Epilogue
Roman
TWO WEEKS LATER…
Some say it would be too early to propose.
You don’t know each other all that well.
What’s the rush?
Take your time…enjoy life a bit first.
But as I watch Brian Brannon get down on bended knee in front of Georgia, holding up an opened black-velvet box, I don’t think it’s too early at all. Life is actually too short, and when you know it’s right…it’s right.
Lexi is practically bouncing up and down beside me as she watches.
Gray’s got tears in her eyes.
Ryker is smirking.
Violet and Ruby are ooohing and ahhhing over the massive diamond that’s shimmering against the black velvet.
Georgia’s hand flutters to her heart for a brief moment, then covers her mouth as she stares wide-eyed at the ring.
Brian’s face looks utterly hopeful as he says, “Georgia, how I fell for a wild woman like you is beyond me, but the one thing I’m sure of beyond any doubt is that you are the one for me. I’ve waited far too long for you, and I don’t want another moment to go by without you by my side. I want you there in the eyes of my family, of God, and of the law as well. Please do this old man a favor and say you’ll be my wife.”
Lexi almost faints and I chuckle as my arm goes around her in support.
It’s not often we get to see Georgia speechless, but she opens her mouth and nothing comes out.
“Say yes,” Ruby shrieks.
That seems to knock Georgia out of her fugue state and her lips curl upward, then split into a huge, sparkling grin.
“Yes,” she shouts at Brian, then throws herself at him. She knocks him backward onto his butt and she comes to rest on top of him, peppering his face with kisses. “Yes, I’ll marry you, you sweet, sexy stud you!”
We all laugh, because that’s oh so Georgia, and then it turns awkward when Brian kisses her deeply, his hand dropping down to her ass.
“A-a-a-a-n-d,” I drawl out with exaggeration. “That’s my cue to go get another beer.”
Lexi laughs as I release my arm from around her waist and says, “Get me one too, will you?”
I kiss her on the side of her face, admiring that the bruise is finally faded and nothing is left but a faint pink scar. Her shoulder has healed as well and she’s feeling completely back to normal. “Sure thing, babe.”
Looking across the room, I hold my empty beer bottle up at Ryker, silently asking if he wants another one. He shakes his head, and I turn to walk into Brian’s kitchen.
We’re all here having a Sunday afternoon dinner on one of the rare weekends we don’t have a game. We’ll be flying out tomorrow for a game in Chicago, and while I’d rather be spending today solely with Lexi, I’ve learned to indulge her desires to be with her family as much as possible.
And honestly, it’s not that much of a chore. Brian and Gray have welcomed me right into the family, treating me like I have permanent member status. Fuck…I hope that’s true.
I stand by my earlier position that it’s not too early to propose, and if I thought I had a chance at Lexi saying yes, I’d be whipping a ring out too. It’s like once I decided to jump in to this new experience of love and commitment, I wanted to go full force without any regrets and no holding back.
But Lexi wouldn’t say yes to me just yet, as she’s the more levelheaded of the two of us. As much as she’s my goofy, ukulele-playing barista, she treats our relationship with a genuine and healthy respect. She wants it to grow, flourish, deepen, and solidify before we take the next step.
For me, I’m fairly goal driven, and if I can’t propose yet, I’ve set my eyes on something within easier reach. I’ve been trying to talk her into moving in with me. I think I’m almost there, although her hesitation has more to do with not wanting to leave Georgia in the lurch than it does with giving up her independent living.
But now that Brian’s put a ring on Georgia’s finger, I’m thinking she’ll be selling her house, along with Lexi’s little garage apartment, and lucky me…she’ll have no choice but to move in with me.
Just as I open the fridge to grab two more beers, I hear Gray say behind me, “Ugh…there are some things that daughters are not meant to know about their dads.”
I look over my shoulder at her with a grin. “And what’s that?”
As I pull out two beers and snag Gray a bottled water, she says, “That my dad knows how to French kiss. Just gross.”
Laughing, I nudge the refrigerator door closed with my hip and hand her the water as she comes to stand on the other side of the island from me. I put both beer bottles down, reach into a drawer that I know holds the bottle opener, and pop them both open.
“So I had an interesting call from your agent today,” Gray says slyly as she opens her water.
I feign ignorance. “Oh yeah? What about?”
