“Hey, I have to go. Our agent is calling us, probably with the details of our NFL contracts.” And I couldn’t wait to hear them.
Malik answered his phone. “Yep, he’s right here.” He lifted his brows at me. “Babe?”
“Okay, see you soon. Bye now.” Dad ended the call.
“Holy fuck.” I rubbed my brow. Today had proved both amazing and stressful. “Tex. Whiskey.” I held my hand up, and Tex set a fresh shot into it.
“I have a feeling we’re getting drunk tonight.” Malik arched a brow and set his phone on speaker. “Go ahead, Dennis. I’m having shots with my fiancé.”
“Go easy. We have details to work out.” Dennis chuckled.
“Details like how I’m going to live my best life with the love of my life, playing football?” Malik pressed a slow kiss against my lips.
As the kiss broke, I said, “Every day, all day, only the best with you.”
EPILOGUE
MALIK
FIVE WEEKS LATER
We’d graduated, and both sets of parents had flown in for the affair. Grey’s parents wanted to treat everyone to a fancy post-graduation dinner, so we’d picked Ocean Club for the venue. Because hell, I’d never gotten the meal there Grey had promised me.
We rolled up in my Honda SUV, and I parked in the lot. “How are you feeling?” I squeezed Grey’s hand, resting in the center console. He’d been nervous as hell about seeing his parents.
“I’m doing all right. Let’s get this over with.” After kissing my cheek, he stepped from my SUV as I did the same.
I scanned the area by the front door, and my heart flipped. Holy hell, the families were all there, talking to one another. All of them dressed in business-casual, except for Landon, who was wearing jeans with a white polo. “Babe, they’re here.” I pointed and then snatched his hand.
“I guess we won’t have to introduce anyone.” He dipped his head and chuckled while strolling next to me. “Remember the last time we were here?”
“How could I forget? It was the day that changed everything.” I kissed his knuckles. I’d almost lost him, except that Tex had devised the plan to free Grey from his financial chains. Who would have thought that having money would imprison someone? It was the stuff of movies.
“The day that changed everything was when you took me on the hike at Camp Tontozona.” He flashed me a smirk.
“Oh yeah, then there was that.” With a snigger, I combed my fingers through my bangs.
“Here they come, the next generation of NFL star running backs.” Mom jogged to us, hugged us both and then kissed each of our cheeks. “Come on now, we’re just getting to know Grey’s lovely parents.”
Lovely?Of course, she’d say that. She viewed everyone favorably unless they sat on the other side of her courtroom. We strode with her to our families, and we greeted Landon with a bro-hug and the others with handshakes and quick embraces.
“So, you’ve all met.” Grey weaved his hands in front of him.
“We have.” Leonard patted Grey on the back. “Malik’s family is very charming. I’m a little jealous they witnessed your engagement, but Janice shared the video with your mother and me just now.”
“What you said to each other was so endearing.” Gloria, his mother, picked his hands apart and held one in both of hers. “When you return home, we’ll work on a proper engagement party and plan the wedding.” She beamed at him, her eyes the same blue as his and blonde hair cut sharply at her chin.
“Mom.” Grey glanced at me with a smirk and then focused on her. “Let’s hold off until we speak with the team’s PR people. We don’t want to cause a fuss before we even play our first game.”
“Oh, all right.” Clicking her tongue, she freed his hand and wrapped an arm around Leonard’s.
“We should go inside and get our table before they think we’re not coming.” With a smile at me, Dad lifted his brows and then ushered everyone inside.
As we followed him, Grey said, “Can you believe my mother? It’s like nothing happened, like she was on our side all along.”
“Just go with it for now. We’ll have plenty of time for serious family discussions when we move out there.” I hooked an arm around him and gave him a quick squeeze. We needed to celebrate our accomplishments tonight.
After a quick meeting with the hostess, we followed her to a large round table and took chairs around it, with Grey sitting next to his father and me on the other side of Grey, my mother next to me. Did Mom feel the need to protect me from Grey’s father, knowing what he’d initially done to Grey? I perused the restaurant. The place had a supper club vibe with upholstered chairs and white linen tablecloths falling across the tables. Stone adorned some walls, and large round chandeliers hung from a dark ceiling with wooden beams. I placed my napkin on my lap.