If You Need Me (The Toronto Terror Series)

“What the—” I come to an abrupt halt in my office doorway. A massive banner has been strung across one wall, framed by an arch of balloons. How Dallas managed to get all this stuff up here without me noticing is a wonder. When he had time is another question mark. Between practice, away games, and my hectic schedule, fall has been a whirlwind. I moved in officially two months ago. Dallas is an incredible partner and roommate. And one day, he’ll make an amazing husband and father.

I love waking up to him and going to sleep with him. And those away stretches make me fall even more in love. He leaves sweet little notes and smiling crocheted peaches all over the apartment for me to find. He’s obsessed, and I love it. The current state of my office further confirms just how deep his infatuation runs.

“Oh wow.” Hammer appears beside me. “This is…wow.”

“That about sums it up.”

“How did he even get in here? When did he get in here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Someone must have given him access.” The team landed a couple of hours ago, while I was in a meeting with Denise, the women’s team’s head coach. He must have been planning this for some time. That he managed to set this up between landing and now is seriously impressive.

The banner strung across my wall reads WILL YOU GO TO PROM WITH ME? The balloon arch is a whole separate thing. It seems totally unnecessary, but also very much something Dallas would do just because he can.

I snap a photo with my phone and send it to Dallas.

“We don’t need a time machine. Just say yes.”

I spin around and find him standing behind me, looking too delicious for his own good. And mine. I haven’t seen him in five days.

“Hi, Dallas. Bye, Dallas.” Hammer spins and walks out of my office.

“Permission to close your door so I can do unprofessional things with my lips?” he asks.

“Permission granted.”

He closes the door and takes my face in his wide, warm palms and drops his head. But he stops before his lips connect with mine. I pucker in an attempt to reach him. He backs off a little. I narrow my eyes.

He grins. “I missed you, honey.”

“I missed you. Kiss me,” I demand.

“Say yes.”

“Yes. I’ll go to prom with you. Even though it was ten years ago.”

“Excellent.” He kisses me. Soft. Sweet.

I try to deepen the kiss, but he pulls back. “I appreciate your love for my lips on your lips, but you have an appointment for hair, nails, and makeup in less than half an hour.”

“What?” The whiplash is a lot, as is my desire to get him home and into bed.

“Hair, makeup, and nails. We need to get you prom ready.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously in love with you.” He kisses the end of my nose and grabs my purse, slinging it over his shoulder. “Come on.” He takes my hand and tugs me toward the door.

Twenty minutes later, I’m sitting in a chair with a woman expertly recreating the hairstyle I wanted nearly a decade ago. Essie is working on my makeup while a third woman paints my toenails.

“I can’t believe he sucked you into this,” I tell her.

“I mean, any excuse to bring back the mid-two-thousands and all that came along with them is a good excuse,” she says with a smile.

“Where the heck did you find that picture?” I motion to the clipping from a magazine.

“I have your moms to thank for that.” Dallas sits in the chair next to me, one leg crossed over the other. “Apparently, you had a whole scrapbook page dedicated to prom.”

“They did not send you my high school scrapbook.” My horror must be written on my face.

Dallas grins, and it’s a devilish, panty-melting expression on his gorgeous face. “Oh, they most certainly did. I had no idea you were an expert scrapbooker.”

“It was a brief phase.”

“Not that brief. The book spans all of high school. I love that your debate club was featured prominently. Can’t say I was all that surprised to see me with devil horns in several photos.”

“They suited you back then,” I note.

“They did. They still do, but for very different reasons.”

I hold up a hand to block his face. “It’s inappropriate to look at me like that in public.”

“You two are adorable. Were you high school sweethearts?” Anna, my hair stylist, asks.

“Dallas had a crush on me in high school,” I say.

“Oh, honey, I didn’t have a crush. I was head over ass in love with you.”

“You’ve been infatuated for a while.”

“Unabashedly accurate.” He winks at me and mouths I love you.

I make a heart with my hands back at him.

It’s another half hour before I’m done at the salon.

I hug Essie. “I’ll see you soon.”

“For sure you will.” She winks and sends us on our way.

We walk the two blocks to Dallas’s, fingers entwined, and take the elevator to the penthouse.

“I need you to close your eyes when we go inside,” he informs me when we reach our floor.

“You have more surprises?”

“I do.” His smile is impish as he leads me down the hall.

“Eyes closed, honey.” He kisses my forehead, and I do as he asks, letting him guide me through the penthouse. Music from our high school era plays in the living room. “Okay, you can open them.”

We’re standing in the walk-in closet and hanging in front of me is the dress I’d planned to wear to prom a decade ago. “Oh my…how?”

“Your scrapbook came in very handy. I had it made for you.”

“I can’t believe I wanted to wear this.” It’s strapless and royal blue taffeta with a huge, poofy skirt and a lace underlay. The best part is the zebra-print bodice. I’d been so in love with it. We bought it months before prom, and I’d tried it on almost every day leading up to the event. I press my fingers to my lips and fight the onslaught of emotion. “I can’t believe you had this made for me.”

“It’s a little self-serving. I wanted to go to prom with you, and I didn’t get to, and I didn’t get to see you in this dress.” He kisses my temple.

Even without a date, Brooklyn and I had planned to go. My moms had bought me the dress and everything. But they were the only ones who saw me wear it. “Can I try it on?” I finger the tacky, ridiculous bodice.

“I would love that. But first…” He passes me a gift bag tied with zebra-print ribbon.

I pull the ribbon free while Dallas leans against the doorjamb. Inside is a bra and panty set that match the dress. “Where did you find these?”

“I had them custom made, just for you. I’ll leave you to change. Call me when you’re ready; there’s more.” He kisses me on the cheek and leaves me alone in his bedroom.

