Page 189 of Grand Love

I nod through my tears as I look down at the beautiful ring he holds between his fingers. “Yes!” I whisper. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” I proclaim, getting louder by the second.

His smile, so full and perfect, lights up his entire face. Scooping me up from behind the knees he thrusts me up into the air. “She said yes!” His chest rumbles with laughter beneath my thighs.

I look down at him, my hands linked in his hair. “I love you,” I promise him.

“I love you too.” It feels like forever as we stand looking into each other’s eyes, and I know that a piece of paper could never compare to the vow we make there and then. I want to be Mrs Lowell, that alone makes me crave the words that will bind us together one day, but the actual words—our vows, they are branded in our love, in a look, unspoken.

Cheers fill the entire penthouse as Elliot, Charlie, Megan, Ellis, Scarlet, and Lance all spill from the kitchen. “Congratulations!” Elliot grins, kissing Mason’s head first and then mine, wrapping his arms around the both of us.

Scarlet and Megan are just as emotional as me and Lucy, and we steal a moment as Scarlet hands me Ellis. “God, I cannot believe you’re engaged, Nina,” Lucy’s voice wobbles as she inspects the ring on my finger. “It’s phenomenal.”

“It’s Mum’s.” Scarlet tells me, hugging my waist. “It’s perfect.”

“It is.” I look down at Ellis as my throat burns, getting thicker and thicker with emotion by the second. Everyone fusses around us. Champagne is poured and more hugs and kisses are shared than I have ever seen shared between a group of grown men.

It’s late into the evening when everyone has left that I crawl into bed and completely bawl my eyes out. Mason pulls me to him the second I rest my head on the pillow.

“I’m sorry,” I cry.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” he whispers into my hair, holding me tight in his arms.

“I… I—”

He sits up in the bed and pulls me to straddle his waist. His thumbs swipe at my tears as he holds my face. “Talk to me, Angel.”

“I don’t think I ever allowed myself to believe in all of this.” I spin the diamond-encrusted band around my finger. “Growing up, none of this was real to me. It was a dream that I didn’t think I wanted. I danced a lot, and it became my only focus. It became my dream.” I take a breath and try to calm my breathing. “When I saw the studio today, I was so happy. It’s truly incredible and I will dance again—I know that.” Mason looks at me intently, his eyes narrowed and dark. “But when I came here, saw you, and then our family, the boys and girls, Ellis and Vin.” I roll my lips, needing him to hold me closer, for longer—forever. “Mase, it made me realise that dancing was just something I did whilst I waited for you. It felt real. And for the first time in my life, it was as if all my dreams came true.”

His eyes shine. Our lips brush. And then he rolls us, telling me everything he can’t with his words.

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