Page 112 of For One Night Only

It’s almost time for our grand finale—which happens to be “Midnight Road Trip,” and I’m pretending that’s not a bad omen—so I grab the mic to start vamping. But Caleb grabs his too, though he gestures when he sees me. “You first,” he says, quirking a brow.

It’s my turn, I mouth at him. Caleb has no idea how much I mean that, but he just nods and steps back, and I take that as a sign to continue.

I can do this.

“Thank you all for coming out tonight,” I say. “You all know that Caleb and I are officially together now, right?”

“You haven’t been subtle,” Keeley says into her own mic, and the crowd laughs and whoops along with the band. Vegas is always a great crowd, but there’s something magical in the air tonight that lights a fire in my chest.

“Right, we definitely have not. But some of you might not realize that tonight marks one year since we got back together. We were hopelessly in love with each other for, oh, four years before the band split, so that means we’ve really been together for five years. Isn’t that wild?”

The crowd booms. One year since we made up in my apartment, but no one needs to know the details.

Heat floods my cheeks. “The thing about Caleb Sloane is he’s the best person you’ll ever meet. He’s kind, and openhearted, and he always has your back—even when you haven’t done the same. I’ve never met anyone like him.” He grins across the stage at me, and the crowd lets out a collectiveaww.

I continue. “I’m so glad we figured out our baggage, because I can’t imagine life without Caleb. I love this man with my entire heart.” I swallow, gathering my nerve. “And I fully intend to do that for the rest of my life if he’ll let me.”

I dig around in my pocket, but these pants are too tight. Shit. I should have gone with the fanny pack Keeley suggested.

“Wait a second,” Caleb says. “I have something to say.”

I turn to him, and my heart starts racing.

He knows what I’m doing.

Shit.

By the unreadable look in his eyes, I have no idea if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Caleb

I almost missed that box in her pocket, carefully concealed by her guitar pack. But when she turned to face me, I saw it hit the light, and I couldn’t let her steal my thunder.

Although it was hard not to laugh. Because I have something in my jacket too, and I’m not going to make the same mistake I made when we were younger. Striding across the stage to her, I grab my microphone and get down on one knee before she can beat me to it.

“Oh my god,” Valerie says, clutching her free hand to her chest. Tears well in her eyes, and they match mine. “Are you serious?”

I bite my lip, cracking open the box. I didn’t buy a flashy diamond this time—she said she didn’t need one. This is a vintage gemstone, a sapphire that matches the blue in her eyes.

“Valerie Elizabeth Quinn, I’m so fucking in love with you…” My voice breaks as my emotions overtake me, and I clear my throat. “And Iabsolutelyplan to spend the rest of our lives together. So I’m asking you again: Will you marry me?”

Even with tears streaming down her face, Valerie pauses, cocks her head, playing with the audience. Finally, she digs her own ring box out of those dangerously tight leather pants. “Only if you marry me first.”

And then the crowd absolutely loses their shit as we collide and start making out on stage. Out of nowhere, confetti explodes from the ceiling, and I pull back, laughing. Valerie shrugs and pulls me in for another kiss. Long, hard, breathless. Eventually, weremember we have an audience and part, sharing the rings we found for each other.

Keeley, Jane, and Riker vamp with the crowd to give us a moment. Riker even starts reading signs to show love the way I usually do, and I could kiss him for it if I wasn’t spoken for. Finally.

“I can’t believe you upstaged me!” Valerie says with a laugh, brushing the joyful tears from her face.

“I can’t believe you tried to propose before I could! Did they put you up to it?” I ask, gesturing at our friends.

She gasps. “The band? No! I told them I was proposing tonight. They didn’t know you were.”

I laugh, glancing over at Keeley, who salutes me with a drumstick. “They absolutely did, because I’ve been planning this for weeks! I found the ring when we were in New York!”

Of course they all knew what we were both up to tonight, and that makes this moment just that much more perfect. No wonder Riker kept smirking as I was going over the plan last week in Denver, when Valerie stepped away to take a call during our downtime.

Valerie beams. “I bought yours in LA before our first stop, but I’ve been saving it for tonight.”

---