“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll party with you when we get back from Sweden,” I winked just as the limo pulled up outside of a trendy club.

In a rush, an attendant ran forward to open our door and escort us out onto the carpeted walkway. I glanced up to take in the scene laid out before me. The club was modern, with sleek white walls and ivy twining up around a mid-century iron sign that read Tiger Lily, the name of the club. Hanging 869/890

candles replaced the need for interior lighting so that the atmosphere seemed more intimate as we stepped past the front doors.

I recognized all of my teammates from ULA as well as other family and friends.

There were a few boys from the LA Stars team and I nodded when I saw Josh. We were in an okay place and I was happy to forget about the drama of those few months.

My parents and Liam’s parents were chatting in the center of the room and I pressed a hand to my chest as a smile spread even wider. It meant so much to have them all there, especially when I knew how long the flight was from London to LA.

However, the best guest of all was standing directly between our parents, and once I saw him, I couldn’t keep my happiness from 870/890

brimming over. Liam looked handsome as always in a tailored black suit. His hair was styled back in a way that highlighted his sharp features and cleanly shaven face.

I knew he could feel my gaze on him because he glanced up just as I bit down on my lower lip. His grey eyes pinned me to the spot and I was left disarmed as he made his way closer. His smile grew wider with every step, and as he drew near, Becca and Emily fell away from my sides as if on cue.

“Remind me to never let you wear red unless it’s in our bedroom,” he smirked, taking my appearance in with a confident air.

“Like the dress?”

“I love the woman wearing the dress,” he said, taking my hand in his. “C’mon, let me talk to you alone for a second.” 871/890

“But, I haven’t said hi to my parents,” I protested half-heartedly. There’d be plenty of time to talk to them; right now I wanted to tear this suit off of him.

“They’ll understand, c’mon,” he said, tugging me through the club and down a side hallway. There was a single black door at the end guarded by a burly looking bouncer.

Liam nodded to the man, and the bouncer unlocked the door and held it open so that we could walk through.

I scrunched my brows in confusion.

“Wait, where are we going?” I asked.

Liam glanced back at me with a wicked grin, but instead of answering, he led me further up the dim staircase. I thought we’d end up on a second level, maybe in a VIP lounge or something, but instead he pushed through 872/890

a heavy door at the top of the stairs with a sign taped across that read “roof access.” Light seeped inside the dim hallway, and in that moment, I realized this was much more important than a small chat. I swallowed past the lump in my throat as he continued to push the door open and then my breath froze in my lungs as I took in the sight before me.

He’d created a tiny slice of paradise up on that roof. Strings of twinkle lights danced overhead. Flowers of every color and variety overflowed in each direction; their fresh fra-grance wrapping around me as Liam took my hand and pulled me outside.

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting him lead me forward and trying to calm my racing heart. When I blinked them open 873/890

again, I glanced down toward the path of tea candles leading us toward the center of the roof—to the center of that little paradise.

That’s where we paused, where Liam’s dark eyes locked with mine. That’s where I watched him slide down to one knee and that’s where my hands flew to my face as I tried to stop the tears that were threatening to overflow.

It didn’t feel real. None of it could be real because then I’d have every single thing I could have dreamed for.

“Kinsley Bryant…” he began as the tears streamed down my cheeks. “At twenty-six, I never imagined finding someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Three months before I met you, I was looking for the next thrill, the next party, the next girl. And then I 874/890

walked in and found you perched in my kitchen like the most beautifully confident creature I’d ever seen, and I knew you’d be a wildfire. You challenged me from the very beginning and I tried to resist you, but I knew even then that I wasn’t going to walk away without you by my side.” He paused and I watched him slowly swallow down his emotions. Liam Wilder, tough as nails soccer player, was actually the biggest softie I knew.

“This past year I’ve watched you strive for your dreams, and I’ve loved standing alongside you every step of the way—” His shaking hand reached down to pull out a small black box from the pocket of his suit.

“Liam…”

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His eyes sought mine and I drowned in the absolute vulnerability of the moment.

“Marry me,” he said, cracking the box open gently.

A soft, happy sob broke through my throat.

“I’m too young,” I protested weakly.

He smirked and calmly shook his head once back and forth.

“Marry me,” he said again so confidently that I knew he was putting my heart under his spell.

“Liam…” I began, my mind racing to keep up.

He shushed me with another shake of his head. “I lied to you that first night I met your mom.”

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I scrunched my brows trying to recall the conversation he was drawing from.

“What? How?”

“That night I said I was joking about asking you to marry me in three hundred days. I knew then that I’d marry you. I could have asked you that very moment, but I wanted to give you time. I’ve waited three hundred days, but I won’t wait an hour more.”

“Yes.” I answered so softly that the words didn’t pass my fingertips covering my mouth.

“We’ll take as long as you want. We can be engaged until you turn ninety-nine and you can’t even walk down the aisle. I’ll carry you or wheel you down. Just tell me you’ll marry me.”

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Another happy sob broke through my barrier, and I fell forward onto my knees in front of him.

“Liam, I said yes. Yes. YES!” I laughed, throwing my arms around his neck. He laughed against my throat as his arms pulled me close.

I hadn’t even glanced at the ring. Does that make me crazy? I would have taken twine tied in a knot if it meant I got to marry this man.

He wouldn’t hear of it though.

“I want to see it on you. It took forever to find one that I knew you’d like,” he said, retracting his arms and reaching to push the ring onto my finger. I could hardly keep my hand steady as he slipped the band past my nail and up over my knuckle.

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It was a simple, rounded square dia-mond on a skinny band. It looked like the perfect combination between delicate and ornate.

“You did good, Wilder,” I teased with a wink, finally able to speak without tears con-voluting my speech.

“Thanks, Mrs. Kinsley Wilder,” he said with a wicked grin, testing my future name out for the first time.

I narrowed my eyes playfully. “Hmm…

how about Liam Bryant instead?”

“Hey,” he laughed, wrapping me up in his arms again.

“No. No, wait. Mr. Kinsley Bryant. Yeah, I like the ring of that.”

“You’re dreaming.”

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“C’mon, this is the twenty-first century,” I joked.

“Mhm,” he said, nuzzling my neck so that his cologne and body wash temporarily invaded the intelligent part of my brain.

“Let’s just pick new names all together.” I smiled. “I’m not listening anymore. I’m too busy trying to contemplate the fact that you actually want to marry me.”

“Believe it.”

“Say it, just one more time, so it feels real.”

“Kinsley Grace Bryant, you crazy beautiful loon, marry me so we can make hundreds of little soccer prodigies.” I laughed. “Done.”