Sidelined: A Sports Romance (37 page)

“Yeah, it’s even better than I imagined.” He walked toward a grassy spot where they could see the ocean on one side and still be close enough to the waterfall to watch its majestic cascade into the pool below.

Skye spread the blanket over the grass and tugged at the corners. “After we eat I want to take a hundred pictures of this place. I can’t believe we’re on the only ones here.”

Bolt realized their alone time might be limited. They were off the beaten path, but they were a part of the most popular day trips in Maui. Some other helpful concierge likely doled out the same advice.

He tapped his pocket before sitting on the blanket.

“Skye, I can’t. I can’t do this.” He stood from his seat.

“What’s going on?” Her eyes darted to his.

“I had a plan. I think it was a good plan, but I can’t do the plan.” He kneeled beside her, his knee sinking into the Hawaiian quilt Skye packed.

Skye’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God. Are you? Is this?”

It all flew from his mouth, none of it rehearsed. “I love you. I’ve never loved anyone, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I love you. I want all the things I swore I never wanted—a house, and kids, and you. I want you in my life every single day.” He wasn’t sure how proposals were supposed to go. He didn’t know how this one would go, but he smiled as he saw the tear trickle along Skye’s cheek. “Baby, don’t cry.”

“They’re not sad tears.” She choked on the words. “I love you too. I have loved you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Don’t you want to see the ring?” He laughed, as he pulled the stone from his pocket. The sun caught specs of the shimmering diamond. “You don’t like it?” He held it toward her, worried from her expression that he had guessed wrong when he selected the emerald cut.

“No, no. It’s perfect. I love it. I adore it. I still can’t believe this is happening.” She studied the ring. “Is this really happening? I just don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes. Say you want to get married and do the white picket fence thing with me.” He slipped the ring on her finger.

“Yes, yes, and yes.”

Bolt pulled her with him as he collapsed on the quilt. The warm Hawaiian sun shining on then, lighting the moment with tenderness. They lay there in a sphere of love, bound by the words exchanged, words their hearts had already known.

“I was afraid you were going to say no.” He hadn’t realized until he heard her say ‘yes’ how his heart had been on pause, waiting to beat until he knew there was a future with the one woman he couldn’t live without.

“Are you crazy?” Her lips brushed against his mouth. “And miss waking up to these lips and those eyes? No way I’m turning that down.”

“You know I have no idea what I’m doing. Absolutely no clue.”

She nodded. “I know. But that’s why we’re doing it together.”

He sighed as she kissed him until they were both breathless. Their bodies melting together, their hands roaming with a new hunger.

“Together.” He liked the sound of that. He didn’t know holding someone else in his arms could make him feel so whole and so alive. That was until he met Skye, and she taught him what it meant to fly.

T
.A
. Foster met, fell in love with, and married her own Marine fighter pilot. Through deployments, trainings, and sometimes living oceans apart, their own love story continues every day.

S
he grew
up catching rays and waves along the North Carolina Outer Banks and now resides in the state with her husband, two children, and two canine kiddos.

T
.A. has
an undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate degree in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University. When she’s not chasing her two-legged and four-legged children or trying to escape for date night, you can find her reading, writing, or planning her next beach trip.

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