“I’m not sure we will make it out of the car alive,” he muttered and stared at the fans outside the tinted windows. The premiere of The Cup was tonight, and we were already running ten minutes late, which was entirely Cam’s fault.
At least, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
He said the bathroom blow jobs were all my fault, but how could I have known that me in a white shirt and purple boxers turned him on?
He said I should realize that everything about me turned him on.
I made a mental note to add half an hour to every appointment we had from now on, because I’d walk around in a dress shirt and boxers all day long.
“Five minutes,” Jed called from next to the driver. It was reassuring that he was still with me, Todd having moved on to pastures new. Jed was now my official bodyguard, but in fact, I had a team of three who rotated in keeping an eye on me whenever I was away from the house.
I wish I could say it was to stop movie fans who wanted a bit too much of me, but it wasn’t entirely about me being out in my career. Cam and I had received our fair share of hate concerning our relationship, and with the hockey season restarted, every loss was blamed on my influence somehow. Thankfully, wins outweighed their losses by a large margin, so at least that was something. I could handle that kind of baseless nonsense, but it was the more personal stuff, the threats themselves, that meant it would be some time until Jed would be leaving his role.
“It’s carnage out there,” Cam said, and slid along the seat to tug me close. “Think maybe we can stay in the car?”
“Says the big bad hockey player,” I teased and got a kiss for my words, which I’d been counting on. The kiss was a soft promise.
Bright lights shone in, as people tried in vain to get photos. We straightened ourselves as the limo drew to a stop. Jed was talking to someone, tapping his ear, looking all badass. “Two minutes,” he instructed, then got out of the car. He would wait for a pre-determined moment to let us out, and then, it was time for the red-carpet walk. Reviews had been kind so far, and even though I doubted it was Oscar-worthy, I’d done my absolute best, pouring my heart into my character, so much that River had been talking to Atlas about two more movies he wanted to work with me on.
The Rapid franchise had just released movie four, with a brand-new lead, because there was nothing stopping that gravy train from rolling. Cam and I had snuck into the back of a theater to watch a week after release, and I’d enjoyed the hell out of the story, and was pleased for the new lead and the fact that they’d kept Luca Bennetto in his role. I was also secretly happy that the reviews were on par with the ones that had been written when I’d been the face of the franchise.
I hadn’t stopped skating—that was something I did at least two or three times a week. I’d also gotten involved with Cam’s kids’ charity, sponsoring a couple of families—including Manuel’s—in education and support for the arts. Variety called us a powerhouse couple, TMZ said we were cute, and the paps were pissed that there were too many photos flying around of Cam and me naked from the waist up. We’d done a photoshoot where we wore barely nothing, and since then, there’d been no more drones over Cam’s house. The place we’d made our own.
It could have been the photoshoot, or the fact that Rottie kept shooting each drone out of the sky.
Not to mention the unfortunate incident with the camel and the pap who’d managed to get through Rottie’s property and onto ours, which put the rest of the paparazzi off going near us. Cam’s place was officially now our place—I’d bought fifty percent, which he promptly donated to charity, but still, I felt settled.
In love.
This was forever.
“Ready?” I asked Cam.
He winked at me. “Yep.”
“And you remember what Atlas said?”
He counted off on his fingers. “No mauling you on the carpet, no being rude to people, no cursing, just walk with you and talk with you, and be a perfect gentleman. I really don’t know what Atlas thinks I’m gonna do here.”
I narrowed my eyes at him—he was giving off very strong vibes of being up to something.
I stepped out first, the roar of fans loud, invasive, and the best thing ever. I spotted rainbow flags in the crowd before camera flashes stole my vision completely. Cam was out right after me, holding out a hand, which I took.
Then, he swung me close.
Bent me back in a theatrical sweeping kiss and went to one knee holding out a box with two platinum rings.
“I love you. Marry me?” he asked. “And stay with me forever?”
What else could I say? I might have been tempted to remind him that Atlas would be pissed, but instead, I said yes.
And the rest of my life started right there, with a kiss on a red carpet, from the man I loved.