Page 81 of Off the Pitch

“I’m never letting you go,” I added. “If I ever do anything that stupid again, you can set Lily on me.”

“Deal.” He chuckled, pressing a kiss to my head. “You know, we could go and have a bath, if you want to wash off?”

“There is another option,” I said, casually raising my eyebrows.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“We could just stay here… maybe get even dirtier? I mean, we have got the place to ourselves, and I don’t believe I’ve apologised on my knees yet.” I smirked, loving the hungry look that filled his eyes.

“You know,” he said, leaning down for a kiss. “I think I could be persuaded.”

This time the kisses were lazy, our movements unhurried. David was right—the past was the past. The future lay before us, and it looked incredible.

Epilogue

June: One Year Later

KING NAMED AS ENGLAND’S YOUNGEST CAPTAIN FOR WORLD CUP CAMPAIGN

BBC Sport

Christian

“Can I take off the blindfold yet?” David asked, reaching up to tug at the pink silk tie I’d used to cover his eyes. It had been a little tricky at first, and he’d had to take his glasses off and put them in his pocket before I could tie it properly.

“No, you have to wait a minute!” I insisted, smacking his hands away with a laugh. “Just let me lead you.” I took his hands, directing him to follow me through the open French doors out into the garden. I felt like Beast leading Belle into the library for the first time, and I hoped my surprise would be just as well received.

The past year had been nothing short of amazing.

David had moved in at the end of last season, and I’d surprised him by turning one of the spare bedrooms into an office of his very own. He’d spent most of the summer squirreled away working on his thesis, but he had allowed me to whisk him away on our first holiday together during my end-of-season break last June.

Two weeks in the Maldives complete with sunshine, sea, and a lot of sex had done wonders for his brain because he passed his PhD with very few corrections. His graduation last December had been the proudest day of my life, and now I had a very sexydoctorfor a boyfriend. David had finally decided that academia wasn’t for him, and instead he’d gotten a job doing historical outreach for a museum. He spent most of his days bringing history to life for visiting school parties, and it really suited him. I’d never seen him so relaxed, and he also came home with the most amazingly funny stories.

I’d finally decided to do something about my anxiety as well, and David had helped me find an amazing therapist, Tamal, who was helping me sort through years of repressed emotion. It wasn’t exactly fun, but I felt better now than I had in my entire life.

“Are we there yet?” David teased, using his best whiny-child voice.

“Two more minutes,” I said, leading him across the patio. All our friends and family, under the direction of Lily, had spent the whole afternoon hanging fairy lights and placing candles in jars. Liam had suggested adding flowers, but since it had taken him and Jordan four months to decide on the flowers for his and Ali’s wedding, I thought I’d steer clear. Not that the flowers, and the entire wedding, hadn’t looked beautiful. It was just that David was far more likely to figure out what was going on the longer I left it, and with those two making decisions, we’d be waiting forever.

After I’d shooed them out, I’d gone to meet David after work and taken him to dinner so he wouldn’t have a chance to notice that our garden was covered in lights. I’d blindfolded him as soon as we’d gotten in, temporarily leaving him in the kitchen to make sure Lily had lit all the candles before she’d left. I couldn’t deny that I missed her living here, but since she spent half her spare time here anyway, I couldn’t miss her too much.

I took a deep breath, looking around at everything.

It was perfect. All I had to do was say the words.

“Are you going to follow through with your devious plans?” asked David. “I’m not sure what they involve, but I’m definitely thinking we should use a blindfold again. I think you’d look cute in one.” My face flushed even though David couldn’t see me. It did sound like a fun idea.

“No, it’s not that. You’re so filthy.”

“I can’t help it, and it’s your fault for being so sexy.” David reached his hand out to try and grab my butt. I laughed and stepped backwards, trying to force my face back to a serious expression.

“Be quiet. You’re not helping.”

“Yes, sir,” he teased, giving me a mock salute.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to regain my composure. The last thing I wanted to do was laugh in his face or forget what I wanted to say. I retrieved the little blue box that I’d hidden in a plant pot during the afternoon. The lady at Tiffany’s had been so helpful when I’d gone to pick it up, assuring me that I could easily get it resized if it didn’t fit. I’d just been grateful that they still made the one I wanted.

I carefully dropped to one knee, trying to avoid cracking it on the paving stones, and opened the box.

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