Page 32 of My Pucking Valentine

The world knows, and I don’t give a fuck what they think about it any longer. Clara is my stepsister, but she’s not just my stepsister. She’s my woman. My fiancée, and soon, my wife. Then she’ll be the mother of my children. She’s everything to me—she’s my future.

“Everything,” Clara rasps. “Everything.”

Her eyes water. She lifts her hand and places it on the center of my chest. Wrapping my fingers around her wrist, I look down at the diamond on her finger. The one that I placed there. It fits her perfectly. There couldn’t have been another ring for her. The only regret I have is that I didn’t give it to her sooner.

“I’m done wasting time,” I state. “I don’t want to sleep another night without you in my bed. This is where you belong.”

“Here?” she asks, sounding almost dumbfounded.

“Wherever I am,” I say. “You belong with me.”

Releasing her wrist, I cup her cheeks, then lower my head to touch my mouth to hers before I speak again.

“We can look for our own place, but I can’t be without you anymore. You’re mine.”

She exhales against my lips. “I’m yours,” she whispers.

And that’s when I press my mouth to hers and kiss her, slipping my tongue inside of her. No more words need to be said. I’m hers, she’s mine, and we are going to spend this life together.

Until the day we die.

Judgments be damned.

It’s been twenty-four hours.

One day.

Our engagement was announced, and the girl I spoke to before the game made a video, posted it, and it was shared over fifty thousand times. She repeated what I told her. And it seems as if the drama surrounding us has died down in just one day.

It’s not as big of a fucking deal as everyone made it out to be. I shouldn’t have treated Clara like a dirty little secret because she never was, not to me. She was my indulgence and my weakness, but she was never dirty in any way because she’s fucking perfect.

There will always be a group of people who judge us, no matter what we say. They won’t ever believe the truth. But at the same time, they can fuck off. Right the hell off. I love Clara, she loves me, and that’sthat.

The rest of the world doesn’t have to understand us, but I’m not going to live in fear. If my team doesn’t want to keep me, then I’ll figure something else out. I’m not going to live in shame and be fucking miserable.

I refuse.

“What are you doing?” Clara asks as she rolls over, sliding her arm around my waist.

Setting my phone on the nightstand, I curl my arm around her waist and pull her against my side. Dipping my chin, I touch my lips to the top of her forehead. “Nothing, baby. Let’s go to sleep.”

And that’s what we do. When I glance down at my chest, I see my ring resting there, and I know that I am whole.

EPILOGUE

HERE COMES THE BRIDE… ALL DRESSED IN… BLUSH

CLARA

VALENTINE’S DAY – ONE YEAR LATER

Slidingmy hands down the front of my dress, I look at my reflection in the mirror. It’s not anything special. It was the second dress I tried on. The underlay is a blush color with an ornate white beading overlay.

It has swoopy, off-the-shoulder beaded sleeves that are almost Grecian in appearance. I was stunned by it at first sight and loved it the moment they slid it over my head. My shoes are the lightest light blue I’ve ever seen, almost a silvery color.

My new is my diamond heart-shaped necklace that Luke surprised me with this morning, and my old is the very first puck he scored a goal with in a game when he was seven years old. I have it tucked into my bouquet.

Reaching for my bright-pink rose bouquet, I close my eyes and open them again to take in my entire reflection. I love it. The way I look right now, it’s better than I could have imagined. I feel like a fairy princess. I’ve never felt like a princess in my life until today.

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