And then he starts full-on serenading me, Heath Ledger-style.
On the chorus, the guys stop their choreographed dancing, whip out more mics, and sing backup.
“Oh, my God.” I cover my mouth while I recover from the shock. My whole body is shaking from adrenaline.
I find myself in the middle of the room, surrounded by football players, when Ben drops down on one knee and holds out a black velvet box.
He grabs my hand and brings it to his lips. Then he turns to my father. “First of all, sir, I’m sorry I’m proposing to your daughter at a saloon. This is the only place big enough for the team to join me. Plus, they have a great sound system.”
Dad wraps his arm around Penelope and holds up his beer with his other hand. “Not a problem.” Then he waves. “Get back to work.”
Everyone laughs, and Ben faces me again.
That’s when I notice how his hands are shaking. Aww, he’s so nervous. I take his face in my hands and kiss him. “Yes.”
“Wait. I have to ask you first.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “Well, get on with it.”
He clears his throat. “Sunshine, you’re the first person I want to see in the morning, and the last person I wanna talk to at night. I wasn’t looking for you, but you’re the best damn thing to ever happen to me. Sienna Cruz, you’re the queen of my heart. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“I love you too, Ben. And the honor is mine. Yes!”
I grab his handsome face again and kiss him. He stands, wraps me in his arms, and spins me around.
I’m dizzy and laughing as he puts the ring on my finger.
Our friends and family cheer.
“Drinks on me!” my father yells, which gets a roar of approval from the football players.
As everyone starts to celebrate, Ben whispers in my ear. “I’ll get you a bigger diamond next year.”
I hold out my hand where a beautiful princess-cut gem shimmers. “But what if I love this one and don’t want a bigger diamond?”
Seriously, he could’ve taken a toy ring out of a box of cereal, and I would’ve said yes.
“Then how will you know how much I love and adore you?”
I take his hand and place it over my heart. “I don’t need anything shiny to tell me what I already know here.”
When he kisses me again, the guys hoot and holler. They all hug and congratulate us.
After a fabulous, messy dinner of ribs and beer, Ben wipes the corner of my mouth with a napkin. “I need you to pack a bag as soon as finals are over.”
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
Everything in me lights up. “I love surprises.”
A week and a half later, I’m all bundled up, and my suitcase is ready to go.
After going through Lily’s schedule with his aunt and uncle for the tenth time, Ben gives his daughter a kiss and then rolls my small suitcase out to his SUV. He had wanted to bring Lily with us, but Teresa talked him into leaving her at home. She said we needed some time to ourselves.
As much as I’m going to miss Lily while we’re away, I can’t wait to have a little one-on-one time with Ben. We’ve been running ragged this semester. We just wrapped up our finals after his insane season, and next semester he has to do fitness camps to gear up for the draft.
In January, I’ve booked studio time to do all of the filming for my app. Ben tentatively called it Sunshine Yoga, but I loved the name so much, we’re keeping it. And now that I’ve gotten all of the funding for my after-school program, which was generously matched by my father, we need to finalize details with the local schools.
Teresa is right. Ben and I definitely need some time to ourselves before the new year.
After we park, Ben grabs my hand and wheels my small suitcase with the other.
When we reach the terminal, we get in line. We’re standing a few feet from the sliding glass doors when he says, “I remember not wanting to drop you off last summer when I drove you to the airport.”
He’s looking down at me with so much love in his eyes, my heart flutters. “I didn’t want you to drop me off either. I was enjoying spending time with you too much.”
“I just want you to know how grateful I am that you’re my girl. This isn’t a big trip we’re going on. I don’t have the money to take you anywhere super-exotic yet. But I hope to give you the world someday. I want to give you everything.”
Leaning up on my toes, I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him gently. “Pretty sure you’ve already given me the thing that matters most.”
That evening, I find myself on a beautiful Mexican beach. My fiancé reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small glass bottle. Hands it to me. “To start your sand collection again. I thought we could do one together. For all the places we’re gonna go.”
“You remembered,” I say, a bit choked up.
With a smile, he threads our fingers together and walks me down to the spot where the sand is feather-light and sparkles in the sun.
My heart is full when I dip the bottle into the sand. I hold it up. “Here’s to the first of many memories.”
Over the years, our beautiful collection has grown to dozens of bottles—some with light, airy sand, others with thick, coarse grains. Each one is unique, just like our time together. Ben and I have had good years and bad. Tough ones and easy. But through it all, we’ve been together—we’ve loved and laughed and cried together—and that makes each one of them perfect in my eyes.
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Have you read Rider and Gabby’s story yet? Keep flipping to check out the first chapter of The Varsity Dad Dilemma, a USA Today bestseller, or you can purchase it here.
The Varsity Dad Dilemma
SYNOPSIS
What’s worse than having Rider Kingston, the star quarterback, give you the big brush-off because he doesn’t want to get serious? You’d probably think living across the street from him where you get a firsthand view of his hookups, right?
That’s what I thought. Until someone drops off a baby with a note pinned to her blanket that says one of those jocks—either Rider or one of his roommates—is the father. The problem? Baby mama doesn’t mention which of these numbskulls is the sperm donor.
I wouldn’t care about their paternity problems—not the slightest bit—except my brother lives there too. Which means that adorable squawking bundle might be my niece, and there’s no way I’m leaving her unattended with those bumbling football players.
They need my help, even if they don’t know it yet. Once we solve this dilemma and figure out who’s the daddy, I’m out.
I’ll just ignore Rider and those soul-searing looks he gives me every time I reach for the baby. He broke my heart three years ago. He won’t get a second chance.