Chapter 21
Lorelai
It was as if the entire crowd in the arena was holding their breath as we watched Knox hit the puck. It travelled down the ice and right past the goalie into the net, and that was when the timer went off.
The stadium erupted in cheers as the guys skated around, the other players hopping over the boards and coming out onto the ice, colliding with the others.
Aurora jumped up and wrapped her arms around me, and confetti fell from the roof of the arena, down into the audience. She grabbed my hand, pulling me from our seats and down the stairs to the edge of the ice, where Dylan and Knox came skating over, huge smiles on their faces.
They both grabbed us, hugging us tight as the crowd roared even louder as cameras landed on the four of us, projecting our private moment onto the large screen in the centre of the arena.
Knox met my eyes, and together we ignored the entire world as he pressed a kiss to my lips. “Ready to celebrate?”
I rested my forehead against his and nodded, kissing him again.
* * *
We lay in bed, wrapped in sheets.
“I’ll be back in a moment,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to my shoulder.
I watched his naked ass as he walked away from the bed. I’ll never tire of that view , I thought to myself. Once he was gone, I dropped my head to the pillow, closing my eyes, my body relaxed and warm. I was just about asleep when I felt the bed dip and opened my eyes to see him sitting there holding a box.
“What is that?” I questioned, recognizing the box almost instantly.
“A little treat from Sip and Stir.” He smiled.
I shifted and sat up, taking the box from him and opening the lid to see one peanut butter cookie in the box’s bottom with the words ‘Will you’ written on it in icing.
I smiled as I leaned over and kissed him on the lips.
“How did you know I could use a cookie?” I questioned.
“A hunch.” He shrugged, turning on the bedside light.
“I’m confused though, what is with the writing?”
Knox shrugged and shoved the box toward me.
I smiled, reached in and broke the cookie in half, and was just about to bring it to my mouth when something reflected in the light.
“There is something…” I frowned as I broke the half of the cookie in half one more time over the box.
I looked down at the cookie in my hand and back up to Knox as I looked down at the ring that hung halfway out of the cookie.
“Knox?” I questioned, my voice shaking.
“Lorelai, I don’t want to wait.”
“You don’t?” I asked, swallowing hard.
“No, baby, I don’t. I was planning to do this tomorrow, once we got to the cottage, but I don’t even want to wait that long. Will you—”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight to me. “Yes, baby, I will!” I cried, meeting his lips.
I felt him pull the cookie from my hand and drop it back into the box, then he placed the box over on my nightstand as he lay me down, kissing me the entire time.
* * *
Life couldn’t get better than it was right now, I thought as I watched the replay of the winning shot over and over on my phone while waiting for Knox to finish getting dressed. We were going over to Dylan and Aurora’s for a celebratory drink before we headed away for the weekend.
I giggled as I saw the look on Knox’s face in the video. He’d been so surprised that the puck went into the net with only seconds to spare, he’d contorted his face into this half win smile, half loose pout.
“Don’t tell me you are you watching that again?” I heard him ask as he made his way into the living room.
I looked over at him and smiled. “You look so cute in this video.”
“I look ridiculous.” He chuckled, trying to remake the same expression they’d caught on film.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You are ridiculous,” I said, getting up and pocketing my phone as I made my way over to him.
He took my hand in his. “You all packed?”
I nodded. “Yep, all ready to go. I even put my bag in the car.”
“You did,” he said, running his finger over the ring that I now wore on my finger.
I nodded, kissing him. “Yep.”
“We should get going. Dylan gets a little irritated if we are late,” he said, kissing me deeper this time.
I laughed as his hands travelled to my ass. “We won’t go anywhere if you don’t stop.” I giggled, pulling at his hands.
“That might be my idea.” He winked, stealing one more kiss before grabbing his keys from the hook inside the door.
Twenty minutes later, we walked into Dylan’s condo. The place was full of players on the team, their wives, girlfriends, or significant others. We stepped into the kitchen to see Lucas, Clay, Dylan, Phil all there talking about the game.
“Speak of the devil. Here he is, the guy who scored the winning fucking goal,” Dylan said giving him a high five.
Knox smiled and shrugged. “It was no big deal.”
“Fucker, no big deal? It was a damn big deal. If I were you, I’d revel in the praise. Next year, we may only refer to you as the old guy on the team.” Dylan chuckled. “Especially with that hip of yours,” he said, smacking him on the back.
I laughed, then shook my head.
“Just being a team player,” Knox replied, grabbing a beer and handing me one.
I wrapped my arm around his waist and looked up at him. “Dylan is right, take it. Not every day these guys idolize you.” I winked.
