Page 105 of Hockey Player Seeking Fan

“Everything about this place is drab. Except now that you’re here, there’s color.”

I grab her hand and bring her into the dining room.

“I have something for you.”

Her jaw drops, and she starts panicking. “Oh, no. Look, I love you, Tyler. I really do, and I’m a romantic. But this is way too soon.”

“What?” I frown. “What are you talking about?”

“You can’t propose to me! I mean, I would love it if you proposed to me—maybe not today or tomorrow or even next week. But in six months, a year, after we’ve really dated…”

“I’m not proposing, you silly girl,” I laugh loudly. “Oh, I love you. How did you think I was proposing?”

I make her sit down at the table and then open the fridge and grab the bouquet of twelve roses.

“These are for you.”

Then I walk into my bedroom and come back out with a bag.

“I have a box of chocolates—because you’re so sweet. I have some balloons to remind you that you’re delightful. I have a necklace because you sparkle like diamonds. I have a book of poetry because, frankly, I just think you would like it. And I have a letter,” I say, holding up an envelope, “that I wrote for you. And I’d like to read it to you, if you don’t mind.”

She nods slowly as she sniffs the roses. “Please, go ahead.”

I open the envelope, and I can feel all the emotions come rushing back—everything I felt when I wrote this letter.

To my dearest darling Erica,

There are nights when I lie alone in my bed, and all I can think about is the next day—what lies ahead, what’s to be. And oftentimes, there’s no joy. There’s no excitement, because it’s a monotony of the same things: the gym, practice, dinner, the bar, unengaged flirting, calling my sister, checking my bank account… just being.

And then you came into my life.

And my nights looked so much different. I thought about your smile, your silky hair, the way your lips part when you’re excited, when you’re sad, when you’re mad. The way your bright eyes light up in happiness when you see your friends and family. The way they light up when you see me. The way your heart races when I kiss you and touch you and lick you and feel you. The way you press the palm of your hand against my skin. The way you squeeze my biceps. The way you suck my cock. The way you just stare at me with big, wide, innocent eyes—eyes that love. Eyes that want to be loved.

The way you gave yourself to me.

The way you made me believe that I am a man worth loving. That I am a man who can love. That I am a man who is more than just a hockey player.

I love you more than all the stars in the sky. More than all the sand granules at the beach. More than every atom in theuniverse. I love you with a love so great that even God can feel its power.

And one day—one day, I want to marry you. One day, I want you to be the mother of my children. And I want them to feel the love that you bestow, because it is magnificent. It is all-consuming and loving, and I never want to let it go. I never want to let you go.

Erica Carrington, you are the light of my life.

There have been years where I’ve questioned who I am and where I’m going and if anyone really likes me for me. If they see me.

Some days, I didn’t even see myself. Some days I forgot who I was, what I wanted, what I needed, what I craved.

And you reminded me.

You reminded me that it’s okay to dream and to laugh and to float in the clouds and just hope.

I love you, Erica. And I give you these roses. I give you these chocolates. I give you this necklace. I give you this book. I give you this letter.

I give you my heart.

All because I want to show you that I am a man who will fight for you. I am a man who will love you. I am a man who will woo you. I am a man who is the epitome of what you’ve been searching for.

And I only hope that when you stare into my eyes and you see my heart, you know that I will always be here for you. I will always love you. I will never betray you. I will never look at another woman.