Chapter 27-Tank
The stars here are different.
Brighter, maybe. Closer.
Or maybe it’s just the way I feel, standing out in my mum’s backyard with Dani beside me, still glowing from Christmas dinner and the way my family fussed over her like she was already one of us.
She’s in this soft green dress that makes her eyes look like moonlit jade.
Her hair’s loose and curling over her shoulders, and I can’t stop staring.
“You okay?” she asks, glancing over at me with a smile.
“I’m great,” I murmur. “Just appreciating the view.”
She chuckles and looks back up.
“I still can’t believe it’s so warm. It’s Christmas, and I’m not freezing my ass off.”
“Yeah, it’s not quite a white Christmas here,” I say. “But I’d say it’s the best one I’ve ever had.”
She hums, content, and I take her hand.
Thread my fingers through hers.
There’s something I need to say.
Been meaning to for days, maybe weeks.
Hell, maybe since the moment I laid eyes on her.
I exhale and turn toward her, heart thumping like I’m about to take the hardest hit of my career.
“You know, there’s something I need to tell you, Dani.”
She turns to face me, one brow lifted, those gorgeous green eyes of hers catching the starlight.
Her expression is curious, open, beautiful.
The kind of look that makes a man forget how to breathe.
“What is it?” she asks, voice soft.
I exhale slowly, trying to find the words. My fingers tighten around hers.
I’ve taken bone-crunching hits from six-foot-five prop forwards and stood my ground in front of crowds big enough to fill stadiums—but right now, I’m shaking like a rookie.
Because this moment matters.
Because she matters.
“I mean, it’s just,” I start, then trail off, my throat thick with emotion.
This woman?
She’s everything.
More than I ever dreamed I deserved.
More than I ever thought I’d be lucky enough to find in this lifetime.
She’s strength and softness, sass, and heart, all wrapped up in a curvy, stubborn, brilliant package that I can’t stop wanting. Needing. Loving.
Ever since I asked her father for permission to marry her, I expected her to say something. To rib me for being slow. Maybe throw in a sarcastic “You waiting for the next snowstorm to pop the question, Hudson?”
But she didn’t.
Not my girl.
She never rushed me. Never pushed.
She just trusted me.
Trusted that I was waiting for the right moment—and that I’d get there, in my own time.
And that?
That’s love.
“Well,” I finally say, voice a little rough, “the first time I saw you, I was struck.”
Her lips part slightly, and I keep going, heart pounding against my ribs.
“It was like—like you just dump tackled my heart and my soul and it all just clicked.”
“Maybe I’m the one who should be called Tank,” she teases, and I grin. Fuck, I love her.
“What I mean is, the second I met you it was like some part of me that’d been sleeping finally woke the hell up. And ever since that moment, Dani—I’ve been yours.”
Her breath catches.
And I swear, the stars above us shine a little brighter.
Because now she knows.
And now she feels it too.
She blinks, surprised.
“I’m trying to put it into words, but I’m not a poet,” I admit, voice rough. “So I’m just gonna borrow something from someone smarter than me.”
“Smarter than you? I thought you were a genius.”
I pause and grin, squeezing her hand, eyes locked on hers.
“Maybe. But Shakespeare said it better. The sentiment, though? It’s all mine.”
I take a breath, stare into her luminous eyes, and I whisper, ever so softly, “Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to your service.”
Her eyes shimmer. “That’s beautiful,” she whispers.
“And true,” I murmur. “I am yours, Dani. And I want to be. Forever.”
I reach into my pocket and drop down on one knee in the grass.
“Marry me?”
She gasps, hands flying to her mouth.
Then she laughs, happy tears in her eyes.
“Oh yes. Yes, Hudson, I’ll marry you.”
And then, just as I’m slipping the ring onto her finger, she adds, “By the way, The Tempest is my favorite play.”
I freeze. Look up at her.
“Is it?” I say, awed. “Mine too.”
She grins.
I groan.
“Fuck, you’re perfect.”
And when we get back to the hotel room, I’ll show her.