Epilogue

"He's adorable." Avery shook the bobblehead.

Wren hugged hers to her chest. "Totally. I love it."

It was game one of the championship, and the Revs, apparently trying to still prove how much they loved him, had made today Emerson bobblehead day.

"They never do this for playoff games. He should feel special." Hannah tapped her foot impatiently.

The Revs were doing a special introduction for Emerson tonight, so we were sitting to the right of the dugout rather than in the box.

"He's been so nervous all day." It was weird. When the forecast called for drizzle, Emerson freaked out, certain that I wouldn't come. Like I would ever not show up to an event that was important to him, regardless of the weather.

"I laughed so hard when he switched from you have to come to I'm worried you'll get sick if you sit out in the rain." Isabella giggled next to me.

It wasn't even currently raining. If it started, we'd head up to the box, so I didn't understand what he was so stressed about.

"Like I said, he's nervous." His entire family had come up for today's game. Most of them were in the box with Pop, but Isabella had asked to sit down here with Hannah, Wren, Avery, and me. She and Hannah had been glued to my side all damn morning. "I'm gonna run to the bathroom before?—"

"No!" Isabella and Hannah shouted in unison as each grabbed one of my arms, sending me jerking forward.

"Good thing she wasn't holding her beer," Wren said, rolling her eyes at the jump scare they'd just given me.

"Seriously. Is it something in the air today? You're being just as weird as Em."

"We just don't want you to miss anything." Avery waved the bobblehead at me. "It's Em's big day."

And yet it didn't seem to warrant their brand of weird.

Less than five minutes later, the mascots were out on the field with their normal bins of balls and T-shirts.

The synthesized beat blared from the speakers around the stadium. Then, in a shocking turn of events, my brother was the first to trot up the steps, clapping and looking almost happy. He glanced our way and gave his fiancée a smile as he shook his rose gold Sharpie at her.

"Why is he the only one allowed to use a color other than black?" Wren asked.

"He utterly refuses to use anything but rose gold. I can only assume it has something to do with you." Hannah arched a brow at Avery.

"It's the best color," she said unapologetically, her eyes locked on Chris.

Mason, Kyle, Asher Price, and Eddie Martinez were right behind my brother, all clapping and dancing as they moved toward the mascots. Black Sharpies came out, and they all started signing.

I took a sip of my beer. As I set it down, a cacophony of beeps and buzzes sounded around me, and I swore everyone near us was pulling out their phones.

Wren pulled hers out, but I couldn't see the screen.

"What's going on?" I asked, reaching for my pocket before remembering my number 21 jersey dress didn't have any.

"I think you left your phone up in the box," Isabella said. "I saw you set it down when we dropped Mama and Pop off up there."

"It's an Amber alert." Wren tipped forward and tucked her phone back into her pocket.

"Yeah," Hannah agreed, barely looking up from her own device.

The music suddenly changed, and in the next second, Emerson came up the steps, clapping like all the other guys. His eyes met mine, and the tension visibly drained from his shoulders. The smile on his face became less forced, and he moved toward his best friend, dancing the entire way.

"I missed ‘Shut Up and Dance.' He and Mason haven't done it since the playoffs started." Wren craned her neck and clapped. "Let's see those moves, boys," she called.

Coach Wilson spun our way and glowered at her.

She simply gave him a small finger wave and batted her eyes.

"Don't make it worse. Dad's already annoyed today." Avery rolled her eyes.

"I legit cannot believe that Christian Damiano is dancing right now."

"I keep telling you, Han," Avery said, "I'm not the only one he does these things for. Emerson is his best friend, and it's a big day."

Emerson moved down the line, dancing and signing shirts rather than throwing them for his teammates. In turn, the guys were the ones tossing the shirts he was signing into the crowd. After he made it down the line, he did what he does best. He got the crowd on their feet and got them making all kinds of noise.

The Amber alert must have had an update, because as he was engaging the crowd, phones started beeping again.

"Why is he shaking his phone?" I asked Hannah. As he danced, he kept lifting his phone and pointing.

Her eyes widened. "Um, he must want them to see the message?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. Why the hell was she being weird now too?

Halfway through the song, he bounced our way. The chorus was blasting as he hopped onto the roof of the dugout and held his hand out to me.

I shook my head, but he just moved closer and reached out. Avery and Hannah hauled me out of my seat and shoved me closer.

Begrudgingly, I held out a hand. He pulled me up onto the dugout and into his arms, his smile blinding.

Attention wasn't my thing. I broke out in a sweat as I clung to him. The lyrics were up on the Jumbotron for the chorus, and the crowd was all locked in and singing along.

"Eyes on me, Mariposa. You are my destiny. The only thing I need. So dance with me, Gi," he whispered in my ear.

In the next instant, he released me and spun me around. Just as the song was about to demand that I shut up and dance with him, he dropped to one knee, and the entire stadium shouted. "Marry him!"

Heart leaping in my chest, I slapped my hands over my mouth. Marry him! flashed on all the screens around the stadium.

My heart skipped, and I lost my breath as Emerson looked up at me with a massive diamond pinched between his fingers.

He smirked and cocked a brow, silently asking well?

I nodded, fighting back tears, and the crowd around us broke into a thunderous cheer. He rose and slipped the ring onto my finger.

"Emerson," I choked out, holding my hand up, "it's huge."

He shrugged, then leaned to whisper in my ear. "It's the flashing sign that tells the world you're mine."

He kissed me quickly, and the entire stadium went nuts, screaming and cheering again.

"How the hell did you plan this?"

He leaned in. "Hannah helped, and so did the stadium messaging system. Told you I wouldn't be stealing free milk for long."

I snorted. Him and that dumb expression.

He smiled. "I totally faked you out, though, didn't I? I had you thinking we were doing something completely different."

"Yeah." I inspected the ring again. Damn, the huge circle-cut diamond sitting on a full band of smaller diamonds was really mine. "I thought today was about you."

"Any day about me is about you too, Gi." He gave me one more quick kiss. "But now I've got a game to win. And then we'll head home to celebrate."

"Another first day of forever."