Love In The Sun (Chapter 12)

Rocco pulled his mask a little tighter over his face and looked down at his feet to make sure his shoes were on correctly. He’d been so occupied with hurriedly leaving the arena after he’d gotten kicked out of the game that he wasn’t sure if he’d placed them on the right feet.

He looked down at the supplies he’d been told to take to the cleaning room and pushed the cart forward. He walked past a few rooms where minor surgeries were taking place and shivered. All the years of volunteering here and he still hadn’t gotten used to seeing what he saw after surgeries.

Even after having a few himself. It must be the needles they use to numb the pain. At least that’s what he told himself.

He sighed and started walking the cart forward. The tools used—which included needles—for surgeries rattling around on the cart and the occasional loud voice of a doctor or nurse was the only noise in this lonely hallway.

As he walked, Rocco kept replaying the hit he’d placed on Lukas over and over in his head. He hadn’t intended to put the kid through the boards that hard, but unfortunately, he couldn’t turn back time. He definitely hadn’t intended for the glass to shatter around Lukas like that.

The sound of the glass had made him wince inside. Not only because of the injuries he’d inflicted on Lukas, but because it took him back to a dark night four years earlier. When Darcy and Amber, his beloved sister and beautiful girlfriend, died in that accident. He was sure the sound of the glass was the same sound they’d heard that night.

As he drew closer to the room where they were performing surgery on Lukas, he noticed Mia, Zeke, and Katrina nervously watching through the windows. Mia had big fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she clung to Zeke’s side. Her hands kept spelling Lukas’s name against Zeke’s chest and her whole body shook. He wanted to go talk to them, but he knew he had work to do, so he blew out a huff and kept on walking.

He watched through lowered eyes as Katrina narrowed her eyes in his direction and whispered something to Zeke. He wondered if Zeke would come up to him, but Zeke simply shook his head and said “No, that’s not him.”

He let out another breath and kept walking past them. These tools needed to be clean.
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Mia tightened her grip on Zeke’s chest and just stared as Lukas—she could finally call him her boyfriend--continued to be worked on. He’d woken up only for a second when she’d touched his hand as the hospital staff hurried him inside, but then he’d passed out again. At most, Lukas had a major concussion and some bruises along his back. The glass pieces hadn’t gone that far into his forehead, luckily, his helmet saved him from severe damage.

“He’s going to be alright, squirt,” Zeke reassured her, his hand rubbing circles along her shoulders.

Mia swallowed back a sob and finally looked away from Lukas to stare at her brother.

I was too busy worrying about Lukas to see anything else. What happened to Rocco?

Zeke sighed and followed as Katrina lead Mia to the hard, uncomfortable chairs of the hospital not far from the surgery viewing window.

“He got kicked out of the game. I don’t know if he’ll get suspended or not. I wanted to go and fight him but I was too worried about my rookie.”

He watched as Mia leaned herself against Katrina’s chest and looked again through the viewing window. What a horrible sight that had been on the ice. Pieces of glass laid everywhere, Lukas curled up in the exact position they’d found Darcy and Amber in, the deadly silence of the crowd.

He didn’t think he’d ever heard the arena so quiet.

He was so shocked that Rocco hadn’t gone after him. Why did he choose to go after Lukas instead of Zeke? Lukas didn’t have any major parts in this storyline, except for now dating Mia. Was Rocco jealous of Lukas “stealing” Mia from him?

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“Thank you so much, Jax, for offering to stay with Mia. Any other time, you know that I would 100% trust Mia to be on her own, but not with what happened to Lukas.”

Zeke pulled his blue ocean tie a little closer to the collar of his shirt and grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the kitchen chair. Tonight was the night he’d been waiting for. He was going to be asking Katrina to be his wife.

Jax simply smiled at his best friend and eyed the box on the dining room table.

“I was wondering when you were going to ask her, Zeke. You’ve been together for too long.”

Zeke rolled his eyes and gave his friend a teasing push.

“When are you gonna get a girlfriend, buddy? You’ve been without one for too long.”

Jax huffed and shoved his best friend towards the door.

“Go get your wife, my guy!”

Getting the silly lovesick grin on his face at the mention of wife, Zeke stumbled out the door and slammed it behind him.

He had this all planned out for weeks about how and when he’d do it. He had planned it for a few weeks earlier, but the whole incident with Lukas really set him back. He was doing better; in fact, doctors said he’d be coming out of the hospital any day now. Zeke planned on asking Lukas to stay with him. He knew Mia could keep a really good eye on him and help him recover.

About five minutes later, he arrived at the restaurant where Katrina had already gotten them a table. Normally they would have left together, but Zeke had explained to her that he needed to do a few quick last-minute checks with Mia, so he sent her on ahead.

“Everything okay with Mia, Zeke?”

Katrina looked up from her menu to eye her long-term boyfriend.

Zeke sat down across from her and nodded.

“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s got our numbers if anything happens.”

He opened a menu to look at what he wanted to order, but his hand kept creeping into his pocket where the ring was. He hadn’t felt this much nervous excitement in a long time. This was a decision that took a lot of planning. He remembered asking Mia if she would be okay with Katrina becoming his wife. By the look on Mia’s face, he knew if she could talk, she’d be calling him an idiot for asking such a stupid question. He should have known that Mia would be alright with it, but there was a big difference between girlfriend and wife. Relationships can change when a girlfriend becomes permanent, but Mia reassured him that marrying Katrina would be the best decision for all of them.

“Remember when you first met Mia, Kat,” he suddenly asked, causing Katrina to startle.

“Well, of course I do, Zeke,” she replied, wrapping her hands around her wine glass