Chapter Fourteen
ALLEY
THEN
Our patient, David, gasps for air and shoots upright, arms outstretched like he’s in a zombie apocalypse.
“Holy shit,” Zach mutters as we both brace our hands around his back and chest, trying to calm and stabilize him. He fights us, his body thrashing—he’s freakishly strong. He’s also a very large man, and my small frame struggles to manage someone his size.
“David, you’re okay. You’re in recovery,” I reassure him firmly, but he’s disoriented, arms flailing.
His hand whips back, connecting hard with my cheekbone before I can dodge it.
“Ow! God.” I wince, leaning into him, pressing my weight against his shoulder as we help lower him back down again.
“Cindy?” Zach calls out urgently. “We need a third over here!”
Cindy rushes over, and between the three of us, we manage to settle David. Wild moments like this happen in PACU sometimes.
“You okay, Al?” Zach asks.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say, forcing a smile. But damn, my cheek throbs. That’s definitely going to leave a bruise.
A few minutes later, David is fully coming to, no longer fighting us, and Cindy leaves to attend another patient.
Zach turns to me. “So, when’s the engagement party?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Is that something we have to do? I’d rather just have close friends over to celebrate.”
“Call it whatever you want, babe. But there has to be a celebration of some kind.”
A slow smile spreads across my face. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do something. Does Friday work for you and Joey? Everyone can come over to our place. We’ll order food, have drinks, play some games. Keep it chill.”
Zach snorts. “Is Matt coming? Because you know ‘chill’ isn’t in his vocabulary.” He shakes his head. “Friday works for us, but I guarantee the second Matt finds out, this is turning into a party at his place.”
“No. No way in hell am I letting Matt take over. I don’t want a big thing, just an intimate celebration. Something I don’t have to get dressed up for.”
Zach grins. “Yeah, good luck with that. So, how does it feel to be engaged?”
“It feels… surreal. Exciting. Jensen’s amazing.”
“He really is. You did good.” Zach pauses, then smirks. “Speaking of good, has Matt decided to play for both teams yet? Because that is an ass I wouldn’t mind tapping.”
A laugh bursts out of me. “Oh my God! You and everyone else. Get in line.” My hospital pager interrupts before Zach can respond. It’s Cindy asking about a patient. I answer quickly, then turn back to him. “You can’t say stuff like that. What would Joey think?”
“Please. You’ve seen Matt. Joey’s seen Matt. Trust me, Joey’s thinking the same thing. Hello, threesome?”
I shake my head in utter disbelief. “You’re unbelievable.”
By now, my friends and Jensen’s have all met plenty of times, plus I tell Zach almost everything. Of course, my friends are obsessed with Matt, and they never let me forget it.
Zach’s expression shifts, turning serious. “All joking aside, if you need any help for Friday, Joey would love to be of service.”
I give him a playful shove. “I don’t know how Joey puts up with you.”
It’s Monday. Yesterday, Jensen took me to my first football game—and proposed. I know, it doesn’t sound like the kind of proposal that would make a girl swoon, but trust me, it was. It was so damn swoon-worthy, tears threaten just thinking about it.
The only thing I might’ve changed, had I known beforehand, was my outfit. No woman dreams of getting engaged wearing a football jersey. But then again, Jensen loves that Jets jersey on me, so maybe I wouldn’t change a thing after all.
It was halftime. The stadium buzzed in the background, the TV was muted. Just another Sunday—except it wasn’t.
I sat back against the arm of the suite’s sofa, legs draped across Jensen’s lap, his hand resting on my thigh, thumb brushing lightly over my jeans.
I’d been laughing at something he’d said when suddenly his expression turned serious.
He just watched me, his eyes bright with admiration, his gaze burning straight through to my soul.
The way he looked at me stole my breath away.
“Marry me,” he blurted out.
I laughed, thinking it was a joke. “Ha. Okay. Maybe if they win.” I nudged his arm.
“No, I’m serious, Al.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box.
No theatrics. No kneeling. Just Jensen, grinning, opening the box, and asking again.
“You and me. This. It’s my favorite thing in the world.
I knew I was going to ask you, I just didn’t know when.
But sitting here with you, watching football, just us…
I don’t want that to ever change. I don’t ever want to watch another game without you. Will you marry me?”
I didn’t even look at the ring. I didn’t need to.
It could’ve been tinfoil twisted into a circle, and I still would’ve said yes.
Because it was Jensen. The guy who loves me even though we’re complete opposites.
The one who’d rather go out but stays in because he knows I’m an introvert.
The one who makes me feel sexy even in my ugly hospital scrubs.
The one who doesn’t care that I’m obsessive about cleaning or that I won’t let him come in my mouth.
The guy who doesn’t just love me despite my flaws—he loves my flaws.
The one I share everything with. The one who makes me laugh until it hurts. The one who carries my burdens as if they’re his own. My best friend. The guy who took something as simple as football and made it special. Made it ours. Every game from now on would remind us of this moment.
I don’t know how he does it, but he always finds a way to turn ordinary moments into once-in-a-lifetime memories.
I looked at him, nodding as a smile spread so wide it stretched my cheeks. “Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes.”
Jensen slid the ring onto my finger. And the kiss that followed? To die for. Beautiful. Hot. Romantic as hell. I ended up straddling his lap, and we made out right there—a little more than that too.
We never finished watching the game. I couldn’t even tell you who won. Eventually, I looked at the ring, and it couldn’t have been more me. It was simple, delicate diamonds set into a band—just enough to say, I’m taken. It was perfect. It was us: classic, beautiful, and each other’s.
Zach’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “So, are you already dreaming up big wedding plans?”
I scoff. “Please. You know me. I don’t want a big wedding.
What, with my grand total of fifteen people to invite?
I’d be fine getting married in Vegas.” I laugh, but as I say it, something shifts.
It hits me. It stings. I don’t have parents.
No real family. Just Michael, maybe my aunt and uncle, and a few close friends.
I shake it off. “Honestly, I haven’t thought about it yet. It’s still so new. But maybe end of summer next year? Early fall? I don’t know. I’m just excited to marry Jensen. I don’t really care how it’s done.”
Zach gapes at me. “Knock that off right now. You have so many people in your corner who love you, and you deserve the best of the best. And you better be prepared for an elaborate wedding. Jensen has a big family, plus they’re loaded.
You know how the wealthy do it in New York. I don’t see Vegas happening, babe.”
I shrug. “It is what it is, I guess. As long as I go home as Alley Adams, I don’t care where it happens.”
“Okay, fine. At least tell me you’ve thought about what you want your dress to look like.” But before I can answer, he huffs. “Of course you haven’t. You don’t care about the dress either. Honestly, Al, it’s a good thing you have Scarlett and me for these things.”
I just laugh. “You know I don’t care about that stuff, Zach. And if Jensen’s mom wants a whole to-do, then I guess I’m having a big-ass wedding.”
“You’re crazy, boo. Are you inviting your dad?”
“Why would I? So he can forget to show up?” A self-deprecating laugh slips out. “No. Michael can walk me down the aisle. He’s been the only father figure in my life for the past decade.”
Zach frowns. “But what about the first sixteen years of your life? Doesn’t that count for something?”
“If doing a half-assed job for half my life makes someone a good father, then sure. He was a great dad for sixteen years.”
I feel his stare on the side of my face. I know what he’s thinking. And there is no way in hell I’m inviting my father.
“Hey, help me move this gurney,” I say, interrupting the awkward silence before he can push it further.
He exhales. “Alright. Whatever you need.”