Balls: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (A Cruz Boys Novel Book 1) (27 page)

The reporters broke out in appreciative laughter.

Leo waited to regain their attention.

“But as much as I love those things,” he said, “there are a few things I love infinitely more. Three of which are in this room.”

He turned to Josh and pulled him to his feet. Leo wrapped him in a huge side hug and ruffled his unkempt hair.

His now even-more unkempt hair.

Josh grinned and shook it out of his face. The freckles dotting his face pinched up as he smiled.

“Which brings us back to the question of who this handsome young man is.”

The noise in the room again plummeted to silence.

“I’m appealing a past decision against my application for adoption. My attorney tells me in light of my new life circumstances,” he glanced at me and then looked back at Josh, “that he thinks this time it will go through with no problem. Josh, I’d love for you to be the best big brother in the world.”

The easy smile on Josh’s face melted into the most heart-breaking look of surprise. He buried his face into Leo’s chest. Leo swept him up and hugged him like they were the only two people in the room.
 

An embrace without reservation, without concern for the stunned looks on all the reporter’s faces.

All except mine. I was overjoyed the news was now official.
 

The sound broke and roared like a aural tsunami.

If it was loud before, it was an absolute squall of shouted questions now.

Leo kissed Josh’s forehead and set him back on his feet, keeping one arm around him. Josh frantically swiped at the tears streaming down his freckled cheeks.

Leo waved everyone to a low murmur. He turned to me.

“I love you, Alex. I love you more than my career, my life, my everything. You
are
my everything.”

The murmur erupted into another barrage of questions.

“I’m done answering questions for today,” he said. “But I have one to ask of my own.”

He stepped off the platform and walked over to my chair. He took my hand in his and I swear my heart almost stopped beating.

He bent down on one knee and didn’t even wince doing it.

I wiped away the gathering tears welling up in my eyes.

“Alexis Young,” he said, “Will you make me the luckiest man on earth and marry me?”

What could I say?

The rest of my life with the man of my dreams?

A man who turned away from the excess and vice of his old life and committed to me in the most fundamental way possible?

The father of my unborn child.

There was only ever one answer.

The deepest wound in the depths of my heart healed as I said it out loud.

“Yes.”

Epilogue - Alexis

My mascara came out beautifully. Long, dark, full lashes brushed to perfection. Not a single pair stuck together. I patted my ginormous belly and looked in the mirror.

It wasn’t exactly the wedding day figure I’d planned in my youth, but it was perfect nonetheless. A gentle thump inside my belly was all the reminder I needed to remember what was truly important.

I realized happiness wasn’t about all the perfect plans I’d made. Not the perfect life that I’d had all mapped out in a spreadsheet with color-coded columns to show the different levels of priorities. It couldn’t be boxed in and labeled and strangled with expectations.

It couldn’t work that way because life didn’t work that way.
 

And I discovered the best way to live life was to accept it for what it was. To mourn for the losses, and to rejoice for the victories.

And, most importantly, to always strive to be open.

To be vulnerable.

To trust your heart with someone.

To allow that person to touch your heart in the most intimate way.

It was the relationships that mattered.
 

In the end, they were
all
that mattered.

My best friend in the entire world—and my only bridesmaid—stood behind me, smiling. She gathered up a stray lock of wavy hair and tucked it into place with a bobby pin.

“Sister, you look gorgeous,” Megan said. “Have I ever told you what I’d do to you if I had a dick?”

“You have,” I said. “I’m trying to forget.”

I turned in profile and wondered at the massive bulge in the sky-blue dress. We were due to meet our youngest son in less than two months.

The thrill of anticipation squirmed in my belly, or maybe that was Antonio again.

A hard kick smacked behind my belly button.

“Ow! Settle down in there,” I said.

Megan giggled and patted my tummy. “Was that a hand or a foot?”

I rubbed the little protrusion on my belly and felt the hard form of my baby inside. “His foot, I think.”

