Page 109 of As You Ice It

“Time,” Parker hisses. “We can only buy you so much time.”

“Right.” Camden shakes his head, and then before I can even react, he drops to one knee, taking my hand in his. I feel like I’m about to melt straight through the floor and down to the sublevels, where someone will have to scrape a puddle of Naomi off the floor later.

“Naomi, I wanted your family to be here for this, and I also didn’t want to wait until the end of the game.”

“Which is what wetalkedabout doing so you wouldn’t have to rush,” Parker mutters from behind me, and someone shushes her.

“I couldn’t wait for two more periods of hockey to tell you that I love you and ask—Will you marry me?”

Behind me, several people sniff, and I find myself frozen, unable to respond, just staring at Camden. I have a sudden image of him the very first time I met him flash through my mind. Not on one knee, but crouched in Gator’s Groceries, reading a label.

And then, like some kind of movie playing at high speed, I can picture a future together. Laughing with Liam, Mike, and Jordan, with Panda running around our ankles.

Standing along the beach on Oakley while Liam rides a wave in next to Izzy.

Kissing under a sky full of stars.

I’m startled back into the moment by a wet nose, nudging my hand. Panda whines, looking up at me then at Camden as if to say,Answer the man before he has heart failure!

“Yes,” I whisper. “Yes, I love you, too, and would love nothing more than to marry you,CaptainCamden Cole.”

His smile tugs at something deep inside me, and I duck down to wrap my arms around him. He stands, lifting me with him as he does.

“I can’t believe you did this,” I whisper in his ear.

“I’m not done yet,” he says back. Then louder, “Hey, Liam—you still have the ring, right?”

“You trusted Liam with the ring?” I hiss.

Camden laughs, and from beside me, Liam says, “You both trusted me with your secrets, and I kept them. So, don’t come at me. Here.”

Setting me back down, Camden takes the box from Liam, who gives us both hugs before joining Izzy and Camden’s sisters. I had almost forgotten this whole room was full of people. People we know and love—but still.

I feel suddenly shy as Camden opens the box, revealing a ring with a massive turquoise stone.

“It’s an aquamarine,” he says. “I thought you might like a ring in your favorite color and?—”

I cut him off with a kiss. He doesn’t need to explain his choice—which is perfect—and he doesn’t need to say another word.

Though I’m normally not into PDA, especially in front of my kid, I don’t even care. Especially not when everyone around us starts to cheer.

Camden smiles against my mouth. “Just so you know—I should probably get back or I’m going to be in trouble with Coach.”

We pull apart, and he hugs me, lifting me up off my feet. I hear a champagne cork pop somewhere behind us.

“Eh. You’re the captain. What are they gonna do?”

“Good point,” he says.

“Congratulations, Captain.”

“Thank you. It’s been a pretty huge day. Did you really fly my family here?”

“I did. On your credit card, though. Are you going to say hi?”

“I should—but again, I need to get back to my game. I’ll be back after we destroy them. Also, my card is your card.”

“Sounds good to me. Hey, Cam?”

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