Page 132 of Play the Game
“You too, Emmy Girl,” Cooper says with a grin, and she gives him a wide smile that makes my chest feel so light that I would probably float away if not for Cooper’s hand on my neck, anchoring me to this moment. I love watching the two of them together.
Cooper Wyles was born to be a dad.
Turning back to me, his gaze locks with mine, his eyes serious. “Every day with you is my best day. I love you, and I love this life we’re making together. You are the happiest ending I ever could have hoped for.”
I tilt my head, studying him. “Will you still think that when I’m bugging you at work for being too wordy in your memos and complaining about your ridiculous lack of anything resembling organization skills?”
Cooper smiles, smacking a kiss to my cheek. “You know how it gets me going when you’re mean to me. You’re going to be the hottest boss lady around.”
I roll my eyes. “Boss lady is a terrible nickname. Come up with a better one. Better yet, just use my real name.”
“Now what’s the fun in that?” Cooper reaches around me and opens a drawer in the coffee table, grabbing something out of it, flashing me a grin and a wink. “Maybe I’ll call you fiancée instead.”
My brain is still trying to compute what he just said when he lifts his hand, flipping open the small velvet box grasped between his thumb and forefinger.
“Oh, holy fucking shit,” I say, staring at the round solitaire set in a sparkling diamond band. My brain shorts out entirely, my heart thudding in my chest as I look from Cooper to the ring. “Are you proposing to me right now? When you’re shirtless and I have messy bedhead and Emmy will probably need a diaper change in like thirty seconds?”
Please be proposing to me.
Cooper chuckles, taking one of my hands in his free one, lacing our fingers together, his eyes steady on mine. “Bet your gorgeous ass I am. I’ve had this ring since the week after Emmy was born, and I’ve just been waiting for my perfect moment. But the thing is, every moment with you is the most perfect moment of all, especially the ones where I’m shirtless and you have bedhead and Emmy is right here. Because this is us, Rhodes. Surprising, unexpected, perfectly imperfect, and everything I ever wanted.” His eyes go serious as he lifts his hand and lays it on my cheek. “You are everything I ever wanted. My absolute dream come true. I fell in love with you sitting on the porch on Christmas, and I am going to love you for the rest of my life, and into whatever comes next because a love this huge is bigger than forever. We already share a home and a baby and the most beautiful life I ever could have imagined. You’re mine and I’m yours, marriage or not, but I really, really want to be married to you. So, what do you say, Rhodes? Want to be my wife?”
My eyes burn and my heart takes flight at his words as I let out a watery laugh. I love him so damn much. “I don’t know, Cooper. What’s in it for me?”
He grins, bringing his mouth to mine for a long, slow kiss. “Everything,” he murmurs against my lips. “Absolutely everything.”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I deepen the kiss, sliding my tongue against his, butterflies in my stomach, happinessbubbling in my veins, my heart skipping a beat at the utter rightness of it all. “Yes,” I whisper against his lips. “Absolutely, definitely yes.”
“Fuck yes!” Cooper laughs, leaning back and taking my hand, sliding the ring onto my finger. A warm little buzz shoots up my arm from where the ring sits, and for a second, we both stare down at it, the diamond winking between us a promise, our entire future stretching ahead of us.
“I love you,” I say, lifting my head to find Cooper already looking at me. “Thank you for this life.”
Cooper’s eyes swirl with emotion. “I love you, Rhodes. Today, tomorrow, and all the days to come. The only life I want is the one that’s with you.”
Cooper leans in and kisses me again, and suddenly he stands, striding to the front door with his lips still attached to mine. I laugh when he breaks the kiss and throws the door open, sticking his head out into the hall. “She said yes!” He yells it up the stairs and then walks back to the couch, dropping down with me still in his lap.
“Fuck yes!” Noah’s voice drifts down the stairs, and in seconds, the brownstone is filled with the sound of excited voices and thundering feet as everyone makes their way downstairs. In seconds, the apartment is filled with people. Jo, Hannah, and Amelia squeal and hug me and grab my hand to look at the ring. Elliot picks up Emmy and spins her around. Jordan goes to the kitchen to make coffee for everyone, and Noah plops down on the couch, talking a mile a minute about wedding plans.
And in the center of it all is Cooper, his arms tight around me, cheek resting against my head, love pouring off him until I think my heart might just beat out of my chest with the joy of it. “Ours was always going to be a family affair,” he murmurs to me, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.
Curling deeper into his hold, I tip my head up and press a kiss to his jaw. “Just the way I like it.”
“Love you,” he whispers. “Always.”
“Always,” I whisper back.
Soaked in love and family, everything I need in the world is right here in this room with me.
And it’s perfect.
EPILOGUE
COOPER
EIGHT MONTHS LATER
“Oh my fucking god, Rhodes. Your mouth is goddamn heaven.”
I groan against Evan’s pussy as pleasure pools at the base of my spine. Wrapping my arms around her thighs, I hold her tightly against me and suck her clit into my mouth, flicking it with my tongue as I plant my feet on the bed and thrust my hips up, fucking her mouth from below as I eat her like a man possessed.
