“You’re replacing me?” Grady jokes.
“Not like that. Never like that. You’ll always be my best buddy, but it’s time for a new chapter and I’ve got my perfect partner to walk that path with,” he says as he kissed me on the cheek.
The announcers rush in trying to ask Gavin a ton of questions, but he refuses to answer any of them.
Gavin grabs the main microphone and says, “She’ll have all the answers for you guys soon. To my fans. Thank you for everything. Please support us as you’ve always supported me. For Boston!” he yells and The Garden erupts.
“I can see it,” Grady says. “You two really did find true love.”
“We sure did,” Gavin says.
“We sure did,” I parrot.
“Thank you,” Grady says. “For showing me the way.” He turns to go.
“You’re not going to celebrate with us for awhile?”
“There’s somebody I’ve got to go see,” he says and he’s out of there so fast it’s like he skated up the corridor.
We both turn to each other and say, “Emma,” at the same time. It’s the girl he was so close to years ago, but just didn’t fully commit to with his heart.
I have a feeling that’s about to change…real quick.
“Ready to get outta here?” Gavin asks.
“I’ve been ready since that first press conference.”
“You don’t find my press conferences entertaining like everyone else?”
“Quite the opposite. I was just hoping you’d make it more entertaining for me by getting out of that seat and scooping me up in your arms and taking me out of there that moment.”
“You had your chance, but you disappeared.”
“Not this time,” I say. “And not ever again.”
“That’s right, because I’m going to grab a hold of you tight and never let go. You’ll never escape me ever again,” he says as he pulls me in tight.
“And you’ll never get away from me,” I say burying my fingertips into his back, claiming him in front of the nearly twenty thousand people in attendance and over three million homes who bought the live stream to watch at home.
And who knows how many times this scene will play out on YouTube and other places online.
But I want all the other women in the world to know I’m not playing when it comes to him. He’s mine and this isn’t a scene.
This is two crazy kids from Southie who grew up to become one.
And make a couple of crazy kids of our own.
Or more if I’m lucky.
“I love you,” he says.
“I love you,” I say.
He scoops me up in his arms and carries me out of the octagon as the crowd chants his last name.
A name I hope to share with him very, very soon.
CHAPTER 16
Gracie
“Table number forty,” the maître d' at the Omni Parker House says as he seats us.
“Thank you,” Gavin says to him as he nods and leaves us to ourselves.
“You clean up very, very nice,” I say to Gavin.
“It helps when the other guy doesn’t land a single punch,” he says. “And I must say you are the most beautiful woman that has ever stepped foot in this fine establishment, or on the face of this earth.”
“Awww,” I say. “Thank you.”
I do feel amazing in my little black dress and matching black heels which Gavin already had ready back at his house.
But I’d hardly call myself the most beautiful woman to ever step foot in here. I know it’s history, but after Gavin orders a bottle of wine and heads off to the bathroom I double-check on my phone just to make sure.
I find an excellent review on the website of the British daily newspaper The Telegraph.
“Since 1855 the Omni Parker House has been welcoming guests, making it America’s longest continuously operating hotel. Many of the country’s biggest movers and shakers have visited the property over the years, which maintains a timeless elegance, attracting both leisure and business travellers.”
Location - 9/10
The hotel is a 15-minute drive from Logan Airport and on the edge of historic Beacon Hill, right along Boston’s Freedom Trail. Boston Common is just one block away, as is the subway, and a multitude of historic sights and attractions are minutes away on foot.
Style & Character - 10/10
The hotel simply oozes history: for more than 150 years, it’s hosted every American president under its roof; Charles Dickens did the first reading of A Christmas Carol in America here; Ho Chi Minh worked as a baker in the kitchen; Malcolm X worked as a busboy; and President John F. Kennedy proposed to Jackie Bouvier (at table #40) in Parker’s Restaurant. Décor throughout is elegant and rich, with classic crown moulding, antiques and mementos from many of its famous guests displayed.
Service & Facilities - 8/10
Much of the staff has been here for years and have a wealth of knowledge about the hotel and the area to offer. Service is friendly and respectful. There are lots of meeting spaces, but not a lot of common areas outside of the lobby, restaurant and bars to spend time. The hotel has a well-equipped 24-hour fitness centre.
