Page 71 of Pucks and Likes

Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, can change how I feel about this girl.

I only need for her to believe that.

CHAPTER 31

Elliot

The weight of the ring on my finger is heavy.

Physically and metaphorically.

It’s hard to ignore the weight when I’m being shown off to his family, pride and love in Alex’s eyes. If I’m honest with myself, he’s never looked at me with anything but love. As much as I want to try to convince myself that this thing between us isn’t real, I know it is. He has been consistent the whole time I’ve known him. I was the one pushing him away, but I can’t any longer. I don’t want to.

I rub the band of the ring with my thumb as I watch him hug his mom. She whispers something in his ear, kissing him loudly on the cheek. The party is still in full swing, but Alex has practice in the morning and I’m exhausted. And overwhelmed. Still, I plaster a big grin on my face as she takes my hand, bringing me into her arms. I melt into her motherly embrace and sigh deeply.

She kisses my cheek then my temple before gripping my biceps and meeting my gaze. “Did you have fun?”

I smile widely, not faking it. “So much fun. I’m so full.”

She beams. “Good.” She cups my cheek. “I’ll see you at the game, yes? We sit together?”

I nod eagerly. “I’d love that. I have to work, but I can sit with you most of the time.”

“I got a box for you guys,” Alex says, and his mom beams.

“Great. So, you come and go, and I’ll love on you in between, yes?”

Tears burn my eyes. “Yes. I’d love that.”

She wraps me in another hug, kissing my cheek. Against my ear, she says, “I know you don’t have a mom, so I’ll be yours, okay?”

My heart clenches as I blink back my tears. The whole night, she asked me everything and anything she could think of. She fed me, she hugged me, and she showed me off like Alex did. I noticed she did that for Alex’s sisters-in-law as well. Gladys Cruz loves hard, openly, and I think I fell in love with her tonight too.

“Thank you,” I say on a sigh as she pulls back, cradling my stomach.

She rubs her grandson and then smiles up at me. “You got my number?”

I nod. “I do.”

“Good. Send me all the belly pictures, and I’ll come stay when he gets here.”

Emotion squeezes my throat as I nod. “I can’t wait.”

She kisses my cheek again and then pats the spot she kissed. “Go on, you’re tired.”

I throw a wide smile at her as Alex’s fingers thread with mine, and he guides me away. I look up at him as he waves back to his mom, and the walls I thought I’d successfully thrown up crack a bit. Once more, I’m rubbing the ring on my finger as he opens the door for me and helps me in. After putting on my seat belt, I hear my phone sound with a text. I open to find it’s from Gladys, three pictures of Alex and me dancing. In one, he has his forehead to mine, his hands cradling my stomach as we grin at each other. The next, my back is to his front as he holds me, his mouth nuzzled in my neck as I smile widely. And in the last one, he is sliding the ring down my finger, his eyes locked on mine, and I’m smiling so damn big.

It’s evident I am very happy.

He makes me happy.

I send the photos to my sisters as the tears threaten to fall. They text me back, but I ignore them as I look at each picture over and over. Each photo is a wrecking ball to my walls, and it’s hard to ignore how fucking blissful I am with Alex. I can’t help but feel like a fraud, though. He doesn’t know my secret. I haven’t even told him I love him. Yet he believes so deeply in us that he put a ring on my finger. A ring I don’t want to take off because I don’t want to lose him. Not when he looks at me like I’m the only person he has ever wanted in his life.

I love him.

I look up to find that his mom has caught Alex in another hug, and my heart warms at the sight. He kisses her as he disentangles himself from her and then points to me. I wave, and she grins at me as he heads to the car. Once he’s in, he starts the car and pulls out before taking my hand in his. We ride in silence as the radio plays the hits, and his thumb plays with the band of the ring he just placed there. I watch his thumb before I look over at him. A smirk sits on those full lips, his beard so neatly trimmed and his lashes dark and thick. He’s so fucking gorgeous and all mine.

I want to tell him everything.

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