Epilogue

The chanting for King that echoed through the stadium was something Lila was still getting used to. It was loud and thoroughly electric, thousands of fans screaming out the name of her fiancé like they knew him personally. He'd just scored a goal, and his gaze traveled to where he knew she was sitting and he blew her a kiss.

They'd been in London a little over six months, and King was already proving to be formidable on the field. Lila had applied to and been accepted to law school at University College London and was prepared to start the next fall. She enjoyed the downtime as she and King settled into their new routine and had found part-time work at a little bookshop near their flat. Though she missed her family, she and King had already booked a flight to visit once the season was over. And she loved all of the random messages and FaceTime exchanges she'd been able to have with them.

In some ways, she missed Wren and Knight and her little goddaughter even more, and thankfully, she'd already been able to take a trip to visit them all in New York, cheering on Knight as he played in one of his first professional games. Ivy looked absolutely adorable wearing the tiny noise-canceling headphones Wren had found for her and a onesie with her dad's number on it. They also made an effort to text and Marco Polo almost daily and FaceTime once a week. Their text message conversations were still legendary.

Cosmically, or perhaps predictably, because their respective partners were best friends, Lila and Wren had ended up both getting engaged on the exact same day. Lila had known that Knight was planning to propose, because obviously she'd had to sign off on the ring on behalf of her best friend, but she was completely shocked when she'd come home from running a quick errand to find King waiting for her with a bunch of bouquets of her favorite flowers filling their small living room.

He'd gotten down on his knee almost immediately. Like he couldn't wait another minute before asking her to marry him. His dark eyes had been filled with tenderness when he'd taken her shaking hand and said, "You're already my home, my family. But I want to be connected to you in every way possible. I know we're young, but I also know that you are the best part of my life. My endgame. Please say you'll be my wife."

She didn't hesitate even a little bit. Though the ring he'd bought was just shy of ostentatious, she loved the fact that he'd designed it himself and that it was so meaningful to the two of them. It was a row of three pear-shaped diamonds, the center stone the largest, the two stones set next to it slightly smaller in size, with tiny pave diamonds glittering around the thin band. A crown. A crown for the girl who fell in love with a broken king who eventually came into his own power and created his own kingdom. And showed her more love than she'd ever thought was possible.

How could she not be excited about marrying a man who loved her with everything he had? Who'd overcome the circumstances he was born into and decided that he was capable of so much more?

King hadn't had any contact with his parents since that disastrous day with his mother at the restaurant. For a while, Solomon had tried to lurk around at the remaining college games King played, but the team successfully ran interference and finally had him banned from attending at all after he'd left threatening messages on King's voicemail. Even though Lila's heart ached for the boy inside King who'd been neglected and abandoned by his parents, she knew that the family they had formed was filled with more than enough love.

And maybe, someday in the future, they'd have a child or two of their own, who Lila knew King would love fiercely and completely. Just like he loved her. Someday. Maybe. If they both wanted. Right now, the love that they shared with each other was more than enough.

After the game, she waited for him by the players' exit and greeted him by jumping straight into his arms and kissing him deeply. "Great game, Spencer."

He squeezed her butt. "Great ass, Alexander."

"Take me home?"

"We're already there, baby," he said as he pressed their foreheads together and breathed her in deeply. "Home is wherever we're together."