Right now, were standing in the stands at the big indoor arena. We stopped beforehand and had dinner at the Sunrise Diner and then came straight here. I cheer loudly for the guy that just made eight seconds. I don’t know a lot about this, but I know that’s what they’re trying to do. When I sit back down, I notice that Matt is sitting quietly beside me, and I nudge his shoulder. “You don’t like your surprise?”
He sits up straighter. “This is my surprise?”
I try to hide the hurt from my face. “You don’t like it?”
He grabs my hand. “Talk to me. Why’d you think I would like this?”
“Well, it’s a sport. You like sports. You’re from Texas, and I figured you were missing this type of thing, so I planned for you and all our friends to come... You don’t like it.”
He leans down and kisses me. It’s hot, and I rest my hand on his chest until he pulls away and his voice is thick. “I like it now.”
My forehead creases, not understanding. “You didn’t, though?”
“Honey, I’ll be honest with you. Don’t think I’m psycho or trying to control you or whatever, but I don’t like my woman cheering for other men.” He shrugs his shoulder. “Now that you explained it, I appreciate what you’ve done, but I have to tell you, even when I lived in Texas, I never went to these things. I was always on the football field.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t even thinking...”
He leans down and presses his forehead to mine. “Honestly, I was really thinking you had a different surprise for me.”
I laugh and look around at our friends who are trying to act like they’re not being completely nosy and listening to everything we say. Good thing it’s loud in here. My hands go to Matt’s waist. “Oh yeah? What did you want the surprise to be?”
He turns my head and presses his lips to my ear. His hot breath is like a soft tickle. “That you were going to tell me you were pregnant.”
I gasp and look up him. “No way!” I slap him on the chest and then my eyes get even bigger. “Oh my God, you’re not joking!”
He shakes his head, and by the look on his face, I know he’s being serious right now. “But… but…” I pull him away from the others and grab his shirt to get him closer to me. “We always use something... It’s so soon... Are you serious right now?”
He laughs. “I’m definitely serious about you. And yes, I want to get married and have babies with you. Preferably in that order.”
His words send a tremble down my spine. I’m already imaging Matt as a father, and I know he’d be a great one. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m not pregnant then since we’re not...” I stop and put my hands to my mouth when Matt steps out into the aisle and gets down on one knee.
A hush falls around us. “April, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t care where I’m at, what I’m doing, I want you by my side. Will you please do me the honor of being my wife? Marry me, honey, so I can put some babies in you.”
I laugh because how could I not? But I also drop to my knees in front of him. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
He puts the ring on my finger, cups my face, and presses his lips to mine. The kiss is everything, telling me how much he loves me and that even though we haven’t been together long, I know he’s my soul mate.
When we finally pull apart, everyone is whooping and hollering. They have us up on the Jumbotron, and our friends are all clapping and cheering.
I’m smiling ear to ear as the girls all gather around me. “You knew, didn’t you?” I say to Violet, Becca, and Emery, and they’re all nodding their heads.
Each one of them hug and congratulate me as the guys all slap Matt on the back. He’s not away from me long, though. He comes back over to stand next to me, and I can’t help looking at him in awe. He’s really mine. I put my hand over my chest. I’ve never been so happy.
“I was trying to surprise you, and you surprised me instead.”
He laughs as his hand runs up and down my back. “I thought for sure one of your friends would tell you.”
I hold my hand out and look at the diamond on my finger. “I didn’t have a clue.” I look up at him. “So you ready to get out of here?”
“No way, honey. Now that you have my ring on your finger, I feel way better. You can cheer on whoever as long as you’re by my side.”