by Doyle, Dawn
I looked down to see an old ticket stub in his hand. I took it and read the numbers on the front. The seats were the same as the ones we were sitting in. “This is from almost six years ago.”
He nodded. “The year before we,” he pumped his brows, “officially met.”
My body heated, the warmth traveling up my neck to my cheeks. “It was a good night.”
“Yeah, it was. It’s not every day Kaia Levine walks into the tiny room you’re standing in.” He chuckled. “I couldn’t believe it.”
“Huh?” I was confused.
He gestured with his chin to the seats on the other side of the rink. “Guess who was sitting over there the day of that game?” I squinted, making out the chairs on the opposite side, then looked back down at the ticket for the date. My heart skipped when I saw it was a Roosters game, and that day, I was there. “That’s right, babe, you were right across from me. When I saw your face on that giant-ass screen, all I saw was you for the rest of the game.”
“Are you serious?” I choked, barely able to get my words out. The bridge of my nose stung, and tears lined my eyes.
Maddoc beamed. He ran his knuckles down the side of my face. “I’d recognize this face,” he gazed at me, “and these eyes, anywhere. Even in the dark.”
My heart raced so fast, my chest ached from the speed. “I had no idea.” I gripped his hand tighter in both of mine.
He shrugged. “Nobody knew, until now.” He moved closer, and tipped his head to the side before pressing his lips to mine. “I love you.”
“I love you, you crazy, crazy man.”
He kissed me again, then turned when Cash spoke.
“Hey, sorry to disturb you, man, but we’re gonna hit the locker rooms before the guys come out. You coming?”
“Yeah, sure,” Maddoc replied, then stood. He lifted my hand and swiped his lips over my fingers. “I’ll be back soon, babe.” His face seemed to pale even more, but before I could protest—to have him sit back down, he walked away.
“He’ll be fine,” Daria assured me as I stared after him.
Willow moved into Maddoc’s seat, gripped my hand, and Daria took the other while we waited, my stomach in knots and twisting further with every second.
I checked the huge clock, noticing it’d been more than twenty minutes since the guys had gone. “Do you think they’re okay?” I asked, worry clawing through me again.
“Kai, you need to stop,” Daria said. “Maddoc’s fine.”
“But he was shaking,” I argued, my eyes darting to where he’d disappeared. “He looked sick, Dar. His skin was clammy, his hands were trembling, and he looked close to throwing up.”
Willow wrapped her arm around my shoulders and slowly spelled out, “Relax.”
But I couldn’t. I shouldn’t have agreed to come when I saw his face earlier tonight. I should’ve insisted he saw a doctor, or called one to come out before he had a chance to get in the truck.
“I’m going to find him.” But, the second my butt left the seat, the lights went out. “I can’t see a thing,” I said, and tried to let go of the girls’ hands, but they held on tight.
My head shot up when a spotlight lit up the center of the rink at the same time soft piano music began to play, a lone figure standing there, poised with one leg bent, head back, and one arm straight up.
I stared, my mouth hanging open at the person wearing a tight outfit, a short, flowing skirt in matching shining silver and lilac.
“Mom?”
The lights illuminated the rink in a dim glow as she spun slowly around, her skates gliding over the ice with her feet wide, her arms sweeping gracefully as her head turned with the movement. I watched as she pushed off at the same time Drowning In Your Love opened, Brian’s voice echoing around the arena while the spectators remained silent.
Backstreet Boys? What the hell is going on?
I had no idea, but whatever it was, Maddoc was missing it. I wanted to go and find him, but Daria put her arm around my shoulder and Willow slid hers through mine as though they were holding me in place.
My mother’s beautiful display captured everybody’s attention and their applause when she performed the movements from her younger days as though she’d never left. Spins, leaps, and graceful dance moves.
“Oh my God,” I whispered when my mom sped up, lifted one leg behind her, placed it back down before bending her other leg, then leaped in the air, her arms over her chest as she performed a double axle. My heart jumped in my throat as I watched her spin, then land with perfect accuracy, her leg extended behind and her arms out.
She paused, her toe pick down with her ankle crossed behind the other, and she looked right at me, her beaming smile catching me off guard. Before I had the chance to mouth a single word to her, she turned away and held out her arm. We shifted our gaze to where she was reaching to, and my gut lurched.
“Dad?” I blurted out, my eyes bulging as he skated toward my mom, taking her hand before throwing a wink in my direction. “Dar, what the hell is going on?” I asked.
“Shh, honey, and let me watch,” she said, not even sparing me a glance.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My father, an ex-hockey player and still built like one, dancing on the ice with my mom as the bridge to the song played. My hands flew to my mouth when right at the point the boys harmonized in a cappella, my dad threw my mom in the air, and caught her in his arms, her back arched, chest down, and her fingertips almost touching the ice.
I was frozen in my seat, unable to tear my eyes away from my parents. When they finished, the entire arena thundered with applause, which stopped as soon as it started.
