The Langfield Brothers: Box Set

47. Lennox

FORTY-SEVEN

LENNOX

Go into this with an open heart. I promise I’m doing this with only the best of intentions. You’re floundering and missing out on life because you’re too scared to go after what you want. I hope you take this as the push you need rather than as another excuse to hide. Pick someone you could love. Maybe someone you already do. A person you can laugh with. Who enjoys the same things you do. A man you care about. One whose loss would be palpable if you didn’t take the leap with him. Stop surviving and start living.

I fold the letter up again. I’m still not ready to finish it. I’ve been savoring her every word. Sometimes the brutal honesty is painful. And there are times I despise the control she’s wielding—something she never did while alive. But I savor every sweep of the pen because it’s the only thing I have left of her. I’ve spent months reading it slowly. Knowing there are only two more paragraphs makes my stomach roil with unease. I’m not ready to let her go.

I slide the paper back into my jewelry box, grab my purse, and head for the door. It’s odd how the words feel like they were written for the game Aiden and I are playing.

Nervous anticipation skitters through me as I head to the arena, and it stays with me as I wave and smile at each person I recognize in the concourse. I’m wearing Aiden’s jersey as requested—the question is, what does my Hockey Boy have planned for me?

Sara jogs up to me as I head toward the suite. Threading her arm with mine, she gives me a tug. “The boys are about to start warm-ups. Wanna ogle them with me?” She waggles her brows and breaks into a bright smile.

I point at her, giddy, because it hits me now that my senses are back. “Oh, you just got naughty in the supply closet.”

Sara’s jaw falls slack. “Bitch.”

“A BJ too. Way to go, Brookie.”

She snorts. “Unreal.” She narrows her eyes, scrutinizing me. This time I’m the one making my brows dance. “Dammit,” she huffs. “I’m not getting a read on you.”

“Because I’m not a slooty sloot who gets sloppy in the closet.”

With a shake of her head, she turns toward the ice. “Whatever.”

Music blasts through the speakers, then the guys are skating out one by one. Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” is playing, which is… odd. This was our song in high school, and it’s about the last song I would expect hockey players to warm up to before a game.

Also, their warm-up routine looks completely different. Like they’re moving in a synchronized way. Like it’s choreographed. Like its… planned.

“What is happening?” I whisper as Aiden skates closer. He doesn’t have his helmet on, and he’s wearing a big smile.

Gavin opens the gate to the box and waves us in. “Need your help with something, Lennox.”

When I don’t move, Sara pushes me forward.

“Seriously, what’s happening?” I ask as the guys skate into a line behind Aiden and come to a stop, spraying ice as they do.

The arena lights flash, and the announcer comes over the system. “Please rise and give a warm welcome to our Boston Bolts.”

The stands are only about half-full, but as the fans stand, the noise level cranks up a notch. The speakers crackle as “Crazy in Love” transitions to “Single Ladies.” As it starts, the guys lined up behind Aiden shimmy their shoulders back and forth. Aiden launches himself into a series of complex dance moves on his skates that mimic Beyoncé’s movements in the music video.

It’s a flash mob of hockey players on the ice.

My body swims with joy, my pulse racing and my cheeks aching because my smile is so wide.

When Aiden starts to sing, I realize he’s mic’d.

“All the hockey players, all the hockey players,

All the hockey players, all the hockey players,

Put your sticks up,

It’s been a few years, quite a few tears, I got tired of doing my own thing,

Almost picked wrong, though I knew all along, only Lennox Kennedy was for me.

I looked at you, you looked at me

No one else ever had my attention

You’ve owned my heart, right from the start, and now I’m gonna get down on one knee.”

I clap a hand over my mouth as the entire team breaks into the chorus, their shoulders dropping down as they slide their skates back and forth, doing the moves perfectly.

“I really like it, so I’m gonna put a ring on it,

You’re my dream girl, so I’m gonna put a ring on it.”

Then he’s skating toward me, and Sara is pushing me through the gate and out onto the ice.

Before me, Aiden drops to a knee.

