Epilogue
~ZED~
EIGHT MONTHS LATER
The condensation from my glass of scotch drips onto the teak deck, but my eyes are locked twenty feet ahead on the infinity pool.
I never intended to share this place when I bought the Hamptons estate years ago. I wanted the ocean, the privacy, and enough space to disappear whenever I felt like it. Now, it’s filled with my entire team, their WAGs, and the absolute center of my universe.
Lilly is sitting on the edge of the pool, dipping her bare feet into the water while Melody waves her hands animatedly in her face. The sun catches the massive diamond on Melody’s ring finger, blinding in the afternoon light.
“Never thought I’d see the day you willingly let this many people into your house,” Dom says, stepping up next to me and knocking his beer bottle against my glass.
I take a slow sip, not taking my eyes off Lilly. “Willingly is a strong word.”
Jace wanders over with a half-eaten burger in one hand and a cold beer in the other, dropping his weight against the deck railing beside us. “I’m more impressed he hasn’t threatened to throw anyone in the ocean yet. There are at least thirty people touching his shit right now.”
“Pool party ends at six,” I deadpan. “After that, I start tossing people over the seawall.”
Jace snorts and takes a bite of his burger. “I figured you were used to having your quiet ruined by now. How long has it been since Lilly moved in with you?”
“Six months?” Dom guesses, taking a swig of his beer.
“Seven months and nine days,” I answer instantly.
Silence drops over the two of them.
Jace slowly lowers his beer. “Seven months and... nine days?”
“Do you keep a fucking tally on your bedroom wall or something?” Dom asks, squinting at me in mild horror.
“That’s psycho behavior, Z,” Jace agrees, though a grin cracks across his face. “You count the hours, too?”
An eye roll is the only response I give him, smiling into the rim of my glass.
Jace shakes his head, turning to Dom with a look of mock concern. “Our goalie is completely compromised, Cap. The man is down lethally bad.”
Before Dom can reply, Jessica makes her way across the deck toward us, holding a brightly colored drink with an umbrella sticking out of it. Her rounded belly presses against her sundress—six months along.
“You have to try this mocktail. It tastes like absolute heaven,” Jessica says, holding the straw up to Dom’s lips.
Dom instantly takes a sip, smiling down at her.
“Wow, nice juice.” He laughs when Jessica playfully swats his arm.
He bends down and presses a lingering kiss against the swell of her belly. My eyes track the movement, my lips pulling into a smile. Jace and I share a look before I take another sip and let my eyes drift back to my girl.
Across the deck, Lilly looks up.
Her eyes find mine through the crowd, and the smile she gives me has my pulse kicking up a notch. I smile back, but my fingers tighten around my glass.
I’m fucking nervous.
I don’t get nervous. I’ve faced eighty-mile-an-hour slapshots, blood-crazed rivals, and arenas filled with thousands of screaming fans without my heart rate spiking a single beat. But right now, knowing what I’m about to do, I can barely stand still.
I’ve been waiting all afternoon for the right moment.
Fuck it.
I’m done waiting.
I set my glass down and make my way across the deck toward Lilly. She’s still sitting at the edge of the pool with her glass of white wine beside her, laughing at something Melody says.
I step up behind her, my chest meeting her back as I wrap an arm around her waist and lean down to press a kiss to the top of her head.
She looks back at me over her shoulder, her eyes crinkling. “Hey, you. Having fun?”
“Come with me.”
She blinks, glancing toward the pool before looking back up at me.
“Now?” she asks with a laugh.
“Now.”
The edge in my voice makes her pause.
“Is everything okay?” she asks, turning to face me. “Has something happened?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Everything’s fine. I just want to show you something.”
She studies me for another second before reaching for her wine glass and setting it on the nearest table.
“Okay.” Her smile returns, curious now.
I hold out my hand.
She slips hers into it.
I keep my fingers locked around hers as I lead her away from the pool and around the west wing of the estate, leaving the music and noise of the team behind us.
The ocean stretches out beyond the property, sunlight flashing across the water as the breeze moves through the grass.
“Zed, where are we going?” Lilly asks, squeezing my hand.
“Almost there.”
Two months ago, I hired a landscaping crew to tear up three acres of perfectly good grass on the ocean side of the estate. I gave them exact instructions, threatened to pull their contract three separate times when the drainage wasn’t right, and watched them put every single bulb into the ground.
If I’d tried to plant a damn thing myself, I would’ve ruined it.
But this mattered enough to make sure someone didn’t fuck it up.
We clear the side of the house, and I slow down.
Lilly stops beside me.
Stretching out in front of us is a field of white.
Thousands upon thousands of fully bloomed lilies cover the grass, their stems moving gently in the ocean breeze. White petals stretch toward the water, filling what used to be an empty piece of the property.
For a second, she doesn’t say anything.
“Oh my God,” she finally whispers.
Her grip on my hand goes slack as she stares out at them. Her free hand rises to cover her mouth.
“Zed...”
She slowly turns her head to look up at me.
“What is this?”
My thumb settles against her jaw, catching a tear as it slips down her cheek.
“A lily for my Lilly,” I murmur. “Well, three thousand lilies for my Lilly.”
Her eyes widen before she turns back toward the field.
“Three thousand?”
“Give or take.”
“You planted all of this... for me?”
She looks back out at the field, shaking her head.
