stepped out onto the mound and the crowd silenced in my head—I was sorely mistaken. In fact, it does the complete opposite. The butterflies in my stomach swart swarming as if trying to start a whirlpool in there. It’s not until I look down at Riley again and see the look of shock on her face that I start to relax.
She’s straightened up, and her eyes widen. Riley is a huge Swiftie, so I knew as soon as the first few notes played, she would recognize the song.
The heartbeat in my chest thrums to the beat of the pop song talking about Romeo and Juliet.
Riley’s eyes never leave mine as I lip-sync the lyrics. Every time I catch my breath and close my eyes, memories flash behind my eyes like a montage of our life together—the first time we met in the locker room, picking her up for our first date, telling her I loved her for the first time. Every moment of us that has brought us directly to this one.
I might not have fancy techniques or impressive choreography—my routine is more of a simple one—but what I do have is one rather large trick up my sleeve for a finale that I don’t even think Riles will see coming.
During the instrumental section, which includes what could be a banjo or fiddle of some sort, I walk to the side of the stage with stairs leading to the audience.
“Cooper, what are you doing?” Riley hisses, her eyebrows reaching her hairline when I stop in front of her.
Ignoring the lip-sync contest, I focus on the woman in front of me, who is more confused than I’ve ever seen. Austin has his phone out, recording what’s about to go down, and I nod in thanks. I hadn’t even thought to ask him to do this, but I’m glad he was on top of things.
“I was a fool to walk away from you once before. But they say if you love something, let it go. If it comes back, it’s yours forever. And that’s what I want with you—forever. I’ve known from the moment we locked eyes in the boys’ locker room all those years ago that you were it for me. We may have found ourselves lost for a while, but the stars aligned and led us back together. I’ve won a World Series before, but nothing makes me feel more alive than when I’m with you.”
I reach into my back pocket to grab the black velvet box that has been weighing heavily the entire evening and do as Taylor Swift instructs with her lyrics and drop to one knee. I open the box to reveal a diamond solitaire engagement ring with a white-gold band. While her family was here for the holidays, I had her sisters meet me at the jewelry store in town while Riley believed I was at the cemetery to help me decide which ring to buy. I had it narrowed down to three, and both Sutton and Lyla picked this one, which also was my number one pick, too.
“Riley Parker, will you marry me?”
