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The sound of a guitar has me turning my attention to the stage. Butterflies inside me flutter at the sight of Aiden in the center of the stage, sitting on a barstool. His sleeves are rolled up and his tie is loosened so the shirt’s first button is undone. He looks right at me and smiles. I cross my legs and fan myself.
He’s gorgeous. And mine.
He shakes his head, chuckling to himself. “This is for you, sweetheart. I love you.”
I mouth back, “I love you.”
His fingers move effortlessly across the strings. I’m not surprised in the least. They are experts at strumming me. Heat spreads through me, thinking about later and those fingers.
I look quickly at Sydney. “You are still keeping Lexi, right?” She nods and giggles.
When the words start, Aiden’s voice is husky and sexy. It reverberates deep down inside me. Tears pool in my eyes as he sings “H.O.L.Y” from Florida Georgia Line.
He closes his eyes momentarily. When he opens them they glisten. The words strip me naked and then cover me line by line as he pours his heart into them.
By the time he’s done, tears fall freely. Syd hands me a Kleenex. It’s then I notice that everyone has gone silent. I don’t even care. All I care about right now is the man stalking toward me.
When he stands in front of me, words have a hard time coming out. How do I tell him everything I just felt?
“Hallelujah,” I say in a singsong voice. Not quite what I was going for, but it was definitely a good part of the song.
His booming laugh echoes in the silent room. “God, I love you and your dirty mind.”
“Aiden, there’s so much more I want to say,” I say, sliding off the chair.
“Wait. Let me say what I need to first.” He grabs my hands and kisses each knuckle.
“Addison, I don’t even know where to start. Two years ago you jump-started my heart. You opened my eyes to a life I never knew existed. You told me once that my compass was stuck. Sweetheart, it wasn’t stuck. It was showing me exactly where I needed to go. Straight to you.” I can’t control the tears as he continues. “I can’t imagine doing life without you. I want to be there for you, especially when danger knocks on your door, which seems to be frequently,” he says, smirking, and the crowd laughs.
I narrow my eyes at him and stick my tongue out. “I know you don’t need a hero or a protector, even though I’d do that in a heartbeat, and I really wish you’d let me at least once.” I laugh this time, shaking my head. He’s my hero every day. He wipes away some of my tears as his thumb caresses my cheek. “Addison, I want to be your partner, your lover, your everything as long as I’m yours. The first chapter of our love story was dictated by fate. Let’s write the rest of it ourselves.” My breath hitches as he pulls out a black velvet box and kneels down. I have to cover my mouth to hide the sobbing sounds. “Addison Grace Mason, will you marry me?”
He opens the box and holy shit! It’s a huge solitaire outlined in tiny diamonds on a thin platinum band. It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. I don’t know much about engagement rings; hell, I don’t know a damn thing about them because I’ve never even thought about them, but this ring is perfect.
I pull Aiden off the ground, my hands shake as I bring my hands to his jaw. “I love you.” I’m having problems forming words. I’m frozen, wanting to preserve this moment forever. He looks at me, waiting. “Oh …” I nervously giggle. “Yes, yes, yes,” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck. Cheers explode around us.
He lets out a ragged breath and then pulls back, kissing away all my tears. He lays his forehead on mine. Our eyes lock. “I can’t believe I’m getting married,” I whisper. I pull back quickly. “Wait.”
“What?” he asks, an eyebrow pops up.
“You know I come as a package now, right?” His eyes soften.
The crowd goes quiet as Aiden looks around. Spotting Lexi on Max’s shoulders he yells out, “Hey, Tater Tot, what do you think? Are you okay with Addison being my wife and you both living with me?”
She claps and bounces. Max grabs her legs so she doesn’t fall backwards. “Yes. Yes. Yes,” she says, mirroring my own words. “But I call dibs on flower girl.”
I thought the cheers were deafening before, well the decibels just shot through the roof with laughter.
“You heard it,” Aiden says, taking out the ring. I open my hand, spreading my fingers out, and he slips on the ring. It fits perfect.
He picks me up and twirls me around. This is the best night of my life.
The happy birthdays now turn to congratulations. The drinks seem to come more frequently now. I guess Aiden was making sure I wasn’t going to be drunk for his proposal. Probably a good thing.
“Addison,” I turn around to Amy and Ted, who’s holding a sleeping Lexi in his arms. “We’re going to take Lexi back with us to the hotel. We told Syd to stay and celebrate with you both.”
“I love you both so much. Everything you’ve done for me in my life, I can’t thank you enough,” I say. I give them hugs and kiss Lexi on the cheek.
The celebration is turned up a notch. Syd, Harper, Bryn, and I take the stage a few times. As well as Aiden and the guys. Bryn finds me. “So the quarterback is hot,” she slurs a little.
