Page 86 of The Love Trick

“Tonight’s the night, yeah?” Dylan asks me, raising a brow. “You think she’ll say yes?”

“Y’all should be married already,” Cam grumbles, rolling his eyes. “You could’ve been married a decade ago.”

I shrug. “If only.”

“I’m excited for you,” Kade chimes in, tossing his stuff into his bag. “Won’t be long before we’ll have a bunch of kids running around the rink. I think that’ll be awesome.”

“Why does everyone always assume that I’m going to marry Addy, and thenbam,there’ll be kids?” I chuckle.

“Have youseenthose little pictures Addy sends?” Kade bursts into a fit of obnoxious laughter. “I swear they never end. She’s so determined to figure out what your kids will look like since you have polar-opposite features.”

“She’s just… ambitious.” My face heats up. I can’t wait to build a family with Addy, and the grace she’s extended to me over figuring out how to be in a relationship has been incredible. However, I learned pretty quickly that I really was already boyfriend material. Funny how that works.

I spend the next twenty minutes taking a quick shower. I change into a pair of dark-wash jeans and a plain white T-shirt. We aren’t fancy, and we like it that way—most of the time. I double-check the ring is in my pocket and head out of the locker room, meeting Addy in the hallway.

“Hi,” she greets, batting her pretty lashes. “Where to?”

“The car?” I play dumb. “Where else?”

“Oh my gosh, are you going to tell me what we’re doing? What if I’m not dressed right?” She grabs my hand and lets me lead her out into the parking lot.

“You’ll just have to see.” I head straight for my Jeep and open the door for her.

“Ugh.” She pretends to huff as she climbs in. She folds her arms across her chest in the most adorable way, pretending to be annoyed as I jog around to the driver’s side and climb in. She’s going to besoconfused by where we’re about to go. But I can’t help it. It’s just too perfect.

We ride in silence as I navigate across town, finally pulling into a dimly lit parking lot—the same one where I told her I loved her for real.

She makes a funny face as I pull into a spot and put the car in park. “Blaze, are we going to some kind of party?”

“No.”

“Okay, this is just too weird. Why are we in a parking lot?”

I take a deep breath, roll down the windows, and grab my phone. I navigate to “Somebody to You”—the revamped version. The same song I’ve always dedicated to her. “Come on.”

“Blaze, what are we doing?”

“We’re dancing,” I tell her as I jump out. She reluctantly follows suit, and I meet her in the space in front of the Jeep. I pull her to me, and we start dancing in the headlights, in the middle of a desolate parking lot.

Addy giggles in my arms as I spin her in circles, neither one of us the most skilled at what we’re doing. I take a long, deep breath as the song comes to a close, and I tug her into me, giving her a kiss.

And then I drop to one knee.

Her eyes grow wide as I dig out the little black box in my pocket. “Oh my gosh…” Tears instantly begin to fall, and I haven’t even said anything yet.

“Adeline Harper Williams,” I begin, clearing my throat. “I was going to ask you to marry me at the hockey rink, but that seemed a little too cliché, so … I brought you to the very place where I finally made things right between us. I’ve spent my whole life wanting a family and a place to call home. And you’ve become just that. I love you. And I want to make a home with you. Will you marry—”

“YES!” Addy shouts before I can even finish.

I burst into laughter as she throws her arms around my neck, planting a kiss right on my mouth with a force that nearly takes me to the ground. I deepen the kiss as the song starts to repeat, knowing I’llneverget enough of her.

Forever.

Extended Epilogue

Addy

Four months later…

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