Beyond the Game

“Uh, Wil, I’m blindfolded.” Paisley laughs. The sound fills the cab of my truck and has a smile of my own tilting my lips. I love seeing her happy.

“Hey, I was just checking,” Willow says, sitting back in her seat.

Pulling my truck into the lot, I see a Range Rover, and I know it’s her family. I park next to them and grab my keys from the ignition. “We’re here. Stay put. I’m going to come and get you,” I tell her.

“Okay.” She smiles and wipes her hands on her thighs.

Climbing out of the truck, I shut the door and wave to her dad, who meets me at the sidewalk. “She knows?” he asks.

“No. I was able to keep it a surprise. Willow even went as far as blindfolding her. I was thinking you all could go on inside and have everyone together when we surprise her.”

“This is your show, Taylor.” He claps me on my shoulder and walks off to tell everyone the plan.

Willow climbs out of the back seat and gives me a thumbs-up before jogging to the rest of our group and walking inside with them. “You ready, baby?” I ask after opening her door.

“I’m ready. I’m nervous,” she admits, wiping her palms on her thighs again.

I grab her hands and press a kiss to each palm. “I promise this is a good surprise. And you were the one who agreed to the blindfold.”

“Yeah, well, I may have been thinking about something else,” she mutters.

I bend my lips to her ear. “Make sure you slip it into your purse.”

“Cameron!” she scolds me. “Who can hear you?”

“It’s just us, babe. Willow went inside.”

“Phew. Okay. Can we do this? The suspense is killing me.”

“Come on, beautiful.” I grab her hips and lift her from the truck, placing her feet on the ground. After shutting the door, I slide my arm around her waist. “I’ll guide you. Just follow my voice. I promise I won’t let you fall.”

“I trust you, Cam,” she says softly.

My chest swells with so much love for her, something that happens more frequently than not when I’m with this woman. I hope she’s excited about today. “Watch your step,” I tell her as I guide her up onto the sidewalk. “We’re almost to the door.” I dictate our steps. “I’m going to pull open the door,” I tell her. I reach for the door, and with my arm still around her, guide her into the building. Everyone is standing front and center and ready for the big reveal.

“Ready, babe?”

“Yes.” She laughs. “Show me already.”

Carefully, I remove her blindfold. She blinks to adjust to the light and gasps when she sees her family and my mom standing in front of her. She turns to look at me with tears in her eyes. “What is this, Cameron?”

“Well, I know we’ve been running like crazy, and you miss your family. You told Peyton your next day off, you would call her and plan something, and that got me thinking about planning something so we could all spend time together. Get to know each other better.”

The words are barely out of my mouth before she launches herself at me, hugging me tightly. “I love you. I can’t believe you did this.”

“I love you too,” I whisper in her ear, before releasing my hold on her.

“You—” She points at her sisters. “You both said Mom and Dad wouldn’t let you miss school today.”

“Hey, we stretched the truth for the greater good,” Parker says, coming forward and hugging her big sister.

“It was so hard not to tell you,” Peyton says, stepping forward for her hug.

“Move over. Momma needs a hug,” Larissa says, pushing into the fold of her daughters and wrapping Paisley in a hug.

“Move it or lose it, queen,” Easton tells his wife. He steps forward and hugs both Larissa and Paisley at the same time. They step back, and my mom steps forward.

“Paisley, it’s nice to see you again,” Mom says.