“Just marry me and I’ll put a ring on it.”

The team sings the chorus as Aiden opens his palm and looks up at me, revealing a gorgeous oversized pink diamond. He covers his mic with his free hand and whispers a challenge. “Never have I ever gotten married.”

His brown eyes twinkle, and I swear they say I told you I had a plan .

In response, my heart asks, Is that all this is, though? Part of the plan?

But as he looks at me with nothing but pure love, his warm smile says, You know it isn’t.

“Marry me, Lex,” he says out loud.

I lean into him, needing to be closer so that he knows my answer is genuine and just for him. So he knows that I want this. I want to take the leap with him. I don’t want to just survive the next few months so I can gain access to my trust. I want to live this life. I want to enjoy it. I want him. Us. This.

“Yes, a thousand times yes.” My words echo throughout the arena, startling me. A laugh bursts from my chest when I remember that he’s mic’d.

“She said yes,” he yells to the guys who are still dancing to the music, making him proud.

When he turns back to me, the brightness of his smile has tears pricking at the backs of my eyes. With both hands cupping my cheeks, he presses his lips to mine. The diamond digs into my face, making him pull back quickly. “Shit. You need this.”

I hold up my hand and allow him to slide it onto my finger. “It fits perfectly.”

He smiles. This time he mouths his response, letting me know it’s just for me. “I know. I measured your finger while you slept.”

I snort. “Stalker.”

He shrugs. “A friendly one, though.”

Pulling me in close, he kisses me again, this one soft and languid. The crowd is watching, and the cheers around the arena are deafening. Though Aiden has created a giant spectacle, none of it feels like it’s for them. This is for us. As he releases my mouth and drops his forehead to mine, I study my ring. He absently strokes over the band with a thumb, like he just needs to be reminded that it’s there.

“Is this real?” I whisper, still shocked.

Cupping my cheeks again, he ducks down and locks eyes with me. “This is whatever you want it to be, Lex. You have me, in whatever capacity you want, forever.”

My heart swells as the gravity of his words hits me. “You’ve got a game to win, Hockey Boy.”

He nods and presses another kiss on my mouth.

Sara taps on my shoulder and directs us to smile at a photographer who’s appeared out of nowhere. We take picture after picture, the team even getting in on some. Then, still lost in a whirlwind of emotions, I follow Sara upstairs to the owner’s suite.

“Holy shit,” Sara breathes. “You’re getting married .” She spins and takes me in, wearing the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. “We’re marrying brothers. We’re going to be sisters .”

My chest splits open then, and I swear butterflies pour out. “Holy shit. That’s wild.”

“Brooks has always been my favorite, for obvious reasons but Aiden just nudged him out of first place.”

I snort. “You realize that we also have Brooks to thank, right? He’s gotta marry you in order for us to become sisters.”

Her eyes darken. “Are you trying to insinuate there’s a world in which he changes his mind and doesn’t marry me?”

“No. Definitely not.” I grip her arm and stretch my hand so she refocuses on the sparkly ring and not dark thoughts. “Come on, we need a picture of our hands together.”

“We do,”she squeals. Then she’s pulling out her phone and throwing herself into the task. Fifteen hand pictures later, we head into the suite.

When we step inside, the whole Langfield crew is here, along with our friends, cheering and clapping and rushing me.

Then, with a glass of champagne in hand, I watch my guy play one of the best games of his life. Between the second and third periods, Beckett appears by my side. “I take it Aiden hasn’t made a terrible roommate?”

I bite my lip. “He’s been very respectful of my space.”

Beckett nods, though his gaze remains trained on the ice, like he’s actually interested in watching the Bolts mascot skating around and making a fool of himself. “He wants a dog, you know.”

“Huh?” I shift in my seat and scrutinize the incredibly confusing billionaire. He’s known as a demanding grump to the press and his employees, but I’ve never seen that side of him.

He gives me a calming smile. “Not now. But eventually. There’s a brownstone on my street. Plenty of space for a dog to run in the yard. Kids in the neighborhood. It’s not for sale yet, but it will be by the end of the year.”

