Chapter 18
CECILY
Icurled deeper into the corner of the couch, my knees tucked to my chest, staring at the television screen in the hope that the sitcom rerun would calm the nervous energy buzzing under my skin.
Ares had been gone for hours. I’d tried to sleep earlier, but every time I closed my eyes I pictured him out there somewhere doing something dangerous that he couldn’t tell me about, and sleep refused to come.
So I was wide awake in the middle of the night, waiting for the man who had upended my entire future in the best possible way.
Picking up my phone to check the time again, I winced. In all the chaos of the day, I’d completely forgotten to tell my parents the biggest news of my life.
Me
Got the official call today. I’m going back to California. Coach says I’m in strong contention for the Olympics this time.
I assumed they wouldn’t see my message until they woke up in the morning, but my phone rang almost immediately.
“Honey!” Mom’s voice was excited. “That’s amazing!”
Dad added, “We’re so proud of you, Cecily. All that hard work paying off.”
I smiled even though they couldn’t see me. “Thank you. It still doesn’t feel real.”
There was a short pause before Mom asked the question I knew was coming. “What about Tyre?”
I took a breath. “He’s coming with me. Said where I go, he goes.”
Silence stretched for a moment. Then Mom murmured, “Well, then he must love you if he’s willing to uproot everything to support your dream. Just promise us you’ll keep your eyes on the goal.”
“I will,” I whispered, my throat tight. “I promise.”
“Not sure how I feel about you living with the man,” my dad grumbled. “But at least he’ll be there to keep an eye on you when we can’t be.”
That was high praise coming from him, and I smiled again. “He’ll take very good care of me, Dad.”
“He better.”
My smile widened at the picture in my head of my dad facing off against Ares if he thought he wasn’t treating me the way he should. “With him watching over me, I’ll probably be better rested and fed than I was the last time I made the residency program.”
“Good,” Dad grunted.
After we hung up, the restless energy returned. I stood and moved to the living room floor, flowing through a long stretching routine to burn off the nerves. Once my muscles were warm and loose, I headed into the kitchen.
It was late, but I couldn’t just sit and wait anymore.
I pulled out oats, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate chips and started mixing up a big batch of my favorite no-bake energy bites.
While those chilled, I made a tray of egg bites packed with spinach, turkey sausage, and cheese.
They’d be easy to heat in the morning so Ares wouldn’t feel like he needed to cook after whatever long night he was having.
I caught myself smiling as I worked. Everything was moving so fast it sometimes made my head spin. But making food we could enjoy together settled me.
Just as I pulled the egg bites from the oven, the low rumble of a motorcycle cut through the quiet night. Ares was home.
I wiped my hands on a dish towel and practically ran to the front door, every worry dissolving into pure relief.
The second Ares stepped inside, I launched myself at him. Jumping into his arms, I wrapped my legs around his waist and locked my arms around his neck. I buried my face in his throat, and a shaky laugh escaped me.
“You’re home,” I whispered, clinging tighter. “I missed you.”
Ares slid one strong arm under my butt, while the other banded across my back. For a moment, he held me just like that, letting me climb him like a tree. I pressed little kisses along his jaw, breathing him in.
But then he eased me back down until my feet touched the floor, keeping me close but creating just enough space between us that I blinked up at him in confusion.
“Ares?”
He reached behind him and pulled something from the inside of his cut. A small, perfectly folded black vest.
My breath caught.
He held it out to me, the soft leather warm from his body. On the back, in crisp white lettering, were the words I never expected to see so soon: Property of Tyre
I stared at it, tears instantly flooding my eyes. My hands trembled as I took the vest from him, running my fingers over the patch like it might disappear if I touched it too hard.
“When you said that I’d need to understand club business as your old lady, I thought you meant sometime in the future,” I whispered. “Not tonight.”
Ares cupped my face with both hands, tilting my chin up so I had to meet those intense blue eyes.
“I’m done waiting, baby. You’re it for me. Have been it since the day I saw you.” His thumbs brushed my cheeks, wiping away the happy tears that slipped free. “I’m so fucking in love with you, Cecily.”
A sob-laugh broke out of me as pure joy exploded in my chest.
“I love you too,” I whispered back, the words finally free after days of holding them in. “So much, Ares.”
His eyes darkened with satisfaction and something deeper. Then he leaned down and captured my mouth in a deep kiss that was full of everything we’d both been feeling.
When he pulled back, he helped me put the vest on, his lips curving into a satisfied smile. “Meant it every time I called you mine, but now the whole world will know it.”
I clutched the lapels of the vest like it was the most precious thing I’d ever been given, tears still falling as I smiled up at the man who had completely changed my world.
Ares didn’t give me time to catch my breath. He scooped me up again, one arm under my knees, the other around my back, and carried me down the hallway like I weighed nothing. I held on to his neck, pressing kisses along his jaw the whole way.
When we reached the bedroom, I expected him to lay me on the bed. Instead, he set me gently on my feet beside it. My heart was still racing as he reached into the bedside table drawer and pulled out a small black box.
My breath stopped completely as I realized he wasn’t done making my dreams come true.
Ares turned to face me and opened the box, revealing a stunning diamond ring that caught the low light and sparkled.
As he plucked the ring from its velvet bed, his voice was rough with emotion. “I’ve known you were mine since the first time I saw you. You’re gonna be mine forever. Marry me, Cecily. Let me be the man who supports every single one of your goals while you chase gold. As your husband.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks again, but this time they were pure, overwhelming joy.
“Yes,” I whispered, then louder, laughing through the tears. “Yes, Ares. Of course I’ll marry you.”
He slid the ring onto my finger with steady hands, then pulled me against him and kissed me until I couldn’t see straight. Then he finally picked me up to place me on the bed, stripping all my clothes off…only to put my leather vest back on.
“Gonna take you with nothing but my property patch on your back and my ring on your finger.”
That was exactly what he did. Over and over again throughout the night.
As we lost ourselves in each other, the future stretched out in front of us…and I had never been more sure that everything would work out exactly as it should.