Raph
Her diamond ring sparkled in the twinkly lights, and I let my smile sneak out.
Thankfully, Beth was too distracted by all the activity around us to notice my sneakiness—or my plotting.
From the moment my woman lowered the drawbridge, allowed me to move inside the thick protective walls of her heart, and gave me all that is her, I had been living a dream.
Romance and balls being busted.
A sweet woman at home and a scary businesswoman who had refocused on herself, her life and future and going after what she wanted.
What she deserved.
Comfortable with pursuing that because of me.
Which made me feel like a fucking superhero, I couldn’t lie.
The best part was she no longer had feelings of guilt because she’d grown up well off—even though I could—and had—made the case that just because she had money in the bank and food in the fridge, being raised by nannies and people who didn’t care about more than a paycheck and then shipped off to boarding school as soon as she was old enough shouldn’t have really left a lot of room for guilt.
Shit parents were shit parents.
It didn’t matter how much money was involved.
She’d survived. She’d fought to build a life that was filled with love and laughter and family not built out of blood.
And she never let herself forget that she could also use the resources she had to do good.
And she did good.
Currently with the Breakers Foundation—working with the team’s community outreach arm to raise money for local schools.
Just this year alone she’d used her powers to fund one-to-one laptops for all students in the district, and had helped open a vocational program for kids who wanted to get certified in a variety of jobs—from HVAC to medical assisting to vet tech positions.
Tangible things to help kids.
Because she had a big heart.
Because she’d once been a kid who was forgotten—and had bonded with a group of other kids who were also forgotten.
And she wasn’t stopping.
Tonight we were at a benefit for the Breakers Foundation, and I was one of many hockey players posing for selfies and signing jerseys and talking up the items we’d donated to the silent auction.
My woman had called on connections old and new, and the guys on the team—and others, including the Gold and the Sierra, and the newest addition to the league, the Eagles—had shown up for her.
But beyond getting players and donors with deep pockets who weren’t afraid to part with their cash to come, she had truly outdone herself. The event was beyond popular, tickets to the public had sold out in minutes, and when we all arrived, it was to find the evening well-organized, with plenty of food, drinks, and things to do.
Prime that money to be donated.
Case in point?
My Pass with a Player package in the silent auction was up to six figures.
So, I knew the kids were going to be set, and I couldn’t wait to see what Beth did with the funding.
It would be great because my woman was fucking impressive…
She was also distracted.
And didn’t know that I’d called in a couple of favors of my own.
A man leaned into the room, his hazel eyes coming to mine, brows lifting in question.
I glanced down at my watch, saw that it was indeed time, and then nodded.
He disappeared.
I set my final piece into motion—moving to my woman, taking her by the hand, and drawing her away from the conversation she was having with Cas.
Exactly as planned.
Because it was fucking Go Time.
“Honey,” she said, “Cas needed—”
But my teammate just walked by us, moving into the hall, moving toward the private room I’d set up for just this moment.
It wouldn’t take long.
Then my woman could go back to kicking ass.
We just…had unfinished business.
“Wha—?” She glanced up at me, confusion in her eyes, but I was already drawing her in the same direction in which Cas had disappeared.
The same place the rest of the people who loved Beth had already made their escape.
Taking advantage of the crush in the room.
Of her being distracted.
All except Cas, who was supposed to keep her busy.
Until now.
“Honey,” she said. “I have so much to—”
“In a minute,” I told her, reaching for the knob, pushing open the door, and—
She froze. “What is this?”
Our family—the family we made—was all here, filling chairs on either side of a makeshift aisle, all eyes on us, smiles on their faces, thrilled to be in on the surprise for Beth. For the big bright woman who cared so much and gave so much and didn’t expect anything in return.
I turned her toward me, lifted her hand up so she’d notice something else she’d been too distracted to earlier.
When I’d slipped it onto her finger.
Slipped it on and settled the band of diamonds right next to her engagement ring.
“What?” she breathed, eyes going wide, mouth falling open.
Then…
“Raph,” she said, free hand plunking onto her hip. “Are you freaking serious right now?”
Laughter in the air, drawing her focus back to our family and friends filling the chairs.
“You really slipped a wedding band on my finger?” she hissed, leaning close, eyes flashing, but I knew she wasn’t really pissed, not when her lips were creeping up into a smile, when humor was beginning to shine in her deep blue eyes.
“You keep getting busy, honey,” I told her, smoothing back a tendril of bright red hair. “It’s beyond time that we get this taken care of.” I dropped my forehead to hers. “So we can get other things taken off.”
A shaky exhale. “Oh, Raph,” she murmured, eyes going glassy now. “What the heck am I going to do with you and all your romance?”
“Marry me?” I asked softly.
She huffed out a laugh then straightened, shaking her head. “Yes,” she said. “I guess we should do that, considering I have an event to get back to.” She turned to the chairs, jabbing a finger at the collective crowd. “When this is over, I expect you all to get back out there and hock your silent auction items because it’s for—”
“The kids!” they called back.
Her nose wrinkled, but, as usual, it was fucking cute.
Which was why I dropped a kiss on the top of her head, nodded toward where a certain grumpy hockey player—Lake Jordan—was standing, anxious to head back to California because the man apparently had a woman now who would tolerate his annoying ass. Still, he was doing me a solid because even though he was a surly bastard and a pain in the ass on the ice…
He was ordained in forty-plus states.
Including Maryland.
So…he’d stayed an extra day after the game.
And he was going to marry us.
Right now.
No more delays. No more worrying about planning something.
Just me and Beth and our family.
“Oh my God,” she whispered as I started drawing her up the aisle. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“My heart,” I told her as we stopped in front of Lake, as I took her hand, pressed it to the spot on my chest where the organ beat, only for her, below, and stared deeply into her eyes. “My fucking heart.”
“No,” she whispered. “My heart and soul and every bit of love and joy and happiness you’ve ever given me.”
“More,” I whispered back. “You gave us more.”
“You gave us our future.”
I touched her cheek. “You give us our happy ending every single day.”
“I love you.”
“Forever and always,” I murmured, dropping my forehead to hers.
“And those are better than the vows I pulled off the internet,” Lake said, making us both jump and jerk our heads toward him, making me remember we had an audience and a wedding to finish. “And since she already has a ring”—Lake jerked his chin at Beth’s hand—“and we all have a silent auction to talk up…I now pronounce you man and wife.”
My eyes went wide. “Lake, I—”
Beth’s eyes went wide. “I—”
“You may kiss the bride,” Lake announced loudly, ignoring our shock.
But since I wasn’t going to miss my first chance to kiss my wife…
I did just that.
And then when the cheers died down and I found the strength to pull away…
We all went out and drove up those silent auction bids.