My heart lodges itself in my throat. I’m thoroughly confused by this cryptic conversation. “Okay?”

“Liv tells me that Josie’s party was incredible. And Ava mentioned that she could use some help with charity events for Langfield Corp.”

I nod, chest growing tighter, still confused about where this is going.

“Is that something you’d be interested in?”

I peer over my shoulder, searching for who could be putting him up to this. Sara is preoccupied with Millie and Vivi, dancing in front of the glass and pointing down at the mascot. Liv isn’t even in the room. She and Winnie dipped out to use the bathroom. Winnie has been withdrawn all night again, despite the festivities. No one else is watching us, so I turn back to the peculiar Langfield brother. “Did Aiden put you up to this?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Beckett frowns. “What? I don’t run business decisions by my brothers.”

“This seems like a stalker thing Aiden would do. A way to get me to his away games like Brooks has with Sara.”

Beckett scowls. “I assure you, I have nothing to do with my brother’s stalker plans.” He clearly doesn’t get the implication in that word. Thank god. Even so, my cheeks heat. “You’d actually be very busy. The events are all held in Boston, so you’d rarely have to travel, and you definitely wouldn’t be accompanying the team. You’d be planning parties for sponsors and investors. Sometimes players, I suppose, but those would all be local. The charity work we do would be a large part of it.”

“So you, what, heard I’m good at this and are offering me a job?” I’m still so confused. I’ve never been good at anything. If Aiden didn’t ask Beckett to do this…

“Yes. I make a point to hire the best. Name your price, and we’ll make it work.”

I appreciate that he assumes it’s a done deal. Like I’d be an idiot to say no. The truth is, I would. This is what I’ve been waiting for. A career I love. One I’m good at. One with a purpose. Sure, weddings are fun to plan, but Josie’s party was far more rewarding because it brought joy to a little girl who doesn’t regularly experience it.

“I’ll think about it.”

Beckett nods evenly, like he has no doubt I’ll say yes. “Get with Liv and set up a time to come in this week. We’ll get you into the Langfield system and make it all official.”

“I appreciate it, Beckett.” I hold out a shaky hand. Between the engagement and the job offer, my nerves are a mess.

Rather than shake my hand, he pulls me in for a hug. The man truly is a conundrum.

As he releases me, he adds, “And think about the brownstone. There’s a park across the street, so Aiden would have plenty of room to run.”

I snort. “You mean the imaginary dog you’ve selected for us would have room to run?”

With a tilt of his head, he furrows his brows. “No. Have you met my brother? He’s the one who needs a field.” Without another word, he slides his hands into the pockets of his dress pants and strides away.

I, naturally, burst into laughter.

This really has been a strange day.

The crew is all smiles, mingling and snacking and goofing around. All except for Beckett’s son—the troublemaker. He’s got his arms crossed, and he’s staring me down.

Glutton for punishment that I am, I head in his direction. “Hey, Huckleberry. You going to congratulate me?” I crouch down to his level and look him in the eye.

The kid squares his shoulders and eyes me up and down. “The last girl he proposed to didn’t make the cut. You going to be nicer to him?”

Appreciation sweeps through me. There’s no hiding my smile. This kid. He’s seven and already watching out for Aiden. It’s official—he’s my favorite. “He’s my guy, Huck. Don’t you worry. I’ll work to make him smile every day, just like he does for me.”

And I mean it too. Standing in this room, surrounded by our friends and family, waiting for the man of my dreams to play his dreams out on the ice, is everything. It makes all the difficulties in my life seem inconsequential.

My job. My parents’ demands. The trust. None of it compares to the way I feel about this man.

After another incredible win, Aiden joins us in the suite to celebrate. From there, he tells me to pick a place to move our celebration. I request the underground bar. His responding laugh is raucous. Because while I could choose any place in Boston, I picked the team’s sports bar. What he doesn’t get is that where we go doesn’t matter. Being with him is all I care about.

And tomorrow, we’ll wake up together, close the blinds and sit quietly in the dark.

Together.