Kicking Reality

“Wait,” I whisper, unsure as my heart accelerates from his actions. “Is this a proposal?”

He shakes his head with a beautiful smile. “No. Trust me, if I propose marriage, there’ll be fucking fireworks and you’ll be crying like a baby.”

“I don’t cry like a baby,” I tell him with a pout, easing the nerves.

“When I pushed you off the zip line that day, I wanted you to soar. You always amazed me with your fearless attitude. So when I saw you scared for the first time, I was sad. It wasn’t you and I would be damned to see you become that person. That’s who you are, you take risks and sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don’t.”

I fall to my knees, eye level with him, wrapping my arms around his neck, desperate to close the gap between us. “You scarred me since that day. A piece of you always on me. I should have known.”

“Neither one of us knew, but it doesn’t matter, we know now.”

“We know now,” I beam with happiness. “So now what?”

“We show the whole world what we’re about.”

His grin is infectious, spreading all over me like a warm security blanket. How could this man be so beautiful? And mine . . . finally.

“And how do we do that?” I tease him with a smile.

He grabs his cell out of his pocket and holds it up in the air, positioning it before he plants the softest kiss on my lips. I don’t break free, not even when the camera clicks. When the cold air touches my face and he has pulled away, a smirk plays on his devious lips.

The cell is turned around so I can see the photo he took and in the space of seconds, uploaded. It’s us. Me and him. Logan Carrington and Emerson Chase, with the caption beneath the photo saying #Love.

We head back to the house holding hands, laughing about the time Ash got stomach cramps from drinking a can of beer he stole from Dad’s mancave fridge when he was twelve, and ran home with a shit stain on the back of his jeans.

Mom and Dad are sitting in the living room, curled up by the fireplace reading books. The two of them were polar opposites; Mom reading a romance novel titled Bastard and Dad reading about the greatest sporting heroes of all time. They still managed to bond over their love for reading, snuggled into each other’s side on the big cream sofa with pillows surrounding them.

Tayla is laying on her stomach, across the shaggy brown rug, no surprise, on her cell with headphones on. She’s grinning at the screen, typing quickly then taking a selfie with George. I swear that dog is a traitor.

Logan places his arm around me as we sit on the sofa adjacent to my parents. Part of me wanted to giggle, like a teenager bringing her boyfriend home for the first time despite him practically living here. I knock into his ribs on purpose, goading some sort of reaction from him. He kisses the top of my head as I curl into his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“Family meeting,” Dad commands, placing his book down.

“It’s weird without Ash,” I say.

Tayla removes her headphones, and rings Ash, placing him on video call. “Now we’re all here.”

“Hey.” I wave over the phone cautiously, reminding myself that we hadn’t spoken in weeks.

“Is that your new boyfriend?” he questions, deadpan. “Looks like a dick.”

Logan laughs as Mom interrupts. “Ashley Christopher Chase—behave.”

“We all know the truth now. Have you talked about how it will work? Emmy is in LA and Logan is contracted to England,” Tayla asks, keeping her tone neutral to avoid interrogating us.

“Actually, I’ve requested to pull out of the show. Dad was right. I do enjoy business and my heart isn’t in acting anymore. I’m sure another opportunity will present itself.”

“About Logan . . .” Dad announces. ?

??I have news for you and Ash but I wanted to wait until we were all together.”

We all wait on edge, Dad taking longer than usual to reveal the news.

“The US team has picked both of you up on one condition . . .” he trails off to clear his throat. “You have to win this premiership. Royal Kings will negotiate your contract on those terms.”

Logan’s face beams with enthusiasm. “Are you kidding me? Because that’s great! A chance to represent our country in the World Cup trials. Shit, Ash did you hear that?”

“Uh, yeah.” He seems less enthused, distracted by someone beside him.