"You would have figured it out," I reassure him.
"Only because you were in that accident," he says bitterly. "I was so afraid you were going to die without me having the chance to fix it."
"But I didn't," I point out rationally.
Roman smiles at me. "No, you didn't, thank fuck. And when I got to the emergency room and saw how freaked out Gray was, I just realized...it was easy for us to put that shit aside because you were far more important than any of our pettiness that we had gotten so mired in."
"I think you and Gray are kind of wonderful," I murmur.
"She's all right," he says with a smirk. "I mean...she has potential."
I laugh, and then wince because that causes my head to hurt.
"You're in pain," he accuses.
"A little headache is all."
"Well, when you get sprung from here, you're coming to my house and I'm going to take care of you," he says firmly.
"You're going to have to fight Dad, Gray, and Georgia," I tell him with a grin. "They've all said the same thing."
"It's a fight they'll lose," he says menacingly.
"My money's on you, baby," I say sweetly, and Roman's eyes warm with satisfaction.
"Okay, I've got something for you," Roman says abruptly as he stands from the chair. I watch as he grabs the ukulele case and brings it back to the chair before sitting down again. He flips the latches and pulls it out, setting the case on the tiled floor and the ukulele in his lap.
I watch him carefully, because I get the distinct impression he doesn't expect me to play, but I have no clue what he's doing.
"So I'd been working on this for your birthday," he says quietly and with a nervous quaver in his voice.
"Oh my God," I blurt out in amazed realization. "You learned how to play?"
He nods, swallows hard, and admits, "For the past few weeks. I found someone who would give me lessons and did them usually after hockey practices."
My hand grabs for the bed controller and I hit the button to raise my head, scooting my body so I'm sitting up. My nerves hum with excitement that he would do such a thing, and eager to listen to what he's learned. "That's unbelievable. And so damn sweet...and romantic...and I don't even know what to say."
"You might want to hold all those compliments until you hear me play," he says dryly as he positions the ukulele in his hands. And oh my God, it looks ridiculous against his large frame and those long, strong fingers. "And a word of warning: I'm not the best singer."
"I think you'll be fabulous," I tell him, already bursting with pride no matter how bad he is.
Roman gives me a grateful smile, then a little cough to clear his throat. His eyebrows furrow inward in concentration as he places his fingers on the strings to make the first chord, and gives a little strum. His eyes slide to me, so damn nervous, so adorably cute, and I nod in encouragement.
His strumming hand starts to move, his chord changes choppy, but when he sings the first few lyrics, tears immediately fill my eyes.
Wise men say,
Only fools rush in...
I blink, and the tears slide free, rolling down my face as Roman struggles with the chord changes. He's not secure enough to look away from his fingers on the strings, but I can still see a world of emotion in his eyes as he pours the words of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love."
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 y
ou'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!"
We all laugh, because that's oh so Georgia, and then it turns awkward when Brian kisses her deeply, his hand dropping down to her ass.
"A-a-a-a-n-d," I drawl out with exaggeration. "That's my cue to go get another beer."
Lexi laughs as I release my arm from around her waist and says, "Get me one too, will you?"
I kiss her on the side of her face, admiring that the bruise is finally faded and nothing is left but a faint pink scar. Her shoulder has healed as well and she's feeling completely back to normal. "Sure thing, babe."
Looking across the room, I hold my empty beer bottle up at Ryker, silently asking if he wants another one. He shakes his head, and I turn to walk into Brian's kitchen.
We're all here having a Sunday afternoon dinner on one of the rare weekends we don't have a game. We'll be flying out tomorrow for a game in Chicago, and while I'd rather be spending today solely with Lexi, I've learned to indulge her desires to be with her family as much as possible.
And honestly, it's not that much of a chore. Brian and Gray have welcomed me right into the family, treating me like I have permanent member status. Fuck...I hope that's true.
I stand by my earlier position that it's not too early to propose, and if I thought I had a chance at Lexi saying yes, I'd be whipping a ring out too. It's like once I decided to jump in to this new experience of love and commitment, I wanted to go full force without any regrets and no holding back.
But Lexi wouldn't say yes to me just yet, as she's the more levelheaded of the two of us. As much as she's my goofy, ukulele-playing barista, she treats our relationship with a genuine and healthy respect. She wants it to grow, flourish, deepen, and solidify before we take the next step.
For me, I'm fairly goal driven, and if I can't propose yet, I've set my eyes on something within easier reach. I've been trying to talk her into moving in with me. I think I'm almost there, although her hesitation has more to do with not wanting to leave Georgia in the lurch than it does with giving up her independent living.
But now that Brian's put a ring on Georgia's finger, I'm thinking she'll be selling her house, along with Lexi's little garage apartment, and lucky me...she'll have no choice but to move in with me.
Just as I open the fridge to grab two more beers, I hear Gray say behind me, "Ugh...there are some things that daughters are not meant to know about their dads."
I look over my shoulder at her with a grin. "And what's that?"
As I pull out two beers and snag Gray a bottled water, she says, "That my dad knows how to French kiss. Just gross."
Laughing, I nudge the refrigerator door closed with my hip and hand her the water as she comes to stand on the other side of the island from me. I put both beer bottles down, reach into a drawer that I know holds the bottle opener, and pop them both open.
"So I had an interesting call from your agent today," Gray says slyly as she opens her water.
I feign ignorance. "Oh yeah? What about?"
"Well, he called about another player he represents," she says with narrowed eyes at me. "But he happened to drop that you were given an offer from the New Jersey Wildcats."
"Huh," I say, playing dumb. I take a drink of my beer and watch her with twinkling eyes.
"Yeah," she says knowingly. "Said it was a great offer too."
"I suppose," I tell her grudgingly.
"And that you turned it down," she adds, then watches me like a hawk for my reaction.
"You got me," I say with a grin. "I turned it down."
"What the fuck, Roman?" she almost hisses at me, then leans a little over the counter. "It was a lucrative deal. More money than we could pay you here."