Page 164 of Only in Your Dreams

“I’m sorry—” she starts.

“Don’t be. You did good, kid,” Noah interrupts, squeezing her shoulder. “I assume you’ll both be sticking around your apartment to celebrate in peace. I’ll see you back in Oakwood.”

The second he’s out of earshot, I turn Mel into the wall and plant my mouth on her before she can try for another pointless apology. Like having her be this light and content isn’t worth every minute of that Huskies loss.

She goes for it, anyway. “It could have been either one of us out there.” She runs her fingers through my hair. “I can’t believe how close it was. I’m sorry you lost.”

“Are you happy?” I ask her with a kiss to the tip of her nose.

“So happy.” Mel nods, rosy-cheeked, rubbing her lips together. “And it’s not just that, out there.Youmake me happy. I can’t wait for you to move out here. To kick some ass together next season.”

Every time I think a moment between us can’t be topped, it happens. This night should be a low for me, but I’m so fucking proud of her, so glad I get to be the one to do life with this woman.

This, here. This is the moment that can’t be topped.

“Then I didn’t lose. Not at all.”

In the pocket of my jacket, I pull out a slightly crumpled piece of yellow legal paper. Unfold it to show her the wordsZac’s Playbookwritten at the very top, and the six words I scribbled down that morning on the porch, when we both wrote down the ways we’d work at getting our lives on track.

I was supposed to write down the ways I’d get the team here tonight, playing in the championship game after two abysmal seasons.

But then she challenged me to think through the ways I’d work to get myself happy. So, I did.

Get her happy. Keep her happy.

Melody takes my playbook from me, staring down at the words.

“This is all you wrote?”

“It’s all that matters, Clover.”

She takes my face between her hands. “God, I love you.” I can tell she’s working hard not to tear up. “Thank you for loving me that much.”

I feel so full right now, I could explode. It’s the same feeling I get every single time we manage to get a rare day together. Mel looks at me like she’s feeling it, too. She nibbles at her lip, holding my face between her hands, and for a while all we do is listen to the cheers out on the field. Someone on the mic announcing the game’s MVP, the Knights coach making a speech I don’t catch a word of.

It kind of feels like I’m in the middle of a surreal dream with my perfect woman, the woman I’ve always wanted, and I could wake up and lose all this any minute.

I don’t know what the hell I’m waiting for anymore.

I could wait until we’re home, back in Oakwood Bay. I could take out the little velvet box rolled up in a pair of socks where it’s been hiding for the past couple of months, just waiting for the right moment. I could wait for things to fall into place like I did ten years ago, the night she asked me to kiss her. Or—

“Marry me.”

Melody’s lips part. It takes her a second to catch up. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Mel, I swear I’ll do it right the minute we get home. I’ll get down on a knee, give you a ring, light candles, plan a party with our families, the whole thing. But I love you so fucking much and I’m done letting perfectly good moments pass us by.” I push the hair off her shoulder, loving the ways her eyes round at the words. “Clover, ten years ago, I tied shoelaces around our wrists, pretending it meant you were mine and I was yours. I wanted it to be that way so bad.”

“It was,” she tells me. “It was that way. We just didn’t know it.”

I nod. It still doesn’t feel real. “Now that I know it, there’s not a single thing I want more than to keep it that way. For good. To keep making you happy, for good. Marry me, Clover.”

Mel squeezes her eyes shut, little wet beads forming in the corners. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this particular shade of pink on her cheeks, but it’s my new mission in life to get it to reappear daily.

“I can’t stand how sappy you are,” she mumbles. “You’re too sweet for your own good.”

“You love it.” I grin, fishing a long strand of silver confetti from her hair. “Is that a yes?”

“Of course, it’s a yes, Zac. You’ve always been a yes.”

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