“As you can see, Ashley had an accident recently,” Kip said into the microphone, getting a chorus of laughs from the thousands of spectators as he hopped down off the stage and made his way over to the side of the stadium, right under where we were sitting.
Looking up at me, he murmured, “Her having a busted leg makes it easier for me to do this, though, because at least she can’t run away, folks!”
Frowning at him in confusion, I watched as he reached into the back of his uniform pants and pulled out a box. Where he’d hidden a box, I had no idea. I’d examined his butt in great detail only moments before, and I hadn’t seen a thing.
“Ashley, I know it hasn’t been long since you assaulted me—” he began, making me gasp.
“I didn’t assault you. You were under me when I fell off the wall,” I growled, not realizing that the crowd could hear it thanks to Hayden who’d come up behind me with another microphone.
“You literally knocked me on my ass that first night,” he murmured, smiling widely.
“And then she stabbed him in the thigh the second time they met,” Will yelled, not needing a microphone for his voice to be carried to the one in Kip’s hand.
Shooting a glare at him this time, I hissed, “You couldn’t just forget about that, could you?”
Every last one of the team shrugged and shook their heads, but it was Stan who cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed, “We’ve got videos!”
“Why exactly are they here again?” I asked Kip who was laughing at the proceedings.
“To beat your dad’s ass, baby,” he replied straight faced. Before Dad and the guys on his team could argue it, he went back to whatever it was he was doing—mainly embarrassing me. “You’ve continued to knock me on my ass every day since that first night, Ashley. Every day brings us something new, and I love every second of it. Just like I love everything about you. You’re the sun in my sky, the moon in my dark. You’re my everything.”
“More than the diamonds in a Super Bowl ring?” I teased.
“More than those,” he promised with a glint in his eye.
“More than the cake in the ice cream cake waiting for us at home?” I pressed.
This time he paused and chewed on his bottom lip. “You got us a cake?”
“I got us a large one to celebrate.”
It took him a moment, but eventually he conceded. “Okay, more than the cake in an ice cream cake.”
Bursting out laughing, I bumped into my brother when I lost my balance, only just remembering he was standing there with a microphone when he caught me.
“Hey, what are you doing there?”
“Waiting for this tool to get to the point,” he gestured at Kip with the microphone.
Turning back to my man, I said, “Not that this isn’t fun, but the previous thanks would’ve been enough. This thing in the heat is itchy as heck,” I pointed at the big blue burden on my leg. “And standing up’s making it throb something fierce.”
“Well, if you hadn’t mentioned cake, I’d have asked you to marry me as soon as I told you that you were my everything. But you had to mention the cake and we got sidetracked.”
I swear the entire earth stopped spinning at that moment, and every molecule of oxygen was sucked out of it. “You… what?”
Then he got down on one knee, meaning that I had to lean over the barrier to see him, and opened the box in his hand, showing me the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. Well, seen from a distance that was, but it was still gorgeous.
“Ashley Louise Wilkes, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I promise to hold your hand in the ER, not grab your butt when I lift you into my vehicle, keep you supplied with ice cream cake, feed your crazy blind dog anything but cupcakes, and to rub your back and call you a princess every day.”
Looking up at my dad who was watching it all with a huge grin on his face, I chuckled when he gave me a thumbs up.
“Well, I do love it when you look after Able,” I acknowledged, making it sound like I needed to think about it. “But I’d miss it if you didn’t grab my ass in public when you lift me into your vehicle made for a giant. I also love eating ice cream cake with you, seeing as how it’s the only food that comes from outside the house you haven’t ruined for me.”
The crowd started laughing, but they didn’t know how bad it really was. I couldn’t eat anywhere anymore without thinking of a stranger’s hands on it or checking what research he’d done into the place.