Chapter 12
FINLEY
I’d hoped to smooth things over with my uncle before Rhodes made it back to the hotel, but it seemed as though we’d used up all of our good luck with the Nighthawks winning their game.
Not only was I worried about what Lennox would say to Rhodes, but I was also bummed because I’d been looking forward to enjoying the extra night the team was spending at the hotel since the game had ended so late when you factored in the time change.
Instead of celebrating his win in bed with my boyfriend, I had to figure out how to stop him from being benched during the big game in a couple of weeks… or worse.
Before I’d had the chance to explain much more beyond the fact that I had, in fact, been dating the offensive lineman he’d warned away from me, Lennox was glaring over my shoulder. “Rhodes is here already, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
The one-word reply didn’t bode well for me. Or the man I’d fallen head over heels in love with. “Please don’t make a huge deal about this, Uncle Lennox. I’m twenty-one, well beyond the age where I can decide who I’m going to date.”
Lennox crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t care how old you are, Finley. You’re my niece, and it’s my job to look out for you.”
“She doesn’t need protecting from me,” Rhodes promised, sliding his arm around my waist to tug me against his side. “I’d never do anything to hurt Finley.”
“I don’t see how that can be true when you were keeping your relationship with her a secret, Channing.
” My uncle narrowed his eyes as his glare intensified.
“She deserves a fuck of a lot better than being kept in the shadows. If you truly cared about my niece, you would’ve come clean about this before I caught you red-handed. ”
Lennox’s tirade just made me feel even guiltier for talking Rhodes into keeping quiet about us. If it hadn’t been for me, he would have told my uncle about us that first day. I was the one who had created this mess, so it was on me to fix it, as far as I was concerned.
Before Rhodes could respond to the accusation my uncle had just tossed at him, I hissed, “When was he supposed to talk to you? Right after you threatened him at the gala? Or before one of the biggest games of his career while his teammates were all depending on him to be in the right headspace to do his job on the field?”
“Any man worth his salt would do whatever it took to be with the woman he loves,” Lennox muttered. “So either Rhodes doesn’t deserve to be with you, or he doesn’t care about you enough to risk getting on my bad side. Either way, you deserve more from the man you’re dating.”
My lips parted, but I bit back my sharp retort when Rhodes gave me a reassuring squeeze. “I’ve got this, baby.”
“Okay,” I sighed.
Rhodes brushed a kiss against my temple, and I could’ve sworn I saw a slight softening in my uncle’s eyes, but his expression hardened again when Rhodes met his gaze. “Well, what do you have to say for yourself, Channing?”
“Finley wanted to wait until our season was done before we talked to you about us being a couple,” Rhodes explained.
“So you’re blaming my niece for this mess?” Lennox growled.
“Of course not,” Rhodes bit out, shaking his head. “Finley had a good reason for feeling the way she did, which was why I agreed. And I would never describe our relationship as a mess. She’s a fucking miracle.”
“That’s the first accurate thing you’ve said all night.” His chin firmed. “But it’s another example of why you don’t deserve her. Finley is special.”
“I’m not gonna disagree with you about that, Lennox.” Rhodes glanced down at me, his dark orbs filled with emotion as his voice softened. “I don’t deserve Finley, but I’m going to spend every day of the rest of my life doing my best to make sure she never regrets choosing me.”
I smiled up at him, tears welling in my eyes over the sweetness of his declaration. “You’re wrong. The past two and a half weeks have been amazing. You treat me so well. And you make me happy. I’m the one who’s lucky to be with you, Rhodes.”
“We’re going to have to agree to disagree on that, baby.” He brushed his thumb across my bottom lip. “I’m lucky as fuck that you chose me out of all the guys you could be with.”
I shook my head with a soft laugh. “You do realize that I could say the same about all the women who I’m sure throw themselves at you on a regular basis?”
“Maybe that’s true, but you’re the only one I see.” Rhodes lifted his head to glare at my uncle when he made a strangled noise. “We can hash out whatever you want to do about me playing on your team later.”
“Why not right now? We’re all right here,” Lennox pointed out.
“Because I need to convince your niece to marry me first.” Uncaring of the people gawking at us, Rhodes dropped to a knee in front of me.
Then he lifted my left hand and pressed a kiss to my ring finger.
“Finley, I wasn’t exaggerating when I told your uncle that I would spend the rest of my days proving that you chose right.
And I want to do that as your husband. Please say you’ll make me the happiest man in the whole damn world by becoming my wife. ”
My breath caught in my throat, and I felt as though everything came to a sudden stop.
We might have only been together for a short time, but I could easily picture spending the rest of my life with this man as my husband.
But I didn’t want him to ask just because he felt like he’d been backed into a corner by Lennox.
“You don’t need to propose to me right now just because my uncle is giving you a hard time.” I tried tugging Rhodes to his feet, but there was no way to budge him when he didn’t want to move. “Ask me again when you’re ready, and I’ll say yes. I promise.”
“At least buy the damn ring first,” Lennox grumbled, looking slightly less pissed off as he sighed.
“Fuck, the ring,” Rhodes groaned.
Giving his hand a squeeze, I shook my head. “Just so you know, when you buy one, I don’t care what the ring looks like. Just that you picked it out for me.”
“You’re so damn perfect.” He got to his feet and cupped my cheeks with his large palms. “It’s no damn wonder I fell in love with you. Or that I already have a jeweler’s box waiting at home for you. I would’ve brought it with me if I’d known you were going to be here.”
“You love me?” I gasped, pressing trembling fingers to my lips. Although I felt the depth of his caring each day, neither of us had used that particular four-letter word yet.
“More than you can possibly know,” he confirmed, brushing his mouth against mine in a quick but heartfelt kiss.
“I love you, too.” Tears spilled down my cheeks. “So, so much.”
“Well, shit,” Lennox sighed, drawing our attention back to him. “Now I’m going to have to give you my blessing, aren’t I?”
I sniffled and nodded. “Only if you want me to be happy.”
“It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted for you, Finley.” He shifted his gaze to Rhodes. “You’d better take good care of her.”
My fiancé—it felt so good to call him that, even just in my head—tucked me against his side. “I will.”
“Good, because I’ll be watching to make sure that you do,” Lennox warned.
“So you’re not going to trade me to some other team for ignoring what you said about staying away from Finley?” Rhodes asked.
“Nah, we both know I was never going to follow through with that particular threat. It wouldn’t be fair to you, the rest of the team, or our fans.” Lennox scraped his hand over his jaw as he shook his head. “You’re too damn good of a player to lose like that.”
Regardless of his contract with my uncle’s team, he was all mine.