“You know me too well, Ivers.”
“Can I hide with you?”
Head leaning back on the wall, I take a deep breath thanks to her proximity. “You can hide with me forever, baby.”
Ducking into the small cove, she tucks away with me for no one else to see. “You’ve been avoiding my calls.”
“I know.”
“I have something I need to tell you.”
“Me first.”
“Ryan—”
“I’ve got to say some things, Ind. I need you to know where I stand and what I want, in case I haven’t made it clear. I need to throw my hat in the ring.”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
But I do. With a room full of her previous life, there are things she needs to know.
I take her hand, intertwining our fingers, memorizing the way we look molded together.
“I want you, Indy. I want us. I want our little life we’ve built even when we thought we were pretending. I want you in our house because you’ve made it a home. I want your mess and your chaos. I want your genuine smiles, the ones you wear when you’re around my sister, the hockey team, and me. I want you happy, and I want to be the reason you are. I want you to choose me.”
“Ry—”
“I understand what I’m competing against. I know I don’t have your history, but I want your future.”
“Ryan—”
“You deserve the grand gestures, the big moments. I’m not great at making a show. I don’t like the attention, but if that’s what you need to understand how much I want you in my life, I’ll do it. Fuck, I should’ve done this in front of a crowd or standing in the rain or something romantic instead of hiding away and saying it. God…” I chuckle without humor. “I’m telling you you’re the best thing to ever come into my life while hiding in a random room with terrible carpet and shitty wallpaper—”
“Ryan!”
I swallow. “Yeah?”
Her lips lift, a smile overtaking her face. “I never thought I’d say this, but you can stop talking now.”
A small chuckle rumbles in my chest as she closes the space between us. Hand wrapping around my neck, she pulls my eyes to meet hers.
“You didn’t have to say anything. I already know. And I’m the talker in this relationship, in case you forgot, but today, I only have three words I need to say.”
She leans up on her tiptoes, her mouth level to mine as she whispers the loudest words I’ve ever heard.
“I love you.”
Her brown eyes bounce between mine. “If you would’ve answered a single one of my calls this week, I could’ve told you exactly what I told Alex. My home, my heart, all of it, is with you. There was never a moment of doubt for me, Ryan. The only reason you heard me crying on the phone after that conversation is because I finally felt free, and more than that, I felt clarity. I don’t want you to change. I don’t need you to shout from rooftops or show me off. I just need your quiet love because those moments are the loudest declarations I’ve ever heard. I want you for exactly who you are. I’m in love with you, Ryan Shay, and I don’t need the entire world to know that for it to be true.”
A sharp exhale of relief shudders through me, but besides that, I’m stunned silent.
In all these weeks, I had convinced myself it would take Indy time to get on the same wavelength to feel about me as I do her. I never thought she’d be the one to admit it first. I had intended to stay quiet, continuing to love her through my actions until I was certain the admission wouldn’t scare her off, but here she is, my romantic girl, sweeping me off my feet.
Nervousness washes over her from my silence as she leans back on her heels.
Her throat works a swallow. “I know I said I like your quietness, but now would be a good time to say something.”
I chuckle. My confident girl, vulnerable and nervous.
Pushing her hair behind her ears, I cup her cheeks and ensure her focus is on me. “I’m glad you finally got on my page.”
A smile slides across her mouth.
“I’m sorry someone let you believe you were hard to love, because, Blue, it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done.” I shake my head. “God, I love you. I think in a way, I’ve loved you since our first breakfast together. You brought me back to life, Ind, and I will love you as long as you’ll let me.”
“Promise?”
Pulling her in, I take her lips with mine. “I’ll even add it to the fridge.”
Indy has tried to stay by my side during the reception, but almost anytime we’re alone, the bride decides she needs her.
She and I start dancing, Maggie needs help with her dress.
She takes a seat on my lap for cake cutting, Maggie needs her help to reapply her makeup.
We also weren’t seated together for dinner, but that didn’t stop us from eye-fucking the hell out of each other from across the room even while she shared a table with her ex.
The drastic measures her friends have taken to get the two of them back together is laughable. It would’ve started a pit of jealousy in me before today. But today, Indy loves me.
She loves me.
I need this wedding to be over so I can take her home. Indy is over it, that much is clear. I can see the visible shift she’s taken from separating who she is now from her previous life. I guess I should be thanking Alex for that. If he hadn't given her that closure, I’m not sure how long it would’ve taken my girl to fully move on.
Her friends are so busy keeping her occupied and away from me, as if we don’t live together, that I have plenty of time to thank him in person.
“I’ll have what he’s having,” I tell the bartender, leaning my elbows on the bar top.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Alex whines next to me.
A couple of his buddies are on his other side, slack jaws.
Typically, I hate the stares, the attention. But I fucking love how much this guy hates that he’s a fan of mine. Him and all his friends.
The bartender puts a glass of amber liquid in front of me with a single spherical ice cube. Taking a sip, the smokiness of it burns my tongue and throat in the most delicious way.
The guy has good taste, I'll give him that. If that wasn’t already evident by his ex-girlfriend.
Leaning down to his level, I keep my words hushed but clear.
“Unfortunately, Indy’s old friends are your friends. You’ll be around, I get that. But if you ever, and I mean ever make her cry again, I will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell. My face will pop up everywhere you go. You will see me in your goddamn nightmares. I will make myself a daily reminder that you fumbled the best thing you’ll ever have in your fucking life. Got it?”
He stays staring straight ahead, but I note the nervous flicker of his eyes.
“Got it?” I repeat.
He nods in confirmation, and I plan to leave him with that, but then he decides to open his fucking mouth.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the good guy of the NBA? I doubt stalking me would be good for your golden boy image.”
A condescending laugh escapes me. “Says the guy who camped outside of my place of work to talk to a girl who wants nothing to do with him. But let me make this clear, when it comes to her, I have no issue ruining my reputation. I will burn the world down to protect her and I’ll proudly wave the match, so everyone knows I’m the one who did it.”