I change into the lingerie and dress. And I don’t even have to call for Dallas, because he meets me at the door to his bedroom. “Oh, wow. That suit is⁠—”

“Fucking awesome. I know.” It’s made of the same shiny blue taffeta as my dress. He’s paired it with a black button-down, zebra-print tie, and a pair of running shoes with the plaid stripe that’s missing from the rest of his outfit. He points to the floor and extends his hand. “Your shoes.”

Of course they match the rest of my outfit.

I bite my lips together and blink back all the feelings that want to leak out of my eyes. “You really went all out for this.”

“I wanted it to be perfect.” He cups my face in his hands. “Your feelings on fire, honey?”

I hold my fingers apart a fraction of an inch. “A little.”

He kisses my forehead and wraps his arms around me. “Let me absorb those for you.”

“I love you.”

“And I love you. Every single part of you. Especially the parts that bite. Those are my favorite.”

When I’m ready, he releases me and holds out his hand. I take it, slipping my feet into the blue heels with zebra-print bows.

“We can and should wear these next year for Halloween.”

“I was thinking the office Christmas party, but Halloween works, too.” He threads his arm through mine. “You ready to go to prom with me, Wilhelmina?”

“Absolutely.”

My heels clip on the hardwood as we walk down the hall. I gasp as we step into the living room. It’s been completely transformed. The furniture is gone, and a balloon arch—clearly Dallas is a fan of these—decorates one wall. There’s a photo booth and a table complete with punchbowl and popcorn. But the thing that nearly undoes me entirely is the fact that all our friends and family are here, including our parents and siblings, and Granny Bright. Even better is that everyone is dressed for prom. My grip on his arm tightens as they holler and clap.

“You threw me a prom.”

“I wanted it to be a night to remember, and I thought having all the people we both love would make it special.”

“It’s perfect. I love you.” I pull his mouth down to mine. “You’re the best boyfriend in the world.”

I’m crushed into a huge group hug by our friends.

“Were you all in on this?” I ask my friends.

“Absolutely.” Hammer is wearing another princess dress, likely bought for her by Hollis, who loves to dress her up.

Tally is wearing her prom dress from a handful of months ago; Dred is wearing the most beautifully ostentatious red, poofy gown; Essie is in a lavender satin halter dress; Rix is stunning in a green dress; and Shilpa looks like a queen in her gold, floor-length number.

Our parents and siblings converge on us next, hugging us, then dragging us to the photo booth. Sam keeps side-eying Dallas though which just makes Paris laugh. In the months Dallas and I have been together, we’ve made a point of going home to visit our families, and our parents adore each other. They were already friendly, but now they have dinner together once a week. I love how much our love has united the people most important to us.

We take silly pictures in the photo booth. We drink spiked punch and eat pizza and laugh and dance. It’s everything I could have ever wanted for the prom I missed. And it means that much more because all the people I adore are here to experience it with us.

Dallas cues up one of my favorite slow songs from high school and holds out his hand. “One last dance.”

I kick off my heels and clasp my hands behind his neck.

“This was amazing.”

“You’re amazing.” He kisses the end of my nose and his wide palm settles on my low back.

“You love me.”

“More than anything else in the world,” he agrees.

“I love you,” I whisper.

“I’ll never get tired of hearing those words.” His lips meet mine.

Falling for Dallas, being loved by him, has been surreal. The changes in the Terror office have been for the better, and the new additions to our team have been mostly positive, Connor aside. He’s my new PR project.

But Dallas is such a rock and the best partner I could ask for. “I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“Me neither. Loving you is my favorite thing in the world.”

It’s humbling to be loved with such ferocity. To be revered and adored, and I feel the same way about him. I’m just as obsessed with Dallas as he is with me. “I’m ready,” I blurt.

His eyes light up.

“Ask me again,” I whisper.

We’re surrounded by the people we love—our families, our friends, our support system. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been, Dallas. Because of you. You’re my favorite everything.”

His expression shifts, and his smile softens, and then he drops to one knee. Like he’s been waiting for this moment.

Because he has. Patiently.

He fishes the velvet box out of his breast pocket.

My fingers go to my lips as the music stops. “Have you been carrying that around all night?”

“I’ve been carrying it around for months, Wills. I wanted to be ready when you were.”

“Oh blessed day! Is he doing what I think he’s doing?” Granny Bright yells at Dallas’s dad.

“Yeah, Mom, he is.”

“That’s why you’re my favorite, Dallas. Manning, Ferris, take some notes,” Granny Bright calls out.

“You too, Sam and Isaac,” Mom mutters as she straightens her dupatta over her shoulder.

“Everyone good now? I can proceed?” Dallas asks.

Apologies are murmured, and a hush falls over our friends and family.

But we’re both grinning, because as ridiculous as it is, it’s also perfect.

He flips open the box. “Wilhelmina Reddi-Grinst, I have loved you every moment of every day since you kicked everyone’s ass in debate in third grade. You have my heart and soul, and it would be an incredible honor to love you for the rest of our lives. I want you to be the mother of our children. I want to cherish every single sunrise and sunset with you. I want to call you my wife and grow old with you. Make me the happiest man alive. Marry me.”

“Yes. A thousand times yes. I’m sorry it took me so long to catch up, but I’m here with you now, and there is nowhere else I ever want to be. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and being loved by you.”

His smile makes my heart swell to bursting.

“I love you infinitely.” He slips the ring on my finger and rises. “You’re a goddess, and I will worship you until my last breath.” He kisses me. With reverence. With the promise of our future.

And our friends and family swoop in, cheering, laughing, and shedding tears of the sweetest joy. I feel their love surrounding us. Enveloping us. And I know that regardless of how we started, this is exactly where we’re supposed to be. In love with each other, and loved so wholly by the family and friends who will always stand beside us.