“He’s gonna be just like his father,” she said.

“I’m going to pray he turns out like the Leo I love today, and not the Leo I met in the locker room.”

“All he needed was to find a good woman,” Megan said. “And he hit the lottery finding you.”

I looked at her in the mirror and saw in her expression a hint of something said, but unsaid. Best friends like we were had a practically telepathic connection.

“Speaking of hopeless bad boys turning it all around by the grace of a good woman,” I said, “I’ve noticed you and Rodrigo chumming it up lately.”

Megan crinkled her cute little nose and grinned.
 

“He is totally gorgeous, right?”

“Megs, do you see this dress? You’re asking the wrong girl.”

She fussed with my hair, fixing imaginary things and generally making me feel pampered.

“Come on, Alex,” she said. “I know you’re taken, but you have to admit he’s a hottie.”

I caught her eyes in the mirror and arched my brows. “Well, I’ve seen all of him there is to see and I don’t think you’d be disappointed on the physical front.”

Megan blushed furiously, for once.

“How are your mom and dad taking all this?
 

Changing the subject. Nice move.

Dad was outside the main chapel waiting to escort me down the aisle. Mom left a while ago to take her seat in the front row.

“They’re coming around,” I said. “They haven’t spent much time with Leo yet.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Megan asked with a mischievous look in her eyes.

“You’re talking about my husband,” I said.

“Good, then.”

“Mostly good,” I said. “I thought Dad was going to punch Leo up instead of shaking his hand.”

“How about your mom?”

“She’s already all in.”

“Leo has that affect on women. Don’t worry, she’ll pull your dad around.”

I nodded.

“Listen, Sister,” she said, “men are like river water while women are the surrounding land showing them where to go. They think they’re masters of their own destinies, but we know better.”

“You’re the best Megs,” I said. “I mean it.”

She flashed a silly grin. “I try. Hey, have you seen how packed the main chapel is?”

“Only when we came in a few hours ago,” I said.

It was already a circus at that time.

“Oh, Sister,” she said, “you ain’t seen nothing. Standing room only. Every man, woman, and child in this country wants to see The Lion of Spain and his growing pride.”

My belly squirmed in nervous excitement. Or it was Antonio stretching out again?

I’d wanted to elope and skip the whole wedding spectacle, but eventually Leo convinced me to share our joy with the world.

And when The Lion of Spain said
world
, he wasn’t kidding.

We would be the first and probably only couple ever to be married in the main chapel of La Sagrada Familia. The mayor of Barcelona suggested it to me months ago and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Color me jelly, Sister,” Megan said.

“What are you talking about?”

“In case you didn’t realize it yet,” she said, “you’re getting married in a freaking castle. It’s like Salvador Dali and Westminster Abbey had a love child.”

She was right.

Right down to the horse-drawn carriage waiting for us outside.

The giddy little girl inside me squealed with glee.

I jumped when someone knocked at the door. It was time! I was about to walk down the aisle and say “I do” to the man of my dreams.

I was so euphoric I felt lightheaded.

Megan massaged my neck and gave me an air kiss on the cheek.

“Relax and enjoy it,” she said. “This is your day. The one you deserved.”

The door opened and a head peeked in. Not the wedding coordinator like I expected.

Leo. My king.

Megan rushed at the door to slam it shut.

“You’re not supposed to be in here! It’s bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony!”

Leo shoved his right foot in the door to keep it open. His knee rehab was going wonderfully.

“I had to see my beautiful bride,” he said. “And it’ll take a lot more than some old wives’ tale to keep me away.”

Megan glanced at me with a skeptical look on her face.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “My new husband has a hard time following the rules. “

He stepped inside and came up behind me. He wrapped his arms under mine and held my belly in his large hands. He was gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. His blue-gray eyes sparkled next to the black sheen of his tailored tux.

He lowered his head and kissed my neck. A delicious chill zipped up my spine and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“I’ve got no problem following the rules that I like,” he said. “Especially the ones that I love.”