“How did you even...” She presses her fingers to her lips. “I don’t know what to say. It’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me, Zed.”
I wrap my arms around her and pull her against me, burying my face in her hair.
But I’m not finished.
My pulse is hammering a brutal rhythm against my ribs, and the real weight of what I’m about to do settles heavy in my chest.
I pull back to look at her, my thumb wiping another tear from her cheek.
Fuck, here we go.
The lily tucks a stray hair behind her ear, and she looks so fucking beautiful standing in the middle of that field that for a second I forget every word I’ve spent weeks trying to get right.
I reach for her hand.
Her fingers slide into mine before stopping suddenly.
Her eyes drop.
The ring is sitting on my pinky.
It took me two months to design it.
Her eyes go wide.
“Zed...”
I slide the ring from my pinky.
Her hand flies over her mouth.
Then I slowly sink onto one knee in front of her.
Lilly lets out a sob the second my knee hits the ground.
“Zed, no—”
My heart drops straight into my stomach.
“No?” I stare up at her. “I haven’t even said the thing yet.”
“No.” She shakes her head quickly. “No, no. I mean yes. I—” She laughs through her tears, wiping at her cheeks. “Keep going. Sorry.”
“Fuck.”
Relief hits so hard I have to close my eyes from the relief.
Lilly immediately drops to her knees in front of me, sinking into the grass and bringing herself down to my level among the white lilies. She grabs both of my hands, tears running down her face.
“You scared me,” I breathe.
“I’m so sorry.” She laughs with me, shaking her head. “Please go on.”
I take her left hand, holding it steady in mine.
“Lilly, for years I was waiting for my body to catch up with how dead I already felt inside.
Her fingers tighten around mine.
“And then you walked into my life and made my world beautiful again.”
My throat tightens, but I keep my eyes on hers.
“I’ll never be able to repay you for what you’ve done for me. But I can spend the rest of my life making sure you know exactly what you mean to me.”
The tears are falling freely now.
“I told you once I’d follow you into every lifetime, and I meant it.
I lift her hand and place it against my heart.
“But I want this life with you first.”
My chest feels like it’s about to fucking split open.
“So, Lilly Harlow, will you ma—”
“Yes!”
She throws her arms around my neck before I can finish, and we nearly pitch backward into the flowers.
I catch her around the waist as a laugh bursts out of my chest.
“Yes!” She cries out, not waiting for me to finish, throwing her arms around my neck.
She said yes. She fucking said yes.
I press a kiss into the side of my fiancée’s neck, inhaling the sweet scent of her before gently pulling back just enough to frame her face.
“I love you,” she chokes out as she cups my face as well. “I love you so much, Zed. I’m so ridiculously, completely in love with you.”
My chest tightens, a lump forming in my throat that takes everything in me to swallow down.
“I love you too, Lilly,” I reply. “Everything I am, everything I have, it’s all yours.”
Tears overflow her lashes again, her face glowing with the most beautiful smile. The smile of my fiancée. Soon to be my wife. I’m about to be this brilliant woman’s husband. Fuck, this feels euphoric to think about.
“Let me put it on you,” I murmur.
I take the ring between my fingers. The massive oval stone catches the golden light. I slowly slide the heavy band onto her ring finger until it sits snug at the base. It fits like it was made for her…because every single millimeter of it was.
“It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.” she whispers, staring down at the ring before flinging herself right back into my arms, pressing her lips against mine in a kiss that tastes like love and a lifetime of absolute devotion.
I wrap my arms around her, squeezing her against my chest. I pull her up with me as I stand, lifting her off the ground.
A series of sudden, deafening shouts and wild whistles echoes from the edge of the stone path, shattering the quiet.
“FUCKING FINALLY!” Dom’s booming roar carries across the field, followed immediately by a sharp pop as a bottle of champagne explodes, spraying into the air.
“ABOUT TIME, MERCER!” Jace yells, cupping his hands around his mouth while Melody shrieks in joy, jumping up and down in her soaked dress. Jessica is clapping frantically, tears streaming down her face, while the rest of the boys break into a chorus of chants.
They had been watching from the shadows the entire time.
Lilly turns her head toward the crowd and laughs, her eyes glittering with tears. She flashes the new diamond on her finger toward them, causing another wave of loud, drunken cheers to erupt from the team.
“Show’s over, you fuckers!” I roar over my shoulder. I don’t’ even know how they found out. “Go back to the house.”
“Ooh, they’re about to fuck.” Jace turns to the guys around him.
“Jace! Oh my god,” Melody smacks his arm with a stern shake of her head.
Dom shoots me a massive grin, taking a swig straight from the champagne bottle before guiding Jessica back toward the house, leading the rest of the team back toward the patio lights and the music.
As their voices slowly fade into the distance, the stillness of the ocean air settles over us once again. The sea breeze rustles through the endless white petals of the field, carrying the fresh scent around us.
I cup the back of her neck, tilting her head up until she looks up at me.
“No running now, snowflake,” I murmur.
Lilly reaches up, her fingers sliding into the hair at the nape of my neck. A beautiful smile spreads across her lips. It’s the smile that saved my fucking soul.
“I’m right where I belong,” she whispers before rising on her tiptoes and pressing her soft lips against mine.
I pull her closer and kiss her back as peace settles into my chest.
THE END