Page 4 of Score Her Heart

Fi was one of my oldest and best friends, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to her. Fiona Gallagher was fucking FIIINNE. With her slender frame, nice ass, and long, bright red hair, she was my dream girl. Always had been, always would be. Probably until the day I died, if I were being honest. She still made my dick stand at attention, which wasn’t something that was supposed to happen when you thought about your best friend. Even if you lost your virginity to that best friend and had already been inside her multiple times.

We were both so different now, but clearly not older and wiser if I was asking her to marry me on the spot right now. Who does that? Me, apparently.

I watched her, kind of impressed as she downed the rest of her whiskey. “Riley…” she trailed off.

I looked her dead in the eye. “Fiona.”

She glared daggers at me, and I couldn’t help but think about how cute she was when she was mad. I think my thing for fiery redheads started with the woman sitting next to me.

“You’re not serious!” she shrieked.

I shrugged. “What? You were supposed to get married today anyway! What’s the difference if it’s to a different groom?”

“A very big difference. I mean, we need to get a license and figure out—”

I cut her off, “Are you saying yes?”

Her eyes softened, and the hungry way she was looking at me made me think she was also remembering all those times sneaking around in high school. “You would seriously do this? You would marry me right on the spot?” she asked.

“Is that a yes?” I repeated.

She stared at me bemused but then nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay. Yes, fine, let’s get married. What the fuck, YOLO, I guess? Is that what the kids are saying these days?”

She was babbling, and it was so cute. We were still the best of friends after all these years, but we rarely got to see each other. Partly because I traveled a lot due to my hockey career, but also because her douchebag ex never liked me. She’d deny it, but I think he actively tried to keep us apart. The day I met him five years ago, I knew he was a little weasel, but she had seemed happy. She deserved happiness, and I guess that’s also why I suggested this foolish plan to marry me instead. I think in the back of my mind, I was hoping if we went through with this, maybe she would fall in love with me in the process. It wasn’t a very good plan or a smart one, but if she really wanted to go through with this, I was going to try my hardest to make her happy.

I stood up off the barstool and bent down to kiss her cheek. “I’ll be back.”

I brushed past a bridesmaid who was heading towards Fi and found her parents with solemn faces talking to the hotel staff. Fi’s dad saw me coming towards them. He was a tall man with fading red hair that was seventy-five percent grey and had been thinning for a long time. My hands started to sweat at the question I was about to ask him. Maybe this was a bad idea. Who proposes to their best friend moments after she got left at the altar? I wiped my hands on my dress pants as I approached Mr. Gallagher.

He shook my hand firmly and clapped his other one on my shoulder. “Riley!” he greeted.

“Mr. Gallagher.”

“It’s good to see you. Wish it was under better circumstances,” he told me with a grimace.

“Yeah, I heard about that. Listen, I have a solution. It may sound a little reckless, but she agreed so…”

Fi’s mom stopped mid-sentence when she saw me and stepped away from the hotel staff to see what was going on. “Riley?” she asked cautiously.

“So I want to ask for your blessing...” I continued.

“My blessing?” Mr. Gallagher asked with a confused look on his face.

“Riley, what are you saying?” Mrs. Gallagher asked, but she had this sparkle in her eyes. Of course she did. My mom and Fi’s mom had practically been planning our wedding since before we were even born.

I ran a hand down my jaw. “What if I married your daughter instead?”

“Like right now?” Mrs. Gallagher asked, but she was beaming like I had told her she won the lottery. Katherine Gallagher had been praying to the hockey gods for me to marry her daughter our entire lives. No wonder she was on board about this. She wasn’t even questioning my motives here.

Cillian Gallagher was a different story. The middle-aged man scowled at me and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why?”

“Why?” I echoed.

“Yes, Riley, why do you want to marry my daughter?” he elaborated and gave me a stern look. “You aren’t exactly the type of guy who wants to be tied down.”