Page 83 of No More Secrets

“First off, I think you’re all incredible. Not only the couple of you who are wearing Eagles jerseys but all of you for being part of such a wonderful group. It was only this last year that I felt I had to hide, that I kept a secret so big that I thought my world would implode.” I risked a glance at Jayden. Pearce was at his side, his hand on my boyfriend’s shoulder, a steady support that I appreciated. Jayden’s eyes remained on me, though, and when I made eye contact, his mouth twitched before he offered me a tender smile.

“So about a year ago, you may have witnessed what I like to think of as a pretty spectacular kiss.” When the spectators and the guys behind me cheered, I laughed loudly, ignoring the heat rushing to my cheeks. “I know, I know, that’s how I reacted too, but the thing was, I didn’t let the guy over there know that all it took was that one kiss for me to realize something had been missing in my life all of these years.” I shrugged and huffed out a breath. “I’d only just had my rainbow epiphany and figured that maybe the long and wonderful list of letters was one I identified with. But with just a toe out, I jumped right back into the closet.”

A few sympathetic nods were directed back at me. Fuck, I needed to move this on. Share my truth but get to the good stuff so I could win back my man and get everyone happy and on a high.

“But just a couple of months back, you may have heard that Jayden Moore was injured in Australia.”

“While riding a kangaroo,” he hollered out, amusement in every word. Happiness swirled around me, so relieved he couldn’t help himself but get in on the storytelling in some way.

I chuckled. “I was going to say wrestling with a crocodile, but that’s fine. But yeah,” I refocused on the young faces before me, “when I flew out to be with him, we finally figured it out. I admitted how I felt, and was almost bowled over when Jayden told me he wanted to give our relationship a try. But we’re not engaged—”

“Yet!”

My attention snapped to Mike in the audience, who stood and gave a thumbs-up. It was then I noticed his T-shirt.Free Dad Hugswas emblazoned in the colors of the rainbow. “Thanks, Mr. Moore.”

“Anytime, son.” He sat to a new round of cheers.

“So, we’re not engaged… actually, we’ve been struggling to put a label on exactly what we are.” Unzipping my hoodie, I pulled it off, revealing my T-shirt, again courtesy of the magic of Max and money. I faced the spectators first before turning fully to Jayden so he could read.

Will you go steady with me and be my…

One by one, the players tugged off their hoodies or jerseys to reveal their differently printed tees. T-shirts revealed, they stood at my side, so Jayden could read the printed words—as could our spectators from the same words printed at the backs.

A wave of hollers and stamping feet blew up the small court, crazy loud for only fifty or so people, and Jayden stood there laughing loudly, shaking his head.

Lover. Boyfriend. Sugarplum. Other half. Beau. Intended. Love.The list continued, filled with other dodgy alternatives Max and I had googled yesterday evening.

I stepped toward Jayden, lowering the mic.

“You almost made me shit myself. I thought you were going to propose.”

I matched his grin. “You heard your dad. Not yet.”

“And what’s that?” He indicated the trophy that had been dangling from my fingers all this time.

“I promised you a trophy for a skill set of yours.”

His eyes lit up. “Hell yeah, does it say blo—”

“No.” I cut him off quickly and shook my head. “I had to be more subtle than that.” I passed it to him, and he chuckled. “So what do you say? Can we choose a word, put a label to it, and make it official?”

He stepped into my space. “How about I just say you’re mine?”

Feeling giddy at his declaration, I tugged him toward me and pressed my mouth to his. The kiss was brief and tender and did nothing to show him just how sorry I was or just how grateful I was that he’d agreed to be mine. Pulling away, more than aware we had an audience, one that included a video camera, I stared into his eyes. “I love you.”

“I know.” He dotted a kiss to my mouth. “I love you. And you can show me how much later. Once we’ve kicked these guys’ asses.”

I didn’t miss the heat in his eyes and was more than okay with whatever he wanted to do. The pain in my ass loved me. I grinned. “Let’s go show them how to play some ball.”

CHAPTER23

JAYDEN

The day had been incredible.

From the moment Sutton stepped onto the court, my heart had lodged in my throat. It had struggled to move, especially when I realized what he was doing. Sutton never pulled stunts like this. Ever. And that he did, meant all the more to me.

While the college players may have kicked our asses, I very loudly made it clear that it was only because twenty fresh-faced players had an advantage on the nine of us. We’d had fun, though, and long after the youth group had gone, and after we’d made sure Dad had got to his hotel safely, it was finally just Sutton and me.

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