“I always knew it was. Please don’t doubt that. But my mother—”

“Is a wily one, I know. I had faith that you’d figure it out, but it felt like forever. I was climbing the walls waiting, picking up the phone but then putting it down over and over again. You had to make this decision without me pressuring you. But damn, it took you long enough. I’d almost given up hope. That’s the only reason I booked the Hermosa fight. I needed something to focus my energy on if you never came back to me, or I would’ve gone crazy.”

Lacey tucked her head against his chest and groaned. “I wanted to stop you before you even left but I was mixed up. By that point, I was half convinced you were looking for an easy way to break it off. Then when I got home and you didn’t call…”

He ran a soothing hand over her back. “It’s over now. We’re together, and that’s all that matters.”

“What about your fight and the training? Eight months apart is a long time.”

“We don’t have to be apart. Do a semester out in Chicago. After the fight, we can decide where we want to live. No matter the outcome, I’m retiring after this match. Now that I’m almost thirty, my body takes longer to bounce back, and I want to walk away healthy. I’ve been thinking of opening a gym to train young fighters from the inner city, and I can do that almost anywhere as long as there’s a city nearby.”

A series of clicks caught their attention, and they turned toward the sound at the center of the room. Two reporters who must have escaped Cat’s clutches stood, snapping photos without even a hint of remorse.

Galen dropped a kiss on the corner of her mouth. “I don’t care if they see. I don’t care who knows. I love you.” He turned to the reporters and smiled. “You got that, guys? This is the woman I love.”

Tears rushed to her eyes, and she sniffled. “You’re going to make my mascara run and I’ll look awful for the camera.”

“I don’t care about any of that. Just say you’ll come with me.”

The pain of the past month evaporated like a puddle in the Sahara as happy emotion clogged her throat, but she forced herself to sound stern. “Only if you promise me one thing.”

“What’s that, squirt?”

“Never let me go.”

He tipped her back and bent forward until his mouth was an inch from hers. “I never will.”