Rooms - 8/10
The 551-room hotel fully embraces its history, keeping an Old World feel with rich colours, cherry wood furnishings and 19th-century reproduction artwork in the rooms and suites, though modern amenities, like coffeemakers and Wi-Fi, have been incorporated over the years. Bathrooms, with combined showers and tubs, can be a bit tight, but it's to be expected in a historic hotel. Suites have separate living rooms with pull-out sofas, microwaves, fridges and whirlpool tubs.
Food & Drink - 8/10
Options include Parker’s Restaurant, the hotel’s fine dining American restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, where the famous Boston Cream Pie and the Parker House Roll were invented. Parker’s Bar offers light pub fare; and The Last Hurrah, a cosy bar with a renowned collection of whiskeys, has a small menu of appetisers, sandwiches and main dishes such as chili and lamb stew (open lunch and dinner).
I feel a knot in my throat which I try and gulp away, but I can’t…until the third attempt.
My fingers scroll back up to the “Style & Character” section and my eyes freeze on the part about JFK proposing to Jackie…at table number forty.
Which is exactly where the maître d' said we were sitting when he seated us.
I gulp again.
As a journalist major I knew the hotel was famous for what Dickens did here, but I wasn’t familiar with any former first ladies accepting wedding proposals here…at this exact table.
I’d been feeling amazing since I put on this dress, but maybe the more apt term would have been feeling like a princess, or royalty, or high society or something of that nature.
“Everything okay?” Gavin says as he returns from the bathroom.
“Uh huh,” I say, knowing my eyes are as wide as saucers.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he says.
“Your wine, sir,” our waiter says as he arrives at the table bailing me out just in time.
I take a moment to discreetly take some deep breaths in and out before I pass out.
It works and after the wine is poured and we toast, I take a bigger sip than I probably should have…but it works just as well as the deep breathing.
I go from feeling overly excited to just right.
And our conversation is just perfect as we wait for our food, during dinner, and even through dessert.
“Anything else,” our waiter says.
“I think we’re good,” Gavin says, but I swear I see him give the waiter a bit of a wink just as he turns to go back to the kitchen.
And as soon as the waiter is out of the picture Gavin stands.
“Bathroom break?”
“No. And as a matter of fact I don’t ever want any breaks of any kind.”
“Huh?”
“When it comes to you,” he says as he reaches in his po
cket and pulls out a small box the color of a Robin’s egg and then removes a tiny, black, felt box from inside that box.
And when he carefully pulls the top back I see the most beautiful diamond I’ve ever seen. More beautiful than anything in a magazine or even a shop, not that I’ve ever gone in one and just wished that one day this moment might come.
“Gracie Gallagher,” he says from his position beside the table as he takes a knee. “I told you you would be mine and that’s exactly what I meant. You’ve made me see an entirely new way of living. No longer do I have to rely on past memories which until two weeks ago haunted me in order to express myself through violence, but instead I can focus on a much more positive emotion. The way you and only you make me feel. Love. And I love you more than anything in this world. You’re my Beautiful and I want to experience this beautiful life with you, hand in hand. Every step I take I want you there by my side, right where you belong. Because you are indeed mine. I asked you to say yes when the time came. Well, that time is now and that place is here. Beautiful, every time I look in your eyes I know why I was put on this planet…to make a family with you. Let’s take the next step on this journey together, hand in hand, but with your hand just a little bit heavier from now on,” he says as he winks. But there’s no joke to his words. I am definitely going to feel that rock and notice it every waking moment, and even when I dream…which I feel like I’m living in the current moment. My dream moment with my dream man.
“Will you marry me?” he asks.
I nod, as I take my right hand and wipe the tears from the corner of my eye with the back of my wrist as he slides the ring on my left hand. “Yes!” I say.
When the ring is in place he stands and we kiss for the very first time as an engaged couple.
And then I feel my feet come off the ground as he spins me around next to our table.
“She said yes!” he says.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The sound of champagne bottles opening and the bubbly deliciousness spewing out the top fills the room, before it’s quickly accompanied by the sounds of polite clapping and a few cheers.
“Way to go, champ!” someone yells.
“Thank you, sir,” he says, but he never takes his eyes from mine. “And thanks to you now I’m a champion where it matters most. In life because I found true love and I found a home…with you.”
The waiter hands me a champagne flute and Gavin one as well. I have no idea how he’s able to hold me with one hand. Just add it up to another one of his amazing talents.
We toast and then he leans in and we kiss. I hold my ring out and look at the size of it and the way it sparkles and how the light just shines almost through it at certain angles because it’s so clear…with a hint of pink.
