41. Annie
Chapter 41
Annie
T he parking lot was almost empty, the kind of quiet that made the world feel suspended, like everything was either about to explode or exhale gently. I sat in my car with my fingers curled around my phone, staring down at the message from Colton in the group chat.
Colton: Come to the rink when you get off work. No questions. Hobby Lobby surprise.
When they’d told me there was a surprise, I hadn’t thought it would culminate in me being at Peach Arena at eleven o’clock at night. I thought they meant we’d have some weird arts and crafts date or something.
I cut the engine, grabbed my bag from the passenger seat, and made my way to the side entrance. One of the Zamboni drivers I recognized from coming to practice a handful of times was locking up, and he raised a hand as I approached.
“They’re still in the rink,” he said, flashing me a friendly grin. “Said to let you in.”
“Thanks, Dan.” My heart thudded heavier than usual in my chest as I slipped in.
The hallway lights flickered overhead, and I followed the familiar path down toward the rink, the soles of my boots echoing with each step. The air was colder the closer I got, the sharp smell of ice and sweat crawling into my lungs.
I pulled open the heavy door to the rink and blinked into the darkness.
What the hell?
Only the glow of a few red EXIT signs cut through the black. The door shut behind me, and I pulled out my phone, flicking on the flashlight and pulling up the location app. Three little dots — Colton, Xavi, Cole. They were still in the building. Still here.
“Guys?” I called out, stepping forward slowly, the sound of my voice eaten by the cavernous space. I walked up to the boards, leaning over the side exit. “This isn’t funny if you’re trying to be creepy.”
Still nothing.
I held up my phone, casting a glow over a few feet of ice, the boards, the empty stands behind me. “Okay, seriously, if one of you jumps out in a mask, I won’t hesitate to punch you in the throat.”
Something flickered behind me, and?—
I nearly tripped backward from the blinding light that assaulted my senses. Every single stadium light burst on at once as if we were at a game, harsh and blindingly bright. I recoiled, shielding my eyes, everything far too white. I blinked hard, lashes fluttering against the sting, until the white-hot blur finally started to shape itself into things I could make sense of.
Ice.
Boards.
Movement.
Movement?
Colton stepped out onto the rink from the far entrance, gliding with that easy, obnoxious grace he always had on skates. His dimple was out and proud, that crooked smirk meaning I was either going to be very flustered or very annoyed.
“Don’t freak out,” he said casually, holding up his hands in a mock surrender. “Okay, sweetheart?”
My eyes narrowed at him. “What are you?—”
Another blur of motion from the other side of the rink had my head turning.
Xavi coasted out slowly, arms behind his back like he was trying to pretend he wasn’t vibrating with something. His hair was messier than usual, like he’d been running his hands through it too many times. He didn’t smile, but he wasn’t frowning, either — just that casual, intense gaze as he skated near me, his eyes piercing mine.
“Hi, Annie,” he said softly. “We’ve been thinking a lot about what the best course of action is… for you and for the baby. In terms of security.”
Security?
“What—”
And then Cole appeared. He didn’t bother pretending like he wasn’t excited for whatever this was. His grin was all teeth, something he normally didn’t sport unless someone had made him laugh hard enough to crack through that outer layer, and he gave me a wave like this was all completely normal, just an average Tuesday.
“If we’re being totally honest, darling, we’re just kind of crazy about you. But also,” he made a face and shrugged, “you desperately need better insurance, and we’ve got some of the best.”
I just stared at the three of them, my mouth dry, my heart somewhere between my ribs and the ceiling. “What the hell is going on?” I asked, my voice cracking a little.
They didn’t answer. They moved instead, forming up some kind of carefully choreographed triangle on the ice. Colton at the front, standing closest to me, with Xavi and Cole sliding in right behind him, each flanking his sides.
Colton was rocking on his skates, shifting his weight back and forth like he couldn’t stand still.
Xavi’s eyes hadn’t left me once, his jaw a little tight like he was barely holding it together.
Cole looked like he was trying not to laugh from nerves.
“Guys,” I pressed.
“You know we love you,” Xavi said, no hesitation, just truth and something that felt like it was going to either hurt me or destroy me. “And not in some half-measured, safe, polite way. We love you with every breath, every bone, every damn inch of us. And we want to do this together, baby. Properly.”
I stared, my throat closing in, my vision already glassy.
“But if you’re not ready,” Cole cut in, his grin softening a little, “if this is too fast, if you need more time, that’s okay. You’re not going to hurt our feelings. We’ll wait. You know we will. We’re not going anywhere.”
I didn’t realize what was happening until I saw them — little flecks of oranges and reds drifting down like snow, scraps of paper falling softly around us. Hundreds. Thousands , coming from the scoreboards above. One fluttered down onto my face, and I pulled it off, squinting as I flipped it over between my fingers. And there it was, scrawled in Xavi’s neat handwriting like a secret.
Will you marry us?
My breath hitched. Another landed on me, and then another, and another, so many I couldn’t count littering down around us, most of them carrying those same four words. My knees buckled slightly, and I had to grab the boards just to stay upright.
When I looked at them again, Colton was kneeling on the ice, one skate planted steady, a ring box in his hand and that perfect smirk on his face, his dimple flashing like it wanted to kill me.
“For legal reasons,” he drawled, “you’d technically marry me . But it’s all of us, sweetheart. All of us, for as long as you’ll have us.”
That did it. The tears came all at once, blurring the lights and the ice and their faces. It hit me like a tidal wave — all of it, the love, the fear, the sheer and impossible realness of what they were offering me. The sobs hit me so hard I couldn’t breathe, hormones raging, shaking and clutching the boards like they were the only thing tethering me to the earth.
“Shit. Annie?” Cole said, his words a bit panicked. Skates cut sharp across the ice, scraping, and the gate opened, and they were on me. Fast and clumsy and worried .
Cole wrapped me up in his arms from behind, tucking me into him. “Hey, hey, you’re okay,” he murmured. “You don’t have to say yes. You don’t. We know it’s fast.”
Colton’s hands framed my face, his thumbs brushing my cheeks, more tears replacing the ones he tried to wipe away. “If this is too much, it’s okay,” he said, his gaze intense as he held me. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”
Xavi took my hands in his, squeezing, slotting in beside Colton. “Deep breaths, baby. Try to calm down. You’re not going to upset us.”
I tried to speak but choked on a sob. I sucked in a breath, then another, squeezing Xavi’s hands back, and gasped out the only word that felt like oxygen.
“Yes.”
Cole’s grip tightened around me instantly, his face pressing into my shoulder. Colton let out a sound I’d never heard from him before, half a laugh, half something like a sob. And Xavi — god, Xavi kissed my forehead and pulled us all in close, like somehow they could all hold me together.
“Yes,” I said again, louder this time, finding my voice even as it became muffled in the crush. “Yes, of course it’s yes, to all of you.”
I looked up at the three of them, turning so I could see them all at once, even through the tears.
“I love you,” I croaked to all of them. “Thank you.”