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“Yeah,” I agree, barely able to catch my breath as the sweat covering my body begins to cool. “Are you okay?” I ask, aware that he’s currently dealing with a multitude of injuries. The ones from his previous games have barely healed, and now he’s sporting new ones.

I glance up just in time to see a wide smile spread across his lips. “Perfect,” he whispers, making my heart flutter. “Thank you.”

“Coop—”

“No, you said what you needed to say; let me have my say.”

I slam my lips together, letting him take the lead.

“I had no idea how much I needed you here tonight, and I can’t believe that you were. No one has ever done something like that for me before. Well, not since my mom…No one has ever put me first, thought about what I needed over themselves. It’s…it’s a little overwhelming. Hell, all of this is overwhelming, and now I’ve had the week to think about everything, I realize that that is exactly why you didn’t tell me. You were right; I would have freaked out. I told you things online that I never touched on in real life. I’ve never done this before; I’ve never met someone that I wanted to share myself with in this way.”

He reaches for my hand and presses it against his chest, right above his heart.

“I want you to know everything, Garrett. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I want you in the stands supporting me, and I want you at home waiting for me when you can’t travel.

“I can’t promise that it’s going to be easy. We’ve got some pretty big things to deal with in our future if we want to have the kind of relationship I think we both do. But I’ll do it. I’ll go all in if it means keeping you in my life. I just need you to be patient with me. What’s ahead of us scares the shit out of me, but I want it. I want you, I want us, I want all the things you said we might have one day.”

The widest smile I think I’ve ever managed spreads across my face as I gaze at him, believing every word he’s just said.

“I do, too. Patience might not be one of my best skills, but I’ll do it. For you. I’ll do anything for you.”

“Same, muse. Same.”

“Can I just ask you one thing?”

His eyes bounce between mine as he tries to predict what I’m about to say.

“Of course. Anything.”

I smirk, barely able to hold in my laugh. “Will you draw me like one of your French girls?”

The sound of his laughter lights me up inside. If I get to hear that sound every day for the rest of my life, I’ll die a very happy man.

66

COOPER

“Ilook like I’ve been ravaged by a bear,” Garrett calls from the bathroom, making me bark out a laugh.

“Yeah, I know. It’s fucking hot.” My smile is so wide my cheeks actually hurt.

How has one of the worst nights of my life ended up making me happier than I’ve ever known?

Garrett came all the way to Detroit to support me tonight. I’ve ignored him all week, and yet he still came because he knew I’d need him.

He also told me he loved me.

A little guilt trickles through me that I didn’t say it back.

I wanted to. Hell, I almost did. But I don’t want the words to come as a knee-jerk reaction to him saying them. I want them to come out at the right time, and I think he understands that.

What I do know is that this is it.

Garrett and me. We’re a done deal.

Now all that’s left to do is deal with everything that comes with announcing that I’m in a relationship with a man.

Fuck.