Willow slipped her arms out of mine, and stood. I looked up at her and saw her wide smile, her eyes glassy and her lids brimming. I glanced around and saw faces turned to her expectantly.
“Will?” I looked around again. “Okay, can somebody please tell me what’s going on?” I asked.
Willow swallowed hard, then lifted her hands. She opened her mouth, and at the same time she signed, she sang the first four words of I Want It That Way. My jaw dropped at her sweet and wonderful voice, her quiet tone taking me by surprise.
Daria stood next, and Willow smiled at her. She sang the next line with a huge smile on her face.
I gasped, and barely managed to whisper, “What?” I spun around when a few people got up behind us to sing the next, then the people behind them at the same time the backing track came on over the speakers.
Daria and Willow took my hands again as more and more people got up to sing until the entire arena were on their feet by the time the second verse came around, with everybody’s voices joining together while my parents skated around the perimeter of the rink, waving as they passed. The second they reached the bridge, the music blended into another track, The One, at the same time the voices around me stopped.
Bright lights filled the place, multi colors darting around in a flash of rainbows, reflecting off of the surface of the ice and boards.
Bodies entered the rink, holding their sticks up, and formed a line in the center, facing me, just as the verse began to play, and the guys started to move in synch as though they were following choreography. More yellow and white jerseys with a bird of prey on the front, its wings spread out, spilled out onto the ice, the Hawks gathering speed as they joined in with the others.
My heart raced, and my temperature rose as my pulse kicked up even more. I could hear the thumps as they reverberated in my chest, hard and fast against my sternum.
I slowly recognized the faces as the players came closer as they skated in circles, their blades against the ice, then high in the air. Jonah, Bobby, and Channing grinned at me from their positions within the circles of their new team.
“Oh my God!” I squealed at the point two players bolted out from behind them, black and yellow whooshing by, and also bright pink ballerina skirts. “What the hell?” I laughed hard, so hard that the emotional tears that had been lining my eyes started
to roll down my face. I leaned forward as my burly brothers skated around in their tutu’s, serious expressions on their faces as they lifted their arms over their heads, joining their fingertips, then pirouetting.
I knew who was responsible for this, there was no other explanation for it. It was either a massive production before the Wranglers played, or…
Is he?
My stomach lurched and my heart skipped a couple of beats at the prospect of what Maddoc had planned, but I also didn’t want to think about it. My entire body broke out into a sweat, my limbs trembling, my hands shaking, even though the girls still held tightly to them as we watched the mind-blowing display before us.
The Jets entered, wearing their purple and black uniforms, adding to the growing number of people dancing along to the music, the lights zooming everywhere adding to the display.
When it came to the bridge, they slowed down, the lights shining brightly down to the solitary figure in the middle, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, hair mussed so sexily like I’d just ran my fingers through it.
Maddoc pushed off toward me, but never reaching as he lip-synched with the lyrics. He held his hand out when the words matched his movement.
“What is he doing?” I cried, lifting joined hands and wiping the backs of mine down my face.
“Something special,” Daria said, rubbing my shoulder with her free palm.
“Something unforgettable,” Willow said quietly, close to my ear, which made my tears fall harder and harder.
They came thick and fast until they were dripping off my chin, into my lap.
Maddoc lifted his fingers to his mouth, kissed them, then blew it toward me before pushing off and joining the other guys in their performance. The fancy footwork I’d seen him do before was nothing compared to how he moved, how he controlled his speed, the precise placement between his friends that would have them falling over each other if they were out by just a few inches as they darted in and out of a complex formation.
Maddoc disappeared in the foray, and I couldn’t see him anywhere at all—not even a glimpse of his blond hair over the others.
Near the end of the song, they gathered together, with my parents at the front, my brothers either side, and raised an arm. I scanned the faces for Maddoc, but he was still gone. As the last lyrics played, they slowly bent their elbow as they lowered their arm in true boyband fashion, making me laugh.
The entire arena were on their feet, clapping and hollering as the players bowed low.
“Where’s…?” The words caught on my tongue as the players parted, revealing a dark carpeted strip on the ice and a baby grand piano placed at the middle. The lights went down once again as the last players left, leaving Maddoc on his own, sitting on the black stool in front of the instrument.
His wide eyes locked onto mine, and stayed there. His mouth formed an ‘o’ as his shoulders lifted, then fell as he blew out a long breath.
“Maddoc,” I choked out.
He swallowed hard, his jaw tight as he did. His lips pursed, his hand flying to his stomach, and the other quickly grabbing something near his feet and held it to his chest.
Groans echoed around me as Maddoc heaved over an over.
The girls let go of my hands and I stood, moving closer to the boards and placing my palms on the plexiglass as he hurled again.
“Oh, baby, don’t,” I whispered as he placed the dark bucket down and brushed his fingers back through his hair.
