The crowd went silent enough to hear the millions of flashbulb clicks as Noah pulled a box from his pocket and offered it to her. “This is almost the greatest day of my life,” he said, still out of breath from his medal-winning run. “Julia, tell me you’ll marry me, promise to be my wife for the rest of my life, and I will never need another win to be happy for as long as I live.”
Her head spun. She gripped the railing with one hand and covered her mouth with the other as emotion bubbled over. “Yes. Yes,” she repeated behind her hand, then crouched to wrap her arms around his shoulders and kiss him hard. “Yes.”
Noah pulled the ring from the box, something big and sparkly. She couldn’t see it through the tears, and she didn’t care. He slid it on her finger, kissed her again, then lifted her into a half seat on his shoulder and turned toward the crowd, which was going absolutely wild in the stands.
Finally, Noah eased her to her feet and kissed her. “I love you so much.”
A bright light shone in their faces, and they both winced. Noah laughed. “Sorry, they go a little crazy when they find a new American sports hero. Don’t worry, it won’t last.”
She fisted her hands in the front of his racing vest. “I understand. I go a little crazy when I find the love of my life. And that, Noah Hunt, will most definitely last.”