Page 64 of Second Down Scrooge

Chapter 31: Kelly Kaplan

The Best Christmas Ever

Christmas Day

I can’t stop staring at the pear-shaped sparkler on my finger.

It’s the best Christmas of my life, that’s for sure. I came here with a boyfriend, and I’m leaving with a fiancé.

I’m gettingmarried. I’m going to be awife.

It’s incredible. It’s crazy. It’s unexpected, and somehow it’s everything I never knew I wanted. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with the man who—let’s be honest—I’ve been in love with for the better part of a year and a half.

I text Ava to wish her a Merry Christmas, and I can’t help but add in a little something extra.

Me:Merry Christmas, bestie! I can’t wait to get home and tell you what Austin gave me.

Ava:Merry Christmas! If it’s his dick, you know I’m here for all the details.

I giggle as I read her message. She’s a far cry from the virgin she was the night she met Grayson Nash, and I think he’s left a bit of an influence on her. Among other things, I’m sure.

Me:Only if you count getting railed in my grandparents’ basement while everyone else was sleeping.

Ava:I’ll be sure to thank Lincoln later when I see him for giving the boys the day off. He showed up in Chicago?

Me:He did, and that’s a whole other story.

Ava:I can’t wait to hear it.

Me:I’ll see you next week!

I have no idea how I’m going to keep this a secret from my best friend until I’m back home, but I know I need to wait to see the look on her face when I tell her the news.

Austin chuckles, and I glance over at him.

“What?”

“That’s what you two text each other?” he asks.

Everyone else is distracted byA Miracle on 34th Streetas it plays on the television at a volume way too high for anyone under the age of thirty, and Mia is upstairs napping after a wild morning.

My cheeks grow hot as I realize he read her message about his dick. I lift a shoulder as I pretend like I’m not totally embarrassed. “We share everything. Except partners.”

“Good, because you’re the one I want to be with.”

“You hit on her first,” I say, and I’m not surewhyI say it. It just sort of falls out of my mouth.

He leans his forehead to my temple. “Only because I didn’t think I stood a chance in hell with you.”

Okay, fine. The line works.

I wish this could last a little longer, but he has to catch a flight back to Vegas tonight so he can get up and go to practice tomorrow.

That’s when I realize…I want to go with him.

He has an entire offseason where we can travel together. We could spend a month in Louisiana with my parents if we wanted to, or we could come here to Chicago to spend time with my grandparents. I don’t want to miss his game this Sunday, and I don’t want to misshim.

I don’t want to say goodbye.

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