“Now there is a girl who gets it,” Dylan said, winking at me and holding out his fist for a fist bump.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I hit his fist, especially when Knox looked down at me once again trying to make the face that was in the video.
“Are you saying I’m old?”
That made me laugh even harder. “No.”
“Better not be.” He winked, pulling me in for another kiss. “Or I’ll have to teach you a lesson tonight.”
“Give it a rest already.” Clay gagged.
“Shut up over there. When you find a girl, you’ll want her lips permanently attached to yours as well,” Knox said, pointing at him.
“Not a chance! I’m not a one-woman guy. Your asses should know that.”
Lucas laughed. “Not until he’s forced to be.”
That caused all the guys to break out in laughter.
“Not a chance in hell is that happening to me.”
“It will if you don’t start wrapping it.” Dylan chuckled, punching him in the shoulder.
“Alright, this conversation has gone downhill fast. I think I’m going to go find Aurora,” I said to Knox.
“Babe, you better get used to all the guy talk.”
“Not sure I want to.” I giggled as he smacked my ass and kissed me before I left the room.
“Alright, boys! What’s on the agenda for summer?” I heard Knox ask as I made my way down the hall to see Aurora standing in her bedroom.
“Hey, you,” I said, stepping into her bedroom. “What are we doing this summer?” I questioned, looking forward to spending time with her and the guys at our place out by the pool.
She glanced up at me, a funny look on her face. I ignored the look and held my hand up to show her my ring.
“What on earth?” she said, grabbing my hand and looking down at it.
“He asked last night.” I shrugged.
She glanced at the bedroom door just as the guys started laughing at something that was said.
“Close the door.”
“Oh, being secretive.” I giggled. “Did you get a new toy I’m going to have to try out? I’ll admit, I’m curious to know what it is.”
When I turned back to her, I saw nothing but panic in her eyes.
“Aurora? What is it?”
She lifted her hand to reveal a large diamond ring as well.
I ran back over, grabbing her hand and looking down at the ring.
“When did this happen?” I questioned.
“Last night, after the game.”
I couldn’t help but giggle. It was exciting to me we had both gotten engaged the same night. When we were younger, we’d dreamed this would happen and now it was.
“Oh, my god!” I said as I wrapped my arms around her. “So exciting. Did you guys set a date yet?”
She shook her head and then sat down on the end of her bed. She didn’t look happy, she barely even looked excited.
“What is it? I’d have thought you would have been thrilled.”
“I am,” she mumbled, holding something tight in her other hand.
“Care to show me what you are holding on to?”
She rolled whatever was in her hand and then looked up at me, her eyes glistening.
“We were supposed to be going away for the summer. Dylan and Knox had it all planned…Knox wanted to keep it a surprise from you, now, I’m not sure it will even happen.”
I frowned. I didn’t know the four of us were going anywhere, but then Knox had mentioned something about some sort of surprise for the summer.
“Aurora?”
I walked over and sat beside her as she opened her palm. A pregnancy test with two little blue lines stared back at me. I swallowed hard as I looked at my best friend.
“Oh wow, Aurora,” I cried.
I wrapped my arms tightly around her, but she didn’t make a peep. Instead, I was certain I heard her sniffle.
“Aren’t you happy?” I questioned.
She nodded. “I am. I guess it’s a bit of a shock.”
The door opened and Dylan stood there looking at the two of us, questions in his eyes. I got up and made my way over to the door, patted him on the chest, and then looked back at my friend and winked.
“Congratulations,” he said to me. “Guess we have a summer of wedding planning in store for the four of us.”
“I’m going to join my man,” I said, turning and looking at Aurora. “Tell him,” I mouthed before I smiled and, without another word, I headed to the kitchen, only to be congratulated on our engagement by every member of the team.
An hour later, Dylan and Aurora emerged, and we had more news to celebrate. The entire teamed, our new family, all celebrated not only the guys’ win, our engagements, but also the announcement of a new baby Dominator being born in the coming months.
* * *
Knox snored beside me as I lay awake. I watched as he slept, completely at peace. It had been a crazy ride with him so far, and I couldn’t wait to experience more with him. I moved closer to him, resting my head on his chest, and closed my eyes. I’d never tire of this man, although if you’d asked me a few months ago, I’d have told you the opposite.
I laughed as I thought back to before we were together. How angry he made me simply by being in the same room. When Aurora and I finally sat down tonight, she claimed she’d always known I’d crushed on him. She said she could hear it in my voice whenever I brought up his name. I’d laughed it off, but I knew it was probably the truth.
Knox Evans started out being the most obnoxious man I’d ever known and, sometimes, still was, but I was happier than ever knowing that he was now going to be my husband and I couldn’t wait until we said I do.