Nice Guys Don't Win (The Boys #2) - Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,88
hands swallow my face when he cups my cold cheeks. “I love you, Zoey.”
I close my eyes, reveling in the sound of him saying those words to me. “You love me?”
“Yeah, yeah I do, crazy girl.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper back, lower lip trembling with tears.
He smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners, and then he’s kissing me and behind my closed eyes I see it all again those glimpses of the future I saw in his eyes before.
A white dress.
Babies.
Laughter.
Happiness.
Him and I against the world.
If my heart was a net, he shot the ball straight into it and won the game winning score. He won me, my love, forever.
Epilogue
Cole
Two Years Later.
I’ve been playing for Atlanta for the past two years. I’ve found a new home and new team to love that feels like family. Sure, the stakes are a hell of a lot higher, but we look out for each other as much as we can. Life on the road is rough, but it’s worth it knowing my girl is waiting for me at home in our downtown high-rise condo.
I couldn’t ask for more when it comes to my life. I’m so incredibly blessed in ways I never knew were possible.
Dripping with sweat, exhausted, but desperate for a win, I throw the ball toward the net. I’m farther away from it than I’d like, but with seconds left it’s either throw the ball myself and score or lose. There’s no time left to pass to someone else.
Time stands still as the ball soars through the air down the court.
It feels like everyone in the arena is holding their breath.
My heart pounds in my chest and ears, silencing everything else.
When the ball sinks, my eyes widen and then I’m covered in my teammates.
Closing my eyes, I’m reminded of that away game years ago when Zoey surprised me.
Tonight, though, I’m the one surprising her. And when I get down on one knee and present her with a ring, I hope to God she says yes.
I soak in the chaos around me, and speak to reporters, before retiring to the locker room to shower and change.
“Good luck tonight,” Freddie LaMone, who’s become my closest friend on the team, says holding out his fist.
I bump it with mine. “Thanks.” I button my dress shirt.
“She’s going to say yes, dude,” Jackson, another player, chimes in.
“What’s going on?” Keeton walks over, opening his locker.
“Anderson’s proposing tonight,” Freddie tells him while I slip my feet into my shoes.
“Damn, it’s about time you wifed up that fine piece of ass.”
I freeze. “Don’t talk about Zoey like that.”
Keeton dances away from me. “I meant no offense. The girl is gorgeous.”
I glower at his retreating figure as he goes back to the showers. If there’s anyone on the team I struggle to get along with, it’s him. He knows how to push my buttons.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s a fucking idiot.” Jackson adjusts the cuffs of his sleeves.
“I don’t.”
By the time I leave and meet Zoey in the area reserved for friends and family to wait after the game, I’m a jittery mess, and of course she picks up on it right away.
“What’s wrong?” She wraps an arm around my middle. “Are you okay?”
“Just coming down from the high of a win.” I smile at her, once again marveling at what a lucky guy I am to have her.
“Are you sure that’s all?”
“Positive.”
Outside, we get in my new Chevrolet Silverado. I still have my ancient and always reliable one too, but an upgrade was necessary.
I’m quieter than normal on the drive back to our condo and I can tell from the way Zoey fiddles with her jersey—my number and name on the back—that she notices.
When we get inside, she runs to the bathroom which gives me the perfect opportunity to set everything up.
Fireplace image on the TV, root beers on the coffee table, and the red velvet Oreos I had made by a local bakery. Sure, they’re probably not exact, but it was the best I could do.
The bathroom door creaks open and my heart races.
This is it.
Her steps come closer, and I wait for her to reach me.
“What’s all this?” Her eyes grow big, taking everything in.
That’s when I drop to my knee, pulling the ring box from my pocket. “Zoey, this has been the best two years of my life, and I want you to be my whole life. Will you marry me?”
Her hand hovers over her mouth, tears pooling in her eyes. “Yes. Yes. Obviously, yes!”
I slip the ring on her finger, one I had custom made because I wanted it to be perfect for her. Kissing her ring-clad finger, I look up into her eyes.
She gets to her knees in front of me, kissing me over and over again.
I get to love this girl for the rest of my life, and if that doesn’t make me the luckiest guy on the planet, I don’t know what does.
I used to think nice guys didn’t win, but I was wrong.
When I fell in love with Zoey, I won the greatest game of all.
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I’ve heard the whispers on campus of what a player Teddy McCallister is. Most girls on campus are vying to be the one, but guys like him don’t settle down.
When he overhears that my tuition has been pulled and I’m going to basically be a college reject he makes me an offer I can’t refuse.
Be his fake girlfriend until graduation so he can get his inheritance.
It seems simple enough. I need the money and he needs someone to make him look committed.
If one thing is certain, it’s that I won’t be falling for him. But no one warned me about what happens when my fake boyfriends starts to fall for me.
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About the Author
Micalea Smeltzer is a twenty-something author from Northern Virginia. She has three dogs, which is as crazy as it sounds. As a recent kidney transplant recipient she's dedicated to raising awareness around the effects of kidney disease, dialysis, and transplant as well as educating people on living donation.When she's not writing you can catch her with her nose buried in a book.
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