He held his hands over the keys, and I could see them shaking even from where I was standing. It was then I saw what was directly in front of him.
A microphone.
I covered my mouth as he began playing. I recognized the music instantly. I Need You Tonight.
“Wow,” Daria whispered in awe beside me.
My breath caught in my throat and my chest throbbed, and when he parted his lips, time stood still.
His voice… Holy shit, his voice was astounding, the kind that people willingly traveled thousands of miles to watch in concert. He matched the notes perfectly in tone and pitch, filled with so much emotion in his vibrato that had me bawling my eyes out and pressing my now balled up hands against the board.
“I love you,” I choked out.
Maddoc turned his head and looked right at me, then smiled while he continued to sing, which made my chest tighten and my throat to clam up.
Willow rubbed my back as I sobbed, her head resting on my shoulder in silent support as I watched the man I loved do something he was terrified of in front of a crowded arena… For me.
More voices, backing vocals came from the benched area along with the the sounds of instruments. People I hadn’t noticed sitting there were standing and swaying side-to-side.
Maddoc’s eyes closed as he belted out the high note and held it effortlessly as though he’d done this a million times. The other voices mixed in beautifully, complementing the song just as it should.
The melody slowed until there was just Maddoc’s voice, and when he played the last notes, Daryl and Sean skated over to him, still wearing their tutu’s, and Willow unlocked the door section to the ice.
I watched as my brothers took Maddoc’s hands and guided him across the ice in the shoes he’d changed into.
“Hey, babe,” he said when he reached me. My brothers grinned, then left us alone.
“Hi,” I tried to say, but blurted it out in a pathetic croak, my throat still thick and strangled. “You were amazing.” I cleared my throat and spoke again. “You did all this for me? Maddoc,” I pressed my palms to his chest, and blubbed, “I thought you were sick, but you…” I sucked in a ragged breath. “In front of all these people.”
Maddoc cupped my face and ran his thumbs over my cheeks, swiping away my tears. I raised my hands to cover his, but stopped when he dropped down to one knee.
My heart lurched, then beat so fast it thrummed erratically. My insides swirled around and around, mixing with the adrenaline that rushed through me, making me tremble all over. The sound that came out of my mouth was mirrored with everybody else’s around us.
“Maddoc?”
“Kaia Levine, “ he said, taking my shaking hands in this. “I know I’m a little out there, an odd-ball, a pain in the ass, and even a little volatile, but even with all those truly wonderful qualities”—he winked— “I’m nothing without you.
“You make the sun shine when it’s pissing with rain, you calm my mind when it’s raging out of control, and you… You make me fucking happy, cupcake. I love everything about you, the way you clap and squeal when you get excited, the way you pout when you’re concentrating…” He chuckled and raised a brow. “Your addiction to BSB, your cute dances when you think I’m not looking, your car karaoke that I’m certain was on purpose to punish me for pissing you off.”
Laughter broke out around us, and I giggled. “Yeah, it was.”
Maddoc beamed. “I thought so, and I deserved it, and much worse things for putting you through the shit I did.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he shook his head. “I knew you were the girl for me, Kaia, and I hope I can spend every day showing you that you always are. I love you, Kaia Levine, and you make me so damn proud to be your almost perfect boyfriend.” He dug his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black velvet box, and opened it, revealing a cluster of tiny diamonds surrounding a larger heart-shaped one on a platinum band. “But I’d be happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life if you would make me your perfect husband.”
“Oh, God,” I whispered.
Maddoc gazed at me with his lids lined with tears, the green of his irises standing out more than ever. “Kaia, will you marry me?”
“You’ve always been perfect, Maddoc,” I replied. “You don’t need to sing or play to make it so, you just are because you’re you. You don’t bullshit, you don’t pretend to be something you’re not, and I love that about you.” I dropped down to my knees to join him. “I love you, donut, and everything you are.” I lifted my left hand, m
y fingers outstretched. “And I’d also love to marry you."
“You would?”
I nodded and laughed. “Yes.”
The smile that lit up his face melted me from inside out. He took the ring from the box and slipped it on my finger while raucous applause and stamping feet congratulated us.
We stood, then Maddoc pulled me against him, banding his arms around me, with mine around him. “I’d kiss you, but you saw what happened,” he said into my ear.
I pulled back and beamed. “I don’t care,” I replied, then pulled him down to press my lips against his. “I thought you were sick, just not like that. You had me worried.”
He laughed and rested his forehead against mine. “I’d say sorry, but I’m not. This was my life or death situation.”
“It was?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“Well,” he said, holding me closer. “You’re my life, and til death do us part…” He smirked. “And even after that.”
“Just wait until we get home, Maddoc Dass,” I warned just before arms wrapped around the pair of us. “You’re going to pay for that.”
And he did. All night and the next morning, and it was absolutely perfect, just like him.
My fiancé, my life…
My donut.
The End.
