I recognized all of my teammates from ULA as well as other family and friends. There were a few boys from the LA Stars team and I nodded when I saw Josh. We were in an okay place and I was happy to forget about the drama of those few months.
My parents and Liam’s parents were chatting in the center of the room and I pressed a hand to my chest as a smile spread even wider. It meant so much to have them all there, especially when I knew how long the flight was from London to LA.
However, the best guest of all was standing directly between our parents, and once I saw him, I couldn’t keep my happiness from brimming over. Liam looked handsome as always in a tailored black suit. His hair was styled back in a way that highlighted his sharp features and cleanly shaven face.
I knew he could feel my gaze on him because he glanced up just as I bit down on my lower lip. His grey eyes pinned me to the spot and I was left disarmed as he made his way closer. His smile grew wider with every step, and as he drew near, Becca and Emily fell away from my sides as if on cue.
“Remind me to never let you wear red unless it’s in our bedroom,” he smirked, taking my appearance in with a confident air.
“Like the dress?”
“I love the woman wearing the dress,” he said, taking my hand in his. “C’mon, let me talk to you alone for a second.”
“But, I haven’t said hi to my parents,” I protested half-heartedly. There’d be plenty of time to talk to them; right now I wanted to tear this suit off of him.
“They’ll understand, c’mon,” he said, tugging me through the club and down a side hallway. There was a single black door at the end guarded by a burly looking bouncer. Liam nodded to the man, and the bouncer unlocked the door and held it open so that we could walk through.
I scrunched my brows in confusion. “Wait, where are we going?” I asked.
Liam glanced back at me with a wicked grin, but instead of answering, he led me further up the dim staircase. I thought we’d end up on a second level, maybe in a VIP lounge or something, but instead he pushed through a heavy door at the top of the stairs with a sign taped across that read “roof access.”
Light seeped inside the dim hallway, and in that moment, I realized this was much more important than a small chat. I swallowed past the lump in my throat as he continued to push the door open and then my breath froze in my lungs as I took in the sight before me.
He’d created a tiny slice of paradise up on that roof. Strings of twinkle lights danced overhead. Flowers of every color and variety overflowed in each direction; their fresh fragrance wrapping around me as Liam took my hand and pulled me outside.
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting him lead me forward and trying to calm my racing heart. When I blinked them open again, I glanced down toward the path of tea candles leading us toward the center of the roof—to the center of that little paradise.
That’s where we paused, where Liam’s dark eyes locked with mine. That’s where I watched him slide down to one knee and that’s where my hands flew to my face as I tried to stop the tears that were threatening to overflow.
It didn’t feel real. None of it could be real because then I’d have every single thing I could have dreamed for.
“Kinsley Bryant…” he began as the tears streamed down my cheeks. “At twenty-six, I never imagined finding someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Three months before I met you, I was looking for the next thrill, the next party, the next girl. And then I walked in and found you perched in my kitchen like the most beautifully confident creature I’d ever seen, and I knew you’d be a wildfire. You challenged me from the very beginning and I tried to resist you, but I knew even then that I wasn’t going to walk away without you by my side.”
He paused and I watched him slowly swallow down his emotions. Liam Wilder, tough as nails soccer player, was actually the biggest softie I knew.
“This past year I’ve watched you strive for your dreams, and I’ve loved standing alongside you every step of the way—”
His shaking hand reached down to pull out a small black box from the pocket of his suit.
“Liam…”
His eyes sought mine and I drowned in the absolute vulnerability of the moment.
“Marry me,” he said, cracking the box open gently.
A soft, happy sob broke through my throat.