Page 135 of Her Goal
Then I recall the one little thing that I did a couple of weeks ago and panic seizes me.
At my first chance, I sneak away and find Hudson with the groomsmen. They all raise objections about how the groom isn’t supposed to see me yet, but I silence them with one sharp glance.
“We just have to talk for a second.”
I drag my fiancé away and into a nearby coat closet as they launch into concerned conversation about how I got cold feet. They’re warm, thank you very much.
I’m just worried about how a certain surprise detail might go. Before I get to that, a few other worries skip to the head of the line.
Hudson stands in the doorway wearing a black tuxedo with one hand casually in his pocket. If he’s as nervous as the men in my family about how I went off script, he doesn’t show it.
At weddings, usually, the focus is on the bride in her gown, but a tall, athletic man in a tux is underrated.
“Bridal magazines may sell more copies if they put you on the cover.”
His expression remains placid. “Are you volunteering me?”
“No, you’re all mine.” I grip his jaw in my hands, wondering how I got so lucky. All the same, there are a few more matters for us to discuss and I’m afraid of what he’ll say when I get to the biggest one, so I plan to ask about the smaller ones first.
His half smile fills as he looks me up and down. “You look amazing.”
“You do.”
I see a crack in his façade when he says, “You’re still in your robe.”
“My gown is underneath.” I point to it poking out the bottom. “Mami will kill me if she finds me here and she’ll murder you if you see me in my gown before we exchange vows.”
“Is everything okay?”
“We have to talk.”
“You’re calling it off,” he says, a statement, not a question.
“I just have to be sure …”
“That I want to do this?”
“And about the future. We can’t live in a bubble forever. We have our lives to live.”
“Together.”
“A while ago, you said there’s nothing here for you in Cobbiton.”
He plants his hand on my waist, pulling me closer. “I wasn’t expecting you, Leah. You changed the game. And I’ve upped mine. Meaning, I’ve proven I’m an asset to the team, and considering that meal we made and everything last night, I think you and I make a great one—a team that is.”
“Don’t you still own houses in Boston, Miami, and Houston? You could back out.”
“I’ll be gone a lot, but I’m not returning to any of those places unless Badaszek makes me.”
“And if you do?”
“We’ll figure that out. Not me. Not you. Us.”
My shoulder lifts demurely to my ear. “You’re right about being away a lot. I like going to games.”
“Then you’ll come with me.” I get a half-smile.
“You wouldn’t mind?”
