Page 96 of Tangled Up In You
“I’m not doing it for you,” Corbin answered before kissing my forehead. “I can’t wait to go home with you and start building the life we’ve always talked about. I’m excited about coaching the high school guys and getting to know the kids better, but most importantly, I can’t wait to spend every day with you.That’swhat I want. To love you with everything I have until my heart stops beating.”
“You should put that in your vows,” I said.
Corbin flashed his heart melting—boner inducing and probably panty dropping too—smile. “I still say we should go allRomeo and Julieton that shit.”
“And do what? Drink poison and stab ourselves at the altar?”
He laughed. “Just the romantic part of it.”
I groaned and buried my face in his neck. “Youdoknow that’s a tragedy, right? Pretty sure we’ve already been over this. A million times.”
He glided his hand up and down my spine before resting it on my lower back. Leaning closer, he whispered in my ear, “It’s a romance.”
I playfully shoved his chest and backed up. “You’re delusional.”
“And you’re adorkable,” he countered, striding forward and pulling me back against him.
Our lips were inches apart as he stared down into my eyes.
When it came to true love, fate, and happily ever after, I’d been a skeptic. Corbin was the exception to it all. He’d made me believe in soulmates; that there was one person in the world that completed you, like a puzzle finding its missing piece.
“Honestly, I don’t care if we have aRomeo and Julietwedding, or if we get married down at the court house,” I said, staring into the gray depths of his eyes and feeling myself get lost in his gaze. “Just as long as you’re with me.”
Corbin smiled, causing the edges of his eyes to crinkle. So much love shown through those eyes.
“So,” he said, running his hand up my side. “Does this mean I need to order a dress instead of a tux? Because I call dibs on Juliet.”
I shook my head and looked at him like he’d lost his mind.
But I loved it—the way he made me laugh so easily, the warmth in his eyes as he held me in his arms, and the softness of his voice as he leaned in and whispered in my ear that he loved me. There were so many sides to him; the football star, the model, the carefree immature side followed by the one with in-depth thoughts and sharp wit, and then the sweet, romantic side that turned even the most disbelieving of people—me—into saps.
Our love story was far from a fairy tale, but it was ours. And it was real. I didn’t need a knight in shining armor; I just needed a dork with a dimpled smile and whose heart beat on the same frequency as mine.
Chapter 30
Corbin
One Year Later- October
So much had happened in the past year. The closing of one door, but the opening of so many others. My career in pro-football was over, and while it had been bittersweet at first, I was ready to turn the next page in the story of my life. I’d taken the necessary courses in the winter to get my coaching license, and I’d started coaching high school football that August.
I loved it even more than I thought I would.
Hunter had gone to most of my games for my last season of playing ball. I’d stood on the field with my teammates, hearing the crowd roaring around us, and somewhere in the stands, I knew he was watching. Cheering.
After the games, I’d tugged him to me, kissing him in front of everyone. We’d go out with my teammates afterward and party sometimes, and other times we’d choose to have a nice, quiet dinner out, but we always ended up in the same place—tangled up in each other in bed.
The Raptors had a great season, and although we lost some games, we’d also won some. But win or lose, I’d always played my hardest, giving it my all. I had cried after my final game, both afraid to let go of what I knew and excited to move forward.
That’s what I loved about life—the unexpected moments that led you from one path and to another.
And now that path was leading me down the aisle to marry the love of my life.
The smell of fall was all around us: which was fitting seeing as we were outside in a meadow, surrounded by trees in the midst of brightly changing leaves of orange, yellow, and red. It had rained the day before, so the air smelled damp and earthy as well as crisp. Someone had their fireplace going nearby, and the scent of wood smoke was carried with the light breeze.
The willow tree—mine and Hunter’s tree—was to my right, and its long branches swayed with the wind. We’d wanted the wedding to be small, so only our closest friends and family were in attendance.
Veronica sat in the front row, on my side, with her boyfriend, Raoul. She wore a red gown that looked amazing with her subtly tan complexion and wavy blonde hair. A smoky gray eyeshadow covered her eyelids and made her blue eyes pop like sapphires.
