29
GOBSMACKED
DYLAN WAS GOING to kill me. That was the first thought running through my brain, but my second was that it would be one hell of a way to go, because there was nothing in the world I wanted more right then than to see his face. Even if that meant seeing it in a room full of three hundred strangers and however many home viewers watching.
Talking about him for the last ten minutes had made me want to be near him again, to touch him, and knowing he was backstage waiting for me now made getting him out here the number one thing on my priority list.
I could hear the clapping and stomping of feet as the audience chanted, “Dylan, Dylan, Dylan,” and I got up to head over to the door I had emerged from earlier. It all took less than two minutes, and then the door slid back and there he was. And damn, he was gorgeous.
He looked exactly the way I had left him in the green room. Perfectly put together in his pressed charcoal dress pants, a snug matching vest, and a light blue shirt with sleeves that were rolled to his elbows, and knotted at the base of his throat was an immaculate black tie. His light brown hair that had started to grow out up top had been highlighted with blond and styled back, and he didn’t have one ounce of makeup on his stunning face, but nothing could’ve been added to make him any more attractive than he was right then.
“Hi,” I said, and I knew my smile had to be big and foolish because I had an urge to wrap my arms around his waist and spin him around like an idiot, and when his lips curved and he said, “I’m going to kick your ass for this,” he might as well have said he loved me, as happy as it made me.
I reached my hand out to him, and as he slipped his fingers into mine I winked and turned to the studio full of people, who for several seconds there had completely disappeared, and they all got to their feet and greeted Dylan in the exact same way they’d welcomed me earlier.
We walked across the stage hand in hand, and when we got to Carly, her smile was enormous as she took a step forward, and I let go of Dylan for her to embrace him. Dylan returned the hug in true Daydream style. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek, and when she took a step back, Carly brought her fingers to her skin as if to test that he really had put his lips there, and I got it, boy did I ever. Dylan’s pure aura and energy was infectious. He radiated happiness and warmth to all those around him, and it was a true testament to Sunshine and Ziggy that their boy had the ability to be so open and loving with everything he’d gone through before them.
“Dylan Prescott, ladies and gentlemen!” Carly announced, and turned toward the audience. “The other half of PresLocke.”
When Dylan faced our adoring onlookers, he took a step toward me and our shoulders bumped. He then turned to look at me, and the grin he let loose had me recapturing his hand in mine just to remind myself that he was real.
“Please, guys. Take a seat, take a seat,” Carly said.
Dylan licked his top lip, and then looked behind us to the couch, where Carly had taken the same position as earlier, and I moved to sit back in my corner, leaving Dylan to settle in between the two of us. As I angled my body toward Carly, Dylan automatically scooted in closer to my side to also face her, and that sent up another frenzy of whoops. He laughed good-naturedly as he patted my knee, and then Carly raised her hands, indicating everyone needed to hush if they wanted to hear more. But the air in the studio was thrumming with electricity.
“Woah… That’s quite an entrance there. I think it was even bigger than yours, Ace,” Carly joked, and Dylan glanced over his shoulder at me.
“I think you might be right, but look at that smile,” I said as Dylan’s dimples appeared. “Who wouldn’t get excited over that?”
Dylan laughed, and it lit his entire face as he shook his head. “Stop it,” he said, but there was no real threat there as I raised my brow, letting him know I wasn’t about to stop anytime soon. This coy side to him at my very obvious affection was so damn adorable that I couldn’t have stopped even if I wanted to.
“Dylan,” Carly said, recapturing his attention, and when he looked over at her it was all I could do to keep my hand on the back of the couch where I’d now put it. “How are you today?”
“A little overwhelmed.” He chuckled. “Not gonna lie.”
“Overwhelmed?” she asked. “I find that hard to believe. How can this little group overwhelm you when you’re used to dating this guy?”
Dylan stroked my knee and looked back at me. “Good point. He is…larger than life sometimes.”
“I can imagine,” Carly said. “Yet Ace tells us that you were the first to make a move on him. That takes some courage, no?”
“Oh my God,” Dylan said, and laughed, and I could tell he was fighting against a healthy dose of nerves and embarrassment as he brought both of his hands to his face. The longer he seemed to lose it and laugh, the more endearing he became to the crowd. Then, when he finally had himself under control, he lowered his hands and nodded slowly. “It’s true. I did ask him out. I also asked for his number several times. I’d been a fan of his for a long time.”
I couldn’t help myself then—I preened at Carly and brought my fingers to Dylan’s shoulder to squeeze it. “My number one fan, right?”
Dylan scoffed, and then indicated with his thumb over at me and said to Carly, “See what I have to deal with?”
That had the crowd chuckling right along with their host, and relaxed Dylan into the groove of things as he settled back into the couch and the crook of my arm.
“You two are just adorable together. It really is such a pleasure to talk with you like this.”
“Thank you,” we said in unison as she brought her legs up under her and said, “So, Insurrection 2. The place you both met. What can you tell us about it?”
“Not much,” I said, giving Dylan his cue, and he nodded.
“Mhmm, our lips are sealed. But as a huge fan of the first movie,” he added, looking out at the audience, “I can say without bias that you won’t want to miss the sequel. This guy is one talented actor. And he looks very nice in dress whites, too.”
