Page 109 of Yours to Keep

SULLIVAN

The lights were bright on the fifth floor tonight. The newly finished hallways gleamed and the glass walls were crystal clear. We’d tried to turn it into the kind of place people trusted instinctively, where everyone who walked in would know on sight that it was not only a facility on the cutting edge, but also that a lot of thought had gone into every detail.

I stood at the podium stand with my hands folded on the metal top, my heart hammering so hard I was surprised the mic didn’t pick it up. When I started speaking, I was even more surprised that my voice was steady despite everything crashing around inside me.

“Thank you all for being here,” I began. “Today is the official opening of Crowne Medical’s Advanced Testing and Research Center. This facility represents innovation, precision diagnostics, and a commitment to saving lives before emergencies ever happen.”

Polite applause rippled through the crowd. Bree stood near the front with her parents, her dark hair tucked behind her ears and her blue eyes wide and happy. She smiled at me the way she always did now, like she believed in me.

Despite the fact that I saw that smile every damn day, it still nearly undid me. Especially tonight.

“This center exists because I believe medicine should catch illness before it’s too late. Before it steals futures or people.” I paused to let the words sink in. “A lot of you don’t know this, but my mother didn’t get that chance, and we’re hopeful that here, we’ll be able to help people like her. Our aim is to work every day toward a brighter, healthier future. A future where things that should be invisible become visible and where medical dreams turn into reality.”

I inhaled a deep breath. “For a long time, I thought the answer to all that was technology alone. Better machines. Faster data. More accurate reporting.”

I looked straight at Bree then. “I was wrong.”

A murmur moved through the audience and I waited until it died down a bit. “It turns out the most important part of any system isn’t only the technology that drives it, but the people who care enough to fight for it. To ask the hard questions and to remind you that lives don’t always fit neatly into data or machinery.”

I stepped away from the podium. “And the person who taught me that, who changed how I see this hospital, this work, and myself, is standing right there.”

Bree’s smile faltered into confusion. Her mother’s hand flew to her mouth, but her father just grinned. I crossed the distance between us, every step deliberate. When I reached her, I took her hands in mine, feeling them tremble.

“This was never really about the fifth floor,” I said quietly, though the mic still carried my voice. “It was about you, sweetheart.”

I dropped to one knee and the entire room sucked in a collective gasp. The grand opening of this Center tonight had been all about this moment for me, and although I was damn proud of what we had here, I couldn’t think about anything else right now.

There was only her, only my feisty, blue-eyed Flyer Phantom who’d turned my life upside down and, in doing so, had flipped my world right way up. I held her gaze and her hands, my throat constricting and my eyes burning, but I managed to say the words anyway because I honestly couldn’t hold them back anymore.

“Bree,” I said. “You made me better when I didn’t think I needed to be. You challenged me, loved me, and refused to let me hide behind any excuse. You didn’t care about money or power. You only cared about what was right and I don’t want a future without you telling me when I’m wrong, or without you holding my hand when I’m right.”

I pulled the ring out of my pocket, my hands shaking too. “Will you marry me?”

For one, seemingly endless second, she just stared at me. Then she laughed, a broken, beautiful sound, and nodded, tears spilling freely down her cheeks.

“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “Yes. Of course I will.”

The room exploded into applause, cheers, and someone whooping loud enough to echo off the glass walls. I stood up and kissed her, absolutely confident as cameras flashed and champagne appeared from the caterers.

As soon as we broke apart, Ellora tackled Bree in a hug. Holden clapped me on the back like I’d just won a championship. Mercedes was crying openly while Kody filmed everything. Kaden lifted Brooke off the floor in a spin.

Liana stood a few steps back, smiling like she’d won an argument she’d been having with me for years—and in a way, she had. She’d been telling me all along that one day a woman was going to come along and completely sweep me off my feet when I least expected it.

Mr. Bennett came up to me a moment later, grinning from ear to ear. Mrs. Bennett clung to his arm. He held out his hand, but she embraced me from the other side, enveloping me in her arms as if I belonged in their family.

“It’s about time,” Mr. Bennett said, giving my hand a firm shake. “After you asked my permission, I thought we’d be getting the news the very next day.”

Mrs. Bennett’s hug was fierce and warm. “Don’t mind him. That was perfect. It was the right choice, doing it tonight. This place is the reason you two had so many differences of opinion. Without it, you might never have clashed hard enough to fall in love.”

“Interesting way you have of looking at falling in love, darling,” Mr. Bennett said, letting go of me to slide an arm around her shoulders. He pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. “Although Bree always has been fiery. I knew she’d never fall for some boring guy without any backbone.”

“Sullivan certainly isn’t that.” Mrs. Bennett reached out and squeezed my arm, her blue eyes twinkling when they met mine. “Welcome to the family, Sully.”

She winked and I groaned, my head shaking as I realized she’d known about the flyers all along. It didn’t matter anymore, though. These people had welcomed me in from the get-go, treating me like family from the very first time we’d met.

I glanced to where Bree stood with our friends just a few feet away, her ring catching the light as she talked animatedly, laughter spilling out of her. She looked radiant. Her mom gave me a playful, gentle shove.

“We didn’t mean to steal you away from your fiancée. Go to her. We just wanted to congratulate you. Now, if I can just fight my way through those girls to get to my daughter, maybe I can do the same with her.”