Page 657 of One More Kiss

Chapter2

Everyonearound us is watching me as Milo walks down from the stage.

They heard him too.

When he sees me, the smile on his face dissipates. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows and closes the space between us.

Before I can open my mouth to ask him to explain himself, he drops down on one knee and reaches for my hand as he looks up at me.

Milo lets out a breath. “I promised myself that if we won tonight, there would be no more excuses. No more worrying about trying to figure out the right time or the right words. I know this probably isn’t how you pictured this, but I know if I don’t do it right now, I’ll keep searching for the perfect moment.”

With every word that leaves his lips, my heart races faster.

“I’ll keep this short and sweet because I know you hate this much attention on you,” he says. “Lochlyn, will you make me the happiest man on this field, and say you’ll marry me?”

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve cried tonight, but once again, there’s a stream of tears rolling down my cheeks.

“Yes,” I whisper, nodding because I know he probably can’t hear me over the crowd. “Yes, yes, yes.”

He rises, taking a small blue box from his dad. I’d been so consumed with what was happening right in front of me, I didn’t realize our parents had joined us.

I recognize the ring immediately. It’s the exact one I tried on when we went to Tiffany & Co. a few months ago when we were in New York. At the time, we were just picking up Christmas presents for our moms. Or so I thought.

“I bet some of these rings cost more than a mortgage,” I whispered as we walked by the glass display cases filled with jewelry.

“I bet you’re right.” Milo laughed. “Wanna try one on?”

My eyes widened at his suggestion. I shook my head. Knowing my luck, the ring would get stuck on my damn finger. No, thank you.

“Come on,” he coaxed. “Humor me.”

The pouty lip and puppy dog eyes he gave me left me with no choice.

“Okay, fine,” I conceded. “But just one. And not a diamond. Diamonds are not this girl’s best friend.”

As soon as the platinum band slides over my finger, the double row of accent diamonds surrounding the vibrant blue cushion cut tanzanite catch the stadium light.

“She said yes!” Madeline yells out, and the stadium comes alive. Much like I hadn’t noticed our parents, I hadn’t caught on to the fact the entire stadium was watching every moment of our engagement as it happened in real time on the JumboTron.

Fight or flight begins to kick in from having the attention of seventy thousand people. This is just another day in the office for Milo, but the urge to run out of the stadium as fast as my shaking legs will allow is getting harder to resist with every passing second.

“I gotta get Lochlyn out of here,” Milo says to no one in particular when the barrage of press begins to push their way through the crowd toward us. Turning to our parents, he adds, “Meet you at my house?”

If he’s bothered by the death grip I have on his hand as he guides me off the field, Milo shows no sign of it. Security doesn’t stop us from going straight inside the door that leads to the locker room. I guess when you’re with Milo Perry, you don’t need to flash your pass.

As soon as we’re behind the safety of the closed doors, Milo stops. The smile that filled his face is nowhere to be found, and worry replaces the joy that had been dancing in his eyes just moments before.

“I’m so sorry. I just got so caught up in the moment, and I wasn’t thinking. I should have waited. I should—”

I stop him with a kiss. When my lips press against his, the stiffness in his body lessens until he completely relaxes.

“It’s okay,” I assure him when we break the kiss. “I’m just going to need a second before we go anywhere tonight.”

Not knowing the outcome of the game, we hadn’t committed to anything beyond kick-off. The Crawfords are sure to have a house full of people. Madeline lives for being a host. A lot of the team will end up partying on the VIP floor at Retro—a nineties throwback themed bar in Boston. I don’t really want to go anywhere, but tonight isn’t about me. Not as much as it is about Milo’s win.

“Actually, I was thinking maybe we should stay home tonight,” Milo says. “Maybe have dinner with our parents, drink celebratory champagne, cross have sex with an MVP off your bucket list...”

“You don’t want to celebrate?” I ask trying to not make it obvious I’m all for staying in.

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