As everyone clapped, I tugged Dylan closer to my side and felt my heart thudding at the moment we were sharing right now, at the perfection of it, and I knew what we were doing here was right. It was exactly as it should be. Every minute that had brought us together and led us to this point here, on this couch talking to Carly Wilde about our lives, my upcoming projects, and Dylan’s modeling gigs had been worth it. Because this man sitting beside me was my future, he was my everything, and I was never surer of that than when Carly reached over to pat Dylan on the knee and ask, “Okay, young man. We’ve all watched this guy on the big screen and imagined what it might be like to meet him, and know him. But we have to ask you…what’s it like to date Ace Locke?”
As the question lingered in the air, the audience went so quiet you could’ve heard a pin drop, and then Dylan shifted in his seat to look at me, and the love in his eyes made my breath catch in my throat, and my reasons for being here today all solidified and came together in total accord.
“It’s everything you would expect it to be…and so much more.” Dylan placed a palm over my chest and smiled at me before turning his—soon-to-be million-dollar—face out to the people watching this intimate moment between us. And then he told them with conviction and pride, “Ace is the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met. His capacity to give to others of himself and yet remain humble in the face of all that he has truly astounds me. And even when everything in his life has been turned upside down, he is right there with a supportive hand or word to encourage you to strive higher, and harder, for your goals. He is the man you see in all of your movies. The man you fall in love with because he’s brave and saves the day. And I count my lucky stars that he almost ran me over in the studio lot of Warner Bros. that first day.”
As Dylan’s words came to an end and everyone in the studio’s heart melted as they oooed and ahhed, I knew it was my turn, and before Carly got in with any more questions, I was off that couch and down on one knee.
* * *
WHEN ACE MOVED beside me, I turned to watch him—holy mother of God—get down on one knee beside me. I wondered if it was possible for eyes to fall out of one’s head, because in that moment I was pretty positive mine were so wide they were close to doing just that.
What is he… I looked to Carly, whose beautiful smile was in full effect, and when I met her eyes I noticed they were glassy from moisture as she brought her hands to her mouth, and then dropped her gaze back down to—
Ace.
Ace, who was down on one knee, looking up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes full of love as he reached into the pocket of his black jacket and pulled out a small velvet box. I blinked several times as he became blurry, and realized I had tears in my eyes. The studio, that only moments ago had been a chorus of swoon, had turned to a hushed whisper of expectation, until Ace smiled at me—and then everyone and everything else in the world vanished.
I brought a hand up to swipe the tears from my eyes and saw Ace’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, took in a breath, and said, “Dylan, I can’t begin to explain all of the ways you have changed my life. You literally stopped me in my tracks the first time I saw you, and no, I don’t mean at the studio lot. I mean the first time I saw you. And then, by some miracle of fate, you stepped out in front of my car that day, and if that isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.”
I heard the muted sound of gasps all around us, but it seemed far off in the distance, because right then the only person who existed was the one looking at me exactly as Sunshine had once described, as if I’d hung the moon. Ace’s lips curved into a breathtaking smile as I sniffed back my tears, and then he reached up to smooth a thumb across my cheek.
“Every day you teach me something new about myself, Dylan. And every minute that I’m with you, I find another reason to love you.”
My hand shook as I reached for his, and when Ace entwined our fingers I tried to stop myself from totally losing it as he continued to say every single word I’d ever dreamed of hearing him say.
“I know our relationship so far has been quick and a little unusual compared to most. But I know what I want. I’ve known since the moment you sat down across from me that first day on set. I want you. I love you,” he said as I sat there on the Carly Wilde Show utterly gobsmacked.
I gazed down at the man who’d released my hand and opened the velvet box he was holding, and it was my turn to gasp then, because nestled inside were two exquisite rings of white gold, and when Ace pulled one out, my hand flew up to cover my mouth at the sheer beauty of it. At first glance the shine of the polished finish was magnificent, but as Ace lifted it from its cushioned home, I noticed the round black diamonds, channel-set, alongside the front and back of the band, and I lost my ability to think.
“Dylan Daydream Prescott,” he said with a handsome smile as he drew my hand away from my mouth and held it in his. “If you can put up with everything that comes along with me, nothing would make me happier than if you would marry me.”
The studio remained silent and still, awaiting my reply to the man looking up at me with his heart in his hands, but there was no doubt there, no question from him. Ace knew how I felt, he could see it in my eyes, and when I nodded—because that was all I could seem to manage—tears flowed freely down my cheeks, and I tried to find my words.
The crowd exploded around us in cheers as Ace slid the band onto my finger, and then he reached for my face, cupping it between his hands as he leaned forward and kissed me on stage in front of the ecstatic crowd and the millions watching us, and I lost myself in him.
Right there on national television, I cradled the sides of Ace’s face and kissed him back as though we were in the privacy of our own house. I closed my eyes and poured all of the love and emotion I felt for him into that connection, and when we finally pulled apart, I said, “Yes,” and the microphone picked up the word and carried it around the audience who had quieted down to hear whatever else I was going to say.
“Yes, I will gladly put up with it and deal with whatever comes our way. It would be my honor to marry you. I love you, Ace.”
Ace took my mouth again in a sweet but fierce kiss, and as applause rang out all around us, I heard Carly off to my side saying, “I am so in love with these two, I just might have to have them back once a month to catch up. And that’s all we have time for here today, but I think we got more than we expected. If you’re just catching the tail end of this, then you’re reading that headline down at the bottom right—Ace Locke and Dylan Prescott are officially engaged. Now the question on everyone’s tongue will be when and where these two will tie the knot. Thank you all for joining us, and I’ll see you next time on the Carly Wilde Show.”