“I did,” he whispers. “We were a family long before we ever had one. At least now it’s official.”
I reach up to touch his cheek. “I love you, Dean.”
He grazes his lips along my fingers, holding my gaze. “I love you, too, Kitten.” Dean clears his throat and sits up straighter. “Okay, here goes. Why am I so nervous?”
“Don’t be,” I tell him. “It’s just me. I’m still the same girl you stalked freshman year.”
He laughs. “I did not stalk you. I observed you from a distance. There’s a difference.”
“Observing. Stalking. Same difference.” I flash a wicked grin at him. “I’m glad you found me. It was one of the best days of my life.”
“Mine, too. I’d thought that meeting Nick Baldwin’s daughter was about as close to meeting someone famous as I would ever come. I never expected us to become friends.”
“What did you expect?”
He shrugs. “I wanted to see if you had some of his hockey skills. And you do. That wasn’t what held my interest. You’re beautiful, even in full gear. I couldn’t take my eyes off you once I saw you.”
“So, you lied,” I joke. “Dean, how could you?”
“Hey, let’s not go there with the lies. Okay, woman?”
I huff, pretending to be annoyed. “Back then, I never thought you saw me as anything other than one of the guys.”
“Never,” he admits. “I just learned to think of you as a friend. In the beginning, it was hard to separate my feelings for you, but I valued your friendship too much to mess things up. When the twins came to Strick U our sophomore year, that was even more of a reason to keep our relationship platonic.”
“It’s crazy how many miscommunications we had in college.”
Dean clutches the ring between his fingertips. “But we found our way back to each other.
“All of that is in the past, Dean. We have our future to look forward to now. You should probably ask me to marry you before I change my mind,” I say, laughing.
He shakes his head at me, amused. “Katherine Baldwin, my best friend, my Kitten, the love of my life and mother of my children, will you marry me?”
I nod, the tears streaming down my face and onto my shirt. “Yes, of course, I will marry you, Dean.” I hold out my hand for him to slip the ring on my finger.
Noah raises his arm in the air and then slaps it down on Dean’s forearm, laughing to himself.
“Does that mean you approve, Little Man?”
Noah giggles again.
“He can be our ring bearer,” I tell Dean, smiling at Noah. “We should wait until the twins are born, so they can part of the wedding, too.”
“You want to wait that long?”
“Yeah, I think so. Why? What were you planning?”
“I would marry you on this floor in sweatpants if you would let me.”
“Well, that’s not gonna happen. You’re cute, but not that cute.” I pinch his cheek. “My dad and brothers would kill you if they were not included in our wedding. So would your mom.”
“No, you’re right. Our families have to be there.”
“My dad will spare no expense. Prepare yourself for every Hockey Hall of Fame member to be at our wedding.”
Dean grins like an idiot. “That alone makes me want to speed up this wedding.”
I roll my eyes at him. “I’m sure it does. When are going to start acting like you’re a big deal? You were Rookie of the Year. One day, you will be up there with my dad and his friends.”