“Well, he called about another player he represents,” she says with narrowed eyes at me. “But he happened to drop that you were given an offer from the New Jersey Wildcats.”
“Huh,” I say, playing dumb. I take a drink of my beer and watch her with twinkling eyes.
“Yeah,” she says knowingly. “Said it was a great offer too.”
“I suppose,” I tell her grudgingly.
“And that you turned it down,” she adds, then watches me like a hawk for my reaction.
“You got me,” I say with a grin. “I turned it down.”
“What the fuck, Roman?” she almost hisses at me, then leans a little over the counter. “It was a lucrative deal. More money than we could pay you here.”
I shrug. “Wasn’t interested.”
“You know Lexi would move if you went with another team,” she says softly. “She’d never let you leave her behind.”
“I know. But I wouldn’t want her to leave her family…not when she just found them.”
Gray nods at me, her face so soft and admiring. “That’s what I thought.”
I take another slug of beer and don’t respond. There’s nothing more than needs to be said. I love Lexi. She loves her family. And okay…I sort of love them too, but most important, I want Lexi to be near them. She’s waited so long for this, I couldn’t deny her now. Doesn’t mean I won’t get traded in the future, and she would go with me, I’m sure.
But for now, we need to be here.
“You’re a really great guy,” Gray says to me. “My sister is lucky to have you.”
“I’m the lucky one,” I tell her candidly.
“Lucky about what?” Lexi says as she walks into the kitchen. She comes to stand beside Gray and casually drapes an arm around her sister’s shoulder.
I push Lexi’s beer across the counter to her and answer, “Lucky to have me. I think your sister kind of likes me.”
Gray snorts and wrinkles her nose. “You’re an egotistical jackass.”
“Better than an uptight windbag,” I throw back at her.
“Cheers,” Lexi says as she holds her bottle out to me, and we tap the necks. “That was a good one.”
“I’ve been saving them up,” I say with a wicked grin leveled at Gray, who snickers as she looks down at her watch.
“Speaking of trades,” Gray says all businesslike again as she pulls away from Lexi. “I’ve got a call in about an hour. Looks like we’re going to iron out the Luc Fournier deal.”
“Awesome,” Lexi says, holding up her palm for Gray to give it a high five. “He’ll bring some incredible depth to the team.”
I have to smile in a sweetly proud way at my girl. She’s delving deeper than ever into the Brannon hockey dynasty and she knows more about the team players and stats along with depth charts, plus/minus ratings, and even how Gray’s statistical models work. I’m thinking she might be a genius herself, but for now, she’s really enjoying learning the business.
And Luc Fournier will be an amazing addition. He’s our goalie Max Fournier’s little brother and I’ve met him once…cool dude. Look forward to getting to know him a little better once he joins our team.
“Okay, kiddos,” Gray says jovially. “I’m going to go herd my crew up so we can get home before my call. I’ll need to jump on my computer beforehand.”
“We’re going to head out too,” Lexi says as Gray walks toward the living room. “Be there in a minute.”
When Gray is gone, Lexi turns to me and her eyes are serious. “You got an offer from another team?”
I wince, because I didn’t think she’d heard that. “It wasn’t that great of an offer.”
She glares at me. “I heard Gray say it was lucrative.”
I walk around the counter toward Lexi as I mutter, “You have ears like a bat.”
“Roman,” she says with slight annoyance as I wrap my arms around her waist. “You cannot make decisions about your career based on me.”
I cock at eyebrow at her and wait for her to come to the conclusion on her own.
“You can’t,” she maintains.
I keep my eyebrow cocked.
“You shouldn’t,” she insists. “It’s not good business.”
“You’re good business,” I tell her as I lean my face toward hers. “You’re the best business I have, so my decisions will always take that into account.”
“But you’re turning down money—”
“To be with you, and keep you here and happy, which makes me happy,” I tell her gently. “And that is the best kind of business decision to make.”
Lexi’s eyes get soft and misty as she whispers, “I think my ovaries just exploded.”
“Sounds like a dire situation,” I whisper back. “Think we should go back to my house and take care of that?”
“I think that would be good.”
I kiss her again, because I can and it feels good. When I pull away, I put my palms to her face and hold her still. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she says sweetly before we head into the living room to make our goodbyes to the family.