Love, Ally by Hannah Gray

forty

Cole

Three Months Later

I’ve been here in Kansas City for two weeks now.

I used to think that once I got here, to the NFL, I’d want to hold my middle fingers up to everyone who had abandoned me. I thought I’d want to tell them all off as I sat at the top. It turns out, I don’t want to do that anymore. Because that would mean I was holding on to anger, and honestly, life’s too fucking good for that shit.

Except for the fact that I haven’t heard from Ally recently.

I frown as I get Ally’s voice mail after trying to call her for the fifth time today and hearing nothing back. I called her before practice, and I was sure I’d hear from her by the time I got done, yet nothing.

We always text or talk off and on throughout the day whenever we have a second. Stupid GIFs during the day, some phone sex at night, anything to get us the fuck through being apart.

Leaning against my truck, I leave yet another message. “Baby, it’s me. Look, why the fuck aren’t you answering? I’m about to call Lenny or Sloane. Shit, maybe even Carla. Pick up. I’m getting worried. Love you.”

“Who you leaving those sweet messages for, big boy?” I hear her smooth voice from behind me.

Walking toward me, she tries to play it cool for a moment before she starts running. She leaps into my arms and straddles my waist with her legs.

“Wh-what the fuck is going on?” I smile, confused. “How—what are you doing here?”

She kisses my cheek and shrugs. “Turns out, I can get the same degree at a few colleges around here. And after I did some soul-searching, I figured out singing as a career isn’t even what I want. I just want to help people, Cole. I want to volunteer at shelters. I want to help teenagers who have no one. I don’t give a damn about being on a stage in front of thousands of people. A music teacher? Maybe. But not a singer or songwriter. That’s why I want to stick with a degree in music because I can totally see myself teaching it. And besides, I already have so many of my credits.”

I’m not surprised that she’s decided on a different career path. I could tell during the past year, she was starting to second-guess it. She already had a few people approach her to sign with them after seeing her at open mic nights, yet she turned them all down.

What I am blown away by is the fact that she’s here, with me, right now.

Setting her down, I look down at her, holding her by her sides.

“You sure, baby? I mean, I’d love to have you here, but a big part of you not moving here at least for the summer before your senior year was that you wanted to work for Lenny the last few months he owns the restaurant. And Sloane—you felt bad about leaving her since she wasn’t going home for the summer.”

“I’m sure.” She nods. “I’ll miss the crap out of Sloane and Lenny too. But Lenny had been considering selling that joint for a while, and he did.” She sighs. “I would have loved to buy it. I would have turned it into a place to feed those in need. With his permission, of course.”

I keep my face straight. “That’s what you wanted to do with it? You always told me you never wanted him to sell it, but you never said what your plans might be if you bought it.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter that much now anyway. I’m moving here, and it’s already sold.”

“True,” I say before scratching my chin. “But wait a second. What if … your fiancé bought it?”

Scrunching her nose up, she looks puzzled. “I don’t have a fiancé. My asshole boyfriend won’t give me a ring, remember?”

“Ah, yes. This is true. Let’s fix that, shall we?”

Opening my truck door, I reach in the center console before pulling out a box.

When I get down on one knee, she covers her mouth with her hands as tears well up in her eyes. “Oh my fucking gosh, Cole.”

I chuckle. Even during the most romantic moment, that damn potty mouth comes out.

“I prayed for an angel in my darkest times. Times when it would have been so easy to give up, I closed my eyes and somehow felt your touch. I just knew you were out there. I only had to be patient, and I knew that, one day, you’d find me. And you did.”

I recall the first time I saw her. Everything about her told me she was who I’d been waiting for my entire life.

“Ally, I’ve loved you since I was twelve years old. And even before then, I knew you were a part of me. I could live a million different lives, and I’m willing to bet money that I’d find my way to you in each and every one of them.”

Taking her hands in mine, I gaze up into my future. “You know me better than I know myself. When I hurt, you hurt. When I’m happy, you’re happy. We live to keep each other alive, Ally. And we also live in each other’s sorrows. If that isn’t the realest, rawest form of love, I don’t know what is. Because I promise you, baby, I’d take a hundred hard days with you over a thousand perfect days with anybody else.

“I’ve always said you belong to me and that you’re mine. But I hope you know that I belong to you too. Every single part of me does. And that’s how I want it to be for the rest of our lives—and all of the other lives we’re granted.”

Wiping my own eyes with my sleeve, I open the box. “A ring and a piece of paper don’t mean jack shit to me. Because you and I? We’re already a family. But I want to call you my wife. I want to see you walk to me in a white dress. I want us to share the same last name. So, my question to you is, will you please make me the happiest son of a bitch in the world, Ally Lee James? Will you marry me?”

Tears stream down her beautiful skin. “Yes! Yes times a million!” After I slide the ring onto her finger, she hauls me up onto my feet before barreling into me. “I love you, Cole. I love you so much.”

Ten minutes later, we’re in my truck and on the way to my temporary apartment. Ally’s gazing down at her ring. I’m so happy in this moment right now. All of my dreams have come true. And the look on her face, it’s priceless.

“So, what is this about Lenny’s place? What were you saying before you gave me this gorgeous rock?” She grins, staring down at it.

“You always said you hated the thought of him selling it to some ‘douchey schmuck.’ ” I laugh at her choice of words. “You knew how much that place meant to him, and it meant a lot to you too.”

“And?” Her eyes stay trained on mine.

“And a few months ago, he mentioned he was ready to sell it, but he thought he’d never find anyone he felt comfortable with to take it over. So, I offered him money.”

“But how will I take it over? We’re here.”

“Because Carla wants to manage it the months we’re here. And in the off-season, we’ll go back.”

“To Georgia?” she asks softly.

I nod. “To Georgia. Lenny is there. Sloane is there—for now. So, it makes sense.”

When she doesn’t say anything, I start to panic. “If you don’t want this, we can—”

She throws her arms around me and begins crying harder. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve someone like you.” She sniffles. “You don’t know what you mean to me.”

She doesn’t know it, but saving her saves me. I’d walk a thousand miles, fight a hundred battles, just to put that smile on her face.

Nobody should ever have to go through what she has, but I plan to spend my life making sure she never feels any of those things again. For as long as I’m living, she won’t ever feel alone or unwanted. I’ll make it my mission to brighten all of her days. Because that’s exactly what she does to mine.

Lenny and Carla have become family to her, and I wanted to do this for her. She deserves it.

Now, she’s switching schools to make my life in the NFL easier. She’s leaving behind friends and her job. All for me. But I know it’ll make her happy too. Being apart isn’t meant for us. Could we do it? Sure. But why should we have to? We spent the first twelve years of our lives separated and were ripped apart all those years ago. I don’t ever want to be apart from her. Next to my side is where she belongs. It’s where she’s always belonged.

Looking at Ally, I know she’s all I will ever need. In the good and in the grit, she’ll be here. Always.