Page 90 of Dominate
Everyone erupts into a fit of laughter as Sophia looks around with a straight face, clearly not understanding how utterly adorable she is.
“I will cut it for you,” Tanner deadpans and slams his hand down on the table. “Wife! Bring me the scissors.”
Belle rolls her eyes at her crazy husband and Sophia finally cracks a small grin at him.
Vi begins passing out cake while Booker and Poppy fuss over their twins, Oliver and Teddy. Camden is busy flirting with Indie, and Vaughn watches everyone with a sweet twinkle in his eyes, even as they mercilessly tease each other. Sophia fits right in as she deserts her cake to play with Hayden and Rocky in the grass.
This is the happiest mess of a family I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure my smile is permanent right now. “This is so wonderful, you guys. You really didn’t have to do all of this.”
Vi slides me a piece of cake. “Well, Gareth did the bulk of it.”
My jaw drops and I gaze up at him with wide eyes. “You did?”
He glowers at his sister for a moment, then shrugs. “I wanted tonight to be special.”
“Well, it is,” I reply, standing up from my seat and wrapping my hands around Gareth’s neck. “Thank you. I don’t see how it could possibly be any more special.”
I feel everyone staring at us with big, dopey grins on their faces, and my brow furrows in confusion. Suddenly, Sophia is at my legs, her big brown eyes watching us with excitement.
“Is it time yet?” she asks, looking at Gareth.
“What do you think, Minnow?” he asks, tweaking his brows at her playfully.
“What are you two up to?” I ask, looking back and forth between them.
Gareth pulls me in and presses his lips to my forehead before twining his fingers with mine. He walks me out onto the grass, under the twinkling lights, and Sophia follows with a mischievous grin on her face.
“Gareth, what are you doing?” I ask, my voice tight and high in my throat.
“I have a special present for Sophia that I want you to see her open,” he replies.
Suddenly, Vi is next to us with Rocky in one arm and a giant pink present in the other. Gareth takes the gift from Vi and hands it off to Sophia, who drops down onto her knees and begins tearing at the paper like an animal. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Belle recording with her phone. When I look back down, I see that Sophia has opened the box only to reveal another box.
She pulls out the medium-sized box that’s wrapped in matching pink paper and tears into that one next. She giggles and peers up at me when there’s a third box inside the second box.
“What is going on?” I exclaim, the suspense killing me.
Gareth’s eyes crinkle with amusement as Sophia tears into the final box. When she opens that one, there’s a black velvet box inside. I gasp when I see that Gareth is down on one knee, watching Sophia with so much affection, my heart feels like it’s going to explode.
Sophia stands up and holds onto the small velvet box for a moment before handing it over to Gareth. She steps back, but Gareth grabs her hand and pulls her close beside him.
The sight of them in front of me has quiet sobs shaking my entire body. “Gareth,” I plead, the suspense shattering my heart completely.
He smiles his perfect, sexy, oh-so wonderful smile and says, “Sloan, when I played football with Sophia in your back garden, she had a lot to say.”
Sophia smiles proudly up at me and I sob again. I’m a sobbing, uncontrollable mess.
“I told you about some of the things she said to me, but there were several I kept to myself.”
“Is that right?” I croak, my voice wobbling in my throat.
He nudges Sophia with his arm. “What did you ask me, Minnow?”
She looks down and begins shyly playing with her tutu. Gareth whispers some words of encouragement in her ear and she finally peeks up at me. “I asked if he was going to marry you.”
“You what?” I exclaim, complete shock and mortification washing over me. “Sophia!”
“Do you want to know what I told her?” Gareth interjects, smiling up at me. “I told her that I hoped to someday, but I wanted to make sure she liked me enough first.”
