23. Lilah
LILAH
Music makes my soul sing and my heart soar. What do you do?
—Lilah’s Secret Thoughts
“ I don’t want you alone for even a minute tonight, Lilah. Promise me you’ll either be with Jamie or Maverick or Maddox or Noah at all times. Keep your panic button on you, and let Xander hang as close as he wants to. The arena is going to be a fucking madhouse.” Killian tucks my hair behind my ears. “And you find my team and stay with them from the minute we get there until you have to take your seat.”
“Killian—I promise you, I’ll do whatever you need me to do, so stop worrying about me and focus on you.” I press up on my toes and kiss his jaw. “I love you. I’ll be safe. Now go before you’re late and your dad gets mad at me.”
“I’m not worried about the fight, princess. That’ll be the easiest part of the night. I’m worried about all the attention you’re going to get that I won’t be able to protect you from.”
I bury my face in his hoodie and breathe in his clean, crisp, oceany scent. “We should sneak away to a beach as soon as my tour is over. Just you and me and a hut over the ocean, where no one can see us and you can destroy every bikini I bring.”
“With my teeth?” He grins, and I melt into a puddle of goo.
“Yeah, champ. With your teeth. Now go win me a fight, so I can plan this for us without your schedule getting in our way.” I push him away and smack his ass. “I love you, St. James.”
“So fucking much, Lilah Belle... So fucking much.”
Killian
“ D id you get it?” Maddox asks as Hudson tapes my hands, while the official stands there, watching and waiting to sign off on the move.
I nod but don’t say anything. I’m gonna kill my cousin, and judging by the shit-eating grin on his pretty-boy face, the fucker knows it too.
“Get what?” Hudson asks as he switches to the other hand.
“Dude,” Rome joins in, and I’m gonna fucking kill them all. “Did you get the ring?”
Hudson stops taping and stares at me. “Ho-ly fucking shit. Are you asking Lilah Ryan to marry you?”
“What the hell are you all gossiping like little fucking girls about over here?” Dad bitches, and Hud goes back to taping my right hand. Dad looks at each of us. “Nothing to say now? Good . Get your head in the fight.”
Hudson rips the tape, then taps my knuckles and moves so the official can sign off on them. We’re three fights out from mine. A solid twenty minutes, and the excess energy kicks in right about now, just like it does every time. Tonight, it’s worse though. I walk over to Maddox when he pulls out his phone. “Is she out there?”
“Yeah, Mav’s got her. You want her in here?”
“Yeah.” For the first time in hours, the calm starts to settle, even with the look Dad is throwing my way.
A minute later, the doors open, and Maverick and Lilah walk in, and my head spins.
She’s wearing a short purple-ish pink dress that ties around her neck and makes her tits look incredible. Her hair is pulled back at the sides and falling down her back in waves. Stacks of gold bracelets are around both wrists, and that old golden, strawberry pendant is around her neck. And when she sees me, her glossy pink lips split into the biggest smile as she practically runs into my arms. “Damn, baby. You look fucking hot.”
“So do you, babe. You look kinda scary for everyone who isn’t me,” she teases, then looks around the room at all the people. “I don’t think I realized your team is this big.”
“It’s fight night. Everyone is here. But Hudson, Dad, and Maddox are the only ones who will be on the cage.” I look around the room and catch Hud’s eye. “Hey. Can I have the room for a few minutes?”
He nods and fist-bumps me. “Focus, kid.”
I nod and watch as he clears the room.
Dad doesn’t look thrilled, but he leaves.
“Look at you, hot shot. You’re all sorts of important,” she teases, and this right here, this is what I needed. Her . She wraps her arms around my neck and digs her thumb into the muscle. “What’s the first thing you want to eat after the fight?”
“You.” I grin and lick my lips. “All night long.”
“Killian...” she giggles, and that sound. Fuck me, that sound is everything.
“Fine. Tomorrow, I want blueberry pancakes from The Busy Bee. With a side of bacon and sausage, and real maple syrup, and a bigass glass of orange juice.” I rest my gloved hands on her perfect ass and pull her closer. “But I swear to God, Lilah. You’re all I want to eat tonight. I don’t want to party. No bars. No clubs. I want to go home with you and celebrate.” Truer words...
“Sounds like you better win then, champ.”
I pull the ring from my pocket and hold it up in front of her. “Pretty sure that’s up to you, princess.”
“Killian,” she gasps and steps back. “Oh my God.”
Her smile is big and beautiful and tear-filled.
“Is that all you’re going to say, princess?” I ask, smiling like a lunatic.
She rolls her lips together as she shakes. “You haven’t asked me anything, champ.”
“Marry me, Lilah Belle. We’ve wasted so much time already. I don’t want to waste another minute. Marry me. Let me spend my life loving you and protecting you. I want to be your best friend and your biggest fan. I want my life to start and end with you in it. Every day. In every world. It was always going to be us. Marry me.”
She nods and throws herself into my arms. “I would have said yes when I was sixteen.”
“I should have just asked you then. It could have saved a shit-ton of heartache.” I laugh as I capture her mouth in a searing kiss. “I love you, Lilah.”
She holds her hand up and lets me slide the three-carat, brilliant-cut, pink diamond onto her finger, then brings her eyes back to mine. “It’s stunning.”
“I had a little help,” I admit and enjoy the confusion playing over her face. “I asked your mom and dad for permission, and your mom may have offered up an idea or two.”
“You asked my parents.” She sighs sweetly. “I bet that meant a ton to my dad, Killian.”
“He warned me that you and your mom are nuts and to never say he didn’t warn me.”
There’s a knock at the door before Maddox walks in. “It’s time, man. Mav’s waiting to take Lilah back to her seat.”
She cups my face in her hands and smiles bright enough to light up the sky. “I love you, Killian St. James. Now go kick his ass so you can make good on that after-fight promise.” She leans into me and kisses my ear. “I have on very special panties, just for you.”
When she pulls away this time, she kisses me quickly, then drags her hand along my jaw, and I pull her back and kiss her ring. “You’re gonna be my wife one day soon, Lilah.”
“You bet your sweet ass I will. Now go win me a fight.” And with that last word, she sashays out of the room, her hips swaying and ass teasing me in that short dress.
“She’s fucking nuts,” Maddox mutters, smiling.
“Yeah, she is. And she’s gonna be my wife.”