The hardness in his pants pressed into my backside. He probably didn’t agree with how you were supposed to wait until your wedding night.

“You are so beautiful,” he said. “Your fertile belly makes my cock want to explode.”

Megan coughed to remind everyone that she was still in the room.

Another knock at the door caught us all of guard.

“Come in,” I said.

Josh’s head appeared.
 

“Hi!”
 

“Get over here!” I said with my arms open wide.

He ran over at top speed and then skidded to a stop, gently hugging my belly. He was seriously the sweetest kid ever. And he would be my oldest son soon.

What did I do to get so lucky?

Bones shuffled in behind him. The old guy wore a suit that looked straight out of a fashionable department store…from the 1970s. He had our neighbor, Ms. Pickering, on his arm.

I winked at her and waved.

“Now, don’t get your knickers in a knot,” she said. “It’s just a first date, and I haven’t decided if I’ll go down on him or not.”

Bones’ jaw dropped and he stared in shock.

Two more heads popped into the open door.

Giovanni and Dante Cruz strolled in like they owned the place.

“So this is where the party’s at!” Gio said.

It was certainly turning into that.

Dante wrapped Leo in a giant-size hug. Not many people made Leo look average height, but Dante’s lanky form towered over both of his younger brothers.

He patted Leo’s back.

“The first of us to raise the white flag,” he said. “You’ll have to write to us from prison.”

Leo punched him in the shoulder and Gio stepped between them before a good-natured bout of wrestling overcame them both.

“You got something on your tie, bro,” Gio said.

Leo looked down and Gio tweaked his nose.

“Did you seriously fall for that? You’re not even married yet and you’re losing your touch.”

Leo’s eyes moistened. “Thanks for coming, guys. I know it wasn’t easy with your schedules.”

“Are you kidding?” Dante asked. “We are the Cruz brothers. All for one and one for all.”

Leo nodded when he couldn’t get words out.

Megan glanced around and I couldn’t tell if she was enjoying the influx of visitors or about to lose her shit.

She clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Excuse me, everyone! There will be plenty of time for this at the reception afterwards.”

Ms. Pickering winked at Bones. “Some of us might be busy by then.”

Bones still hadn’t blinked once. He was probably going to score some wedding booty.
 

Good for them!

Josh grinned at Megan and batted his eyebrows.

“You’re hot when you’re mad.”

“I am not mad, young man,” she said, “and I’m nearly old enough to be your mother.”

Josh grabbed her hand and kissed it. “True love knows not age.”

He swept his arm out and bowed low.

“Okay, Shakespeare,” Megan said. “Time for us to bid adieu.”

“Parting is such sweet sorrow,” he said as he left the room.

That boy was going to be trouble someday. But I new we would figure it out together. As a family.

Megan managed to herd everyone but Leo out and finally got the door shut. She turned back to Leo and me.

“You were supposed to be part of the exodus, Leo,” she said.

“Yeah.”

“There’s about a billion people waiting for you two out there,” she said.

“A little over seven billion, at last count,” Leo said.

The earth.

Everyone
.

My man didn’t lack in the confidence department.
 

Leo spun me around and wrapped me up in a warm embrace. His lips met mine with an assured strength that weakened my knees. His tongue stole my breath away.

He nipped my lower lip and pulled back.

“They’re gonna have to wait a little longer,” he said. “Could you lock the door on your way out?”

Megan’s jaw dropped practically to the floor.

“Megs, we’ll be a few minutes,” I said. He already had me damp down there.

Megan laughed and turned to leave. “You two are worse than horny teenagers.”

She clicked the lock and closed the door behind her.

Leo traced his hand down my ribs and hips and grabbed a hold of my butt and squeezed. He thrust his hardness against me.

“I love you, Alex.”

“I love you too, Leo.”

He picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist.

“I need to fuck you right this second,” he said.

I smiled as my heart overflowed with joy while my thighs did the same with wetness.