My Ex’s Roommates: Epilogue II

Five Years Later

“Oh! Folks, it looks like Carter Hayes is down after that hit. Hayes is part of the trio of guys who came out of Alabama a few years ago. And you can see on the field right there, Dylan Cooper and Silas Turner are both running to be by their best friends’ side. These three have been together since their freshman year of college and have made it clear they play together or not at all.” The announcer’s voice faded in and out of my consciousness as I sprinted onto the field. “And that woman there, the one darting to Hayes’ side, is Harper Monroe, the fourth member of their group. The sports medicine specialist involved with the three men has become a star in her own right on the sidelines.”

“I have to wonder, Keith, if she’s running to Hayes’ side as a professional or as his partner. I imagine it’s hard to keep her personal feelings out of it when she sees one of her guys injured.”

I swore and fought past a few giants from the other team to get to Carter. My heart was in my throat, the same way it always was when one of my guys got hurt. They’d been playing professionally for five years and it never got any easier to see one of them hurt. It never would. It should’ve helped that I was always the first one at their sides, making sure they were cared for the best way possible. It was never enough, though. Not with how much I loved them.

There were days when I wondered what it would be like for them to retire. We’d earned enough money to live off of happily for the rest of our lives. We could all retire and move to the beach. Every time I thought it, though, I knew it wasn’t going to happen for another decade probably. They loved the game, almost as much as I did. None of us were ever going to walk away from it entirely.

As I pushed another guy out of my way I thought about the family box upstairs. Our families didn’t get to come to every game but they were all there right then. Samantha and Terry had even brought Kelson and Aimes, despite the two boys being away at college. Mora and Chris were there, still bickering with Casey about her choice to attend with my brothers. Dylan’s parents, Kellie and Mike, had shown up in full support of their son, dressed head to toe in team gear. It was the worst possible time for one of the guys to get injured, with our families watching on helplessly.

“While we’re waiting to hear about Hayes’ injury, Jimmy, let me test your history knowledge. Most people have a hazy recollection of how these men blew up. They were playing for Alabama when their quarterback abandoned them right before the season started. It was nasty business. I watched the game they played against USC that year, the big game against their previous quarterback, and that was where they three were born into heroes. They slayed USC that night.”

“I remember, Keith. It was painful to watch.”

“Well, do you remember who that quarterback was?”

I finally reached Carter and dropped to my knees beside him. “What hurts, Carter?”

Dylan and Silas knelt on his other side. Dylan caught my eye and I hesitated when I saw the smile on his face. He elbowed Silas and nodded at me. “Should we tell her so she can relax?”

I scanned Carter and frowned. “Tell me what? Carter, baby, what hurts?”

The infuriating man pulled me into his lap with a laugh. “My heart if you don’t say yes.”

“In the strangest turn of events, Keith, that very quarterback, Jake Callahan, is in the stands today.”

My brain tripped up a bit at hearing such an old name from the past over the loudspeaker but I was too focused on Carter’s smirk and the way their teammates were circling around us. I cupped his face. “What are you talking about? What’s wrong?”

Dylan turned my face to his. “It’s been long enough. We waited for you to graduate and then for you to get settled in your career here. No more waiting. Marry us, Harper.”

Silas growled. “It’s not a question.”

Carter turned my face back to focus on him. “We’ve been patient. Too patient. Now say you’ll marry us.”

I let out a frustrated growl and smacked his arm before climbing to my feet and glaring at them with my hands on my hips. “You faked an injury?! Do you know how much you just scared me? Our families are here! You probably gave them heart attacks! And what is this shit about you being patient? Who the hell asked you to be patient?! I thought you just didn’t want to get married at this point. How the hell are the three of you so damn smart and yet so dumb?!”

I stomped away from them but the circle of giants on their team didn’t budge to let me out. One of the guys we’d gotten close with, Damon White, grinned down at me. “Sorry, Harper. We’ve been given strict instructions to not let you leave until you say yes.”

I swung back around to glare at my three men, who’d all stood up and were coming at me. I held up my finger and scowled. “You’re all in so much trouble.”

Silas grabbed me under the ass and spun me around. “You know you want to marry us. And you said multiple times that you didn’t want to get married until after graduation and after you secured your job!”

“I just said that to put the idea of marriage in your heads! You could’ve proposed and we could’ve had a long engagement!” I tried to continue glaring at them but I was only so strong.

“Marry us, woman. Our families all know we’re asking you right now. If you turn us down, then they’ll really be heart broken.” Carter pressed into me from behind and kissed my neck. “Say yes. We love you, baby.”

Dylan moved to my side and pulled my mouth to his for a heated kiss. “Marry us. Make us the happiest men in the world.”

“Say yes!” The circle of men around us chanted and I couldn’t help laughing.

“Fine! Yes! I’ll marry you!” It was what I’d wanted all along anyway. There was no point in fighting, at least not until we were at home and it could end in the best sex ever. “But if you ever fake an injury again, I’ll divorce your asses.”

One of the referees poked his head into our little group. “Guys? I can only buy you so much time. Where are we at?”

“She said yes!” The shout came from all the men around us. It was a surreal moment.

Dylan held my gaze. “We want the world to know that you’re ours, Harper. What we have is special and fucking perfect and we’re proud of it. We fell for you on the field and we want to make the rest of our lives together permanent on the field, too. We love you so fucking much.”

“I love you, too. I love all of you so much.”

Silas grabbed a ring box the coach brought over and slowly opened it. Inside was a massive diamond ring that did just what they wanted; it claimed me as theirs. “I can’t wait to get you home, princess.”

Heat burned through me. “Meet me in the back equipment room right after the game. We have a little bit of time before we need to meet up with our family.”

Carter threw his head back and laughed at the expression on the coach’s face. “We’re mic’d up, baby.”

I flushed red and cringed but my guys didn’t give me time to truly be embarrassed. Silas threw me over his shoulder and the three of them ran me around the field like I was their trophy to the sound of thousands of their fans cheering.

“Well, look at that. Is this the first proposal we’ve seen in the middle of a game, Jimmy?”

“I think so. Look at that shot of their family, Keith. That’s a happy family, if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Someone’s going to need to talk to the cameraman who keeps going back to Jake Callahan. That’s not the face of a man who wants to be on camera. Not that I can blame him. He once dated Harper Monroe.” The announcer whistled.

“Well, it was clear he lost more than just that USC game.” Hesitating, the announcer gasped. “Okay, someone better get security. Jake Callahan just tried to attack our cameraman.”

“Good thing he clearly hasn’t stayed in playing shape. He missed our cameraman by a mile.”

I didn’t hear any of it. Later, once we’d celebrated on our own and with our family, I’d demand answers about why Jake was at the game. Instead of being pissed that my men still got petty from time to time, petty enough to invite Jake to attend the game they proposed to me at, I just laughed. I knew better than to think that I was a pawn to brag to Jake for them. They had everything while Jake had nothing. They didn’t need me to brag to Jake.

They didn’t feel the same way, though. They considered their careers, their money, their success to be secondary to the fact that they’d won me. Pair that with the fact that they still brought me hot fries and moon pies and I was a very, very happy woman.

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