Roman (Cold Fury Hockey #7)(79)

I listen to him sing, loving his courage and bravery to play a song he’s just learned to a musician. I watch as he struggles, his voice cracking on a few high notes, because Roman is a hockey player, not a singer, and I start to fall right along with him.

By the time he gets to the last verse, I start singing too and his lips curve into a smile as he strums and we sing together. Movement behind Roman catches my eye, and I see my dad and Georgia standing in the doorway, their arms around each other’s waists. Georgia has tears in her eyes and my dad has a goofy grin on his face.

My gaze slides back to Roman as he seems to be more confident with the music, and as he gets to the last line, he looks up at me with a last glide of his fingers on the strings and we sing the ending together.

For I can’t help falling in love with you.

The notes fade away from the ukulele and Roman and I stare at each other for a blistering moment as we realize what this moment means for both of us. He leans forward in his chair, intent on giving me a kiss, but then my dad and Georgia start clapping enthusiastically. Roman jerks with a start and then just places his forehead on my lap in embarrassment while he mutters, “Jesus fuck. Are you kidding me?”

My hand goes to the back of his head and rubs against the short bristles of his hair. I laugh softly and say, “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

Roman lifts his head and grins at me with sparkling eyes. Regardless of his audience now, he tells me softly, “I am falling in love with you, Lexi.”

“After that song,” I tell him earnestly, “I’m already there.”

“Okay, well…I’m actually there too,” he admits, and then finally pops up out of his chair to give me a soft kiss. His mouth moves to my ear and he whispers, “And despite Gray and those two behind me being a pain in my ass, I’m sure I’ll come to love them too.”

I can’t help the giggle that breaks free, and I wrap my arms around his neck, holding him to me in a fierce hug. When I release him, he stands and turns to my dad, who has walked into the room now. Roman holds his hand out, holding my ukulele by the neck with the other.

“Mr. Brannon,” Roman says in greeting.

My dad gives him a hard look, and the minute they grasp hands, my dad pulls him in for a sharp, one-handed bro hug where they sort of bump chests. My dad claps him hard on the shoulder, and when he pulls back, he says, “None of that Mr. Brannon crap. You’re part of the family now.”

Roman turns his head to look at me over his shoulder, and I give him a wink. “Part of the family. Get used to it.”

“Thinking that’s not going to be as hard as I thought it would be,” Roman says with a smile back at me.

He then releases my dad’s hand and moves over to the other side of the bed to take the chair Gray has been sitting in, waving to the two chairs on the other side for them to sit in.

We spend the rest of the morning talking and laughing. Gray comes back and joins us, and I watch as she and Roman sort of lapse into a sibling type of rivalry, taking snipes at each other but in a completely teasing way. My dad hovers over me at times, and Georgia flirts with him shamelessly, which causes him to blush. The nurses have to tell us to be quiet on more than one occasion, and that makes us laugh harder.

My heart feels full, ready to burst…joyful in the knowledge that Roman is part of a family again.

Amazing to think of how my life turned out.

That I am part of a family again.





Epilogue


Roman


TWO WEEKS LATER…

Some say it would be too early to propose.

You don’t know each other all that well.

What’s the rush?

Take your time…enjoy life a bit first.

But as I watch Brian Brannon get down on bended knee in front of Georgia, holding up an opened black-velvet box, I don’t think it’s too early at all. Life is actually too short, and when you know it’s right…it’s right.

Lexi is practically bouncing up and down beside me as she watches.

Gray’s got tears in her eyes.

Ryker is smirking.

Violet and Ruby are ooohing and ahhhing over the massive diamond that’s shimmering against the black velvet.

Georgia’s hand flutters to her heart for a brief moment, then covers her mouth as she stares wide-eyed at the ring.

Brian’s face looks utterly hopeful as he says, “Georgia, how I fell for a wild woman like you is beyond me, but the one thing I’m sure of beyond any doubt is that you are the one for me. I’ve waited far too long for you, and I don’t want another moment to go by without you by my side. I want you there in the eyes of my family, of God, and of the law as well. Please do this old man a favor and say you’ll be my wife.”

Lexi almost faints and I chuckle as my arm goes around her in support.

It’s not often we get to see Georgia speechless, but she opens her mouth and nothing comes out.

“Say yes,” Ruby shrieks.

That seems to knock Georgia out of her fugue state and her lips curl upward, then split into a huge, sparkling grin.

“Yes,” she shouts at Brian, then throws herself at him. She knocks him backward onto his butt and she comes to rest on top of him, peppering his face with kisses. “Yes, I’ll marry you, you sweet, sexy stud you!”