“It’s priceless,” I say.
“You’re priceless,” he says. “And now you’re officially mine.”
CHAPTER 17
Gavin
I’m not the world’s best dancer, but I am light on my feet. And thanks to YouTube I’ve been practicing for the last couple weeks which made my performance down there in the dining room of the hotel not so shabby.
After the waiters uncorked the champagne we shared a quick dance right there in front of everyone.
I’m so excited and my head is spinning so hard right now I couldn’t even tell you the name of the song, the artist, or if the world was on fire right now.
Nothing else matters but her and looking in those eyes of hers. I swear I could stare into them all day and all night.
And tonight I will when I see just how much pleasure I give her when I claim her in our suite.
The waiters gave each table a bottle of their favorite champagne at my request. It’s the least I could do for these fine people who shared this moment with us, and the alcoholic gift was the perfect way to distract them while I carry my fiancée up to our room without being noticed…too much.
“You have no idea the thoughts that are going through my head right now. The things I want to do to you. The innumerable amount of ways I want to please you.”
I hear her inhale as her chest rises.
“I can’t even put my desire for you into words so there’s only one way for you to understand. And that’s to show you. Show you what it means to be mine.”
CHAPTER 18
Gavin
The second I get us through the door I kick the door shut behind us and place her down safely with her feet on the ground.
But nothing is safe about what’s happening in this room right now, or what’s about to happen.
I feel my heart about to beat out of my chest. My need about to turn me into a feral beast. And I know this room is too small to contain the savageness with which I want to take her.
“I hope you’re ready,” I say, noticing my deep voice suddenly finding an octave even lower.
I was stalking her, just like I stalk opponents in the octagon, but this is something different.
I’m not here to chase her around an eight-sided area. I’m here to move my tongue in figure eights along her clit as our bodies tangle and we become one.
She takes a step back, her back finding the wall and her arms quickly coming down, her forearms and palms flat against the wall behind her.
But putting her arms back only makes her incredible chest stick out even more, giving me a front row seat as I watch it heave up and down in her dress and then I notice her nipples are so damn hard they’re poking through the fabric.
“Are you wearing a bra?”
“No.”
“Show me. Show me what’s mine.”
Her upper body leans forward slightly as her arms move up as her elbows pivot and her hands find the zipper on the back of her dress.
I feel my mouth watering and I lick my lips, but I'm still salivating for her.
I lift my forearm and wipe it across my mouth, preparing to suck on her tits the moment her dress falls to the floor.
As I hear the zipper slide down my cock rises up, finding its peak at the exact moment the zipper finds the bottom of it’s descent.
Her hands come around and take the straps of her dress, moving it off one shoulder and then the other before she lowers it, but only after she covers herself with her forearm.
“Show me what’s mine. Show me your perfect body that I’ve wanted for four long years now. I’ve waited too long already. I can’t wait any longer.”
She sees the need in my eyes and I see a bit of fear in hers, but it’s fear mixed with excitement and I know she feels just as alive as I do.
“Let me see those perky, pink, nipples. The ones that were poking out through your dress. And the ones that I’m going to hide again for you, but this time in my mouth.”
And just like that her hand moves away and the dress falls to the floor as her tits seemingly defy gravity not moving anywhere but more out towards me, her pebbled nipples longing for my touch.
And I don’t make them wait as my mouth comes down hard on one and then the other as my hand finds the side of her neck.
“Ahhh!” I say as my mouth comes off her breast, a popping sound echoing off the walls of the room.
“You know how long I’ve waited for this moment? How long I’ve wanted it? And how it was worth every second, although there’s no way I could have waited a second more?”
“As long as I have,” she says.
I watch her lips speak the words and see their wetness, their need and my head moves in and our lips crash together as I kiss her like our lives depended on it.
Because they do.
Without her I was a goner. Just another kid from Southie making his way through this world with his fists.
But with her the future is so different, so much brighter.
My lips leave hers as I run my nose along the other side of her neck, dragging it against her skin as my nostrils flare as I take in her sweet scent. She smells like sugar, but there’s a bit of a salty smell too. Her anticipation. Her fear of not knowing.
&n
bsp; I feel my cock twitch, needing to be freed, but first I need to see all of her.
If I whipped my dick out right now I might explode before I even lay eyes on what I’m about to claim.
“I need to see all of you,” I say.
Possessive Boston Irish American MMA Fighter: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 77) Page 7