When we arrive back at Liam and Aiden’s apartment, Hailey immediately crashes on her futon, Aiden crashes on the couch, and Liam and I stumble to his room. We go through our routine of brushing our teeth and changing for bed. I, of course, am in one of Liam’s old t-shirts. We crawl into bed, and Liam immediately pulls me to him. I rest my head on his chest while he holds me tight with one hand and gently strokes my arm with the other. He sighs deeply.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him, never moving from my spot on his chest.
“Nothing, baby, nothing at all. I just missed you last night. I barely slept, and now you’re here in my arms, in our bed where you belong. I’m just happy,” he replies softly.
I sit up on my elbow to look at him. “Thank you for today, Liam. Spending the day with Gran, the house full of people, it’s what I always wanted growing up. Aiden and his parents would stop in after their family things, but really, it was only ever Gran and me.” I take my hand that’s resting on his chest and bring it to his face, tracing his jawline with my fingers. “You made one of my dreams come true today. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I felt like I had a family.” I scoot my body up, so my face is mere inches from his. “I love you, Liam MacCoy, so much.” Then I kiss him. He immediately responds and moans as I slip my tongue past his lips. He rolls onto his side and pulls me close until we’re wrapped up in each other’s arms, legs entwined, lips fused, tongues battling as my heart bursts with happiness and love.
We pull back from the kiss, mainly due to the fact we both need to catch our breath. Liam gently brushes my hair behind my ear, stroking his hands across my cheek. “Allison, I need you to know I’ll always do everything in my power to make all of your dreams come true. You and your happiness are the most important things to me.” He pauses, staring deep into my eyes, neither one of us saying anything. It’s almost as if he’s searching for my acceptance of what he just told me. He must have found what he was looking for because he continues, “Baby, I want you in my life forever. I’m not proposing at this exact moment, but I’m going to. I need you to know what this is for me.”
I feel tears leaking from my eyes, but I don’t move to wipe them away. I’m afraid if I move, this moment will end, or maybe it isn’t real, and I don’t want to wake up if I’m dreaming. Liam wants me, forever. He gently wipes the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs. His eyes find mine again and they’re also glassy with emotion.
“Allison, I don’t know what my future holds with the NFL. I know it’s rumored I will be picked in the draft, how do you feel about that? Are you okay with being the wife of an NFL player? Because, baby, if you don’t want that, I’ll withdraw and start searching for jobs in sports medicine.”
“Liam, the NFL is your dream. It’s what you’ve always wanted,” I counter.
He shakes his head no. “No, baby, the NFL was my dream. Now my dreams consist of you, you and me and a long happy life together wherever that may be. I refuse to make a decision about our future without you giving me your blessing. What do you see for our future, beautiful girl?”
I study him, this man who has completely captured my heart and soul. He’s telling me he wants to marry me. That he’ll give up his lifelong dream just to make me happy, to be with me. Liam, the guy with a major fear of commitment, is telling me he’s committed to me for a lifetime. I feel more tears roll down my cheeks. “I’ve never told you this, partly because I didn’t want to scare you away. It’s also not all that ambitious for a nineteen-year-old.” He scoffs at that, but I keep going. “I’ve never had the desire to go to college. I’m here because Gran wants me to experience life and not taking care of her all the time. I’ve focused so much on school to honor my parents that I’m burnt out. My dream has always been to be a wife and a mother. I want a family, a house full of love and happiness. My parents, when they died, both had large life insurance policies. I received ten million dollars at the time of their deaths between the policies and the court settlement. I live off the interest.” I watch his expression; he’s simply listening to me, hanging on every word. “I could never allow you to give up your dreams for me, Liam.”
“Allie, I can get drafted to a team hundreds of miles from here.” He pulls me tighter against him. “I can’t go into the draft knowing I’m going to be leaving the love of my life behind. I need to know that wherever I end up you’ll be with me, by my side. I know it’s a lot to ask, but none of it would mean anything without you there.” He kisses my forehead. “We can bring Gran with us, she can live with us, and you guys can be together every day. Hell, we can build a house and give her her own damn wing; I don’t care as long as you’re next to me.”
My heart is racing, beating so loud I’m sure he can hear it. I take his hand and place it on my chest, right above my heart. I can tell, by the expression on his face, he can feel my heart’s thunderous rhythm. He places my hand on his chest in the same position, and I can feel his heart mirroring the beat of mine. I take a deep breath and repeat the words he said to me in the emergency room a couple months ago. “Liam, I’ll go anywhere with you. You’re my dream,” I whisper. I watch as a single tear leaks from his eyes. I gently kiss it away. When I pull back, he’s grinning so widely I think his face might crack.
“You’re really mine, you’ll come with me?” He swallows hard. “You’ll marry me?” he asks softly.
I nod. I can’t speak over the lump in my throat.
“I’ll give you the perfect proposal, but just knowing you want a future with me, forever with me, you’ve made me the happiest man alive. I love you, Allison,” he says as he draws me tight against him, and we fall asleep in each other’s arms.
I’m jolted awake at seven by Liam’s alarm clock screeching with its annoying beeps. I reach over and turn it off, then roll over to wake Liam up. “Liam, it’s time to get up, babe.”
He grumbles, “I’m awake,” as he moves me back against his chest. “Good morning, beautiful,” he whispers huskily in my ear. I snuggle back into his arms, seeking his warmth. “Do you remember last night?” he questions me. “Do you have any regrets in the light of day?”
I roll over so that I’m facing him. “No regrets, you’re stuck with me, MacCoy.”
“Allie, I promise to make all of your dreams come true,” he says as he kisses me. I thought about protesting, since I haven’t brushed my teeth, yet, but I know he doesn’t care. Every morning I’ve tried to warn him, he acts as though I’m crazy. Going as far as to tell me he’ll take me anyway he can get me. “As much as I wish we could lie here all day, I need to get up and get moving because we have to be at the field at nine. The game starts at noon, are you and Hales still coming with my parents?” he asks me.
“Yes, they’re picking us up here, and we’re all headed to their house for dinner afterward. Your mom made a huge meal just to wrap it up and put it in the fridge.” I smile, thinking about Mrs. MacCoy going through so much trouble, so Liam and I could spend Thanksgiving with Gran. “I really appreciate her delaying dinner, so we could go to Gran’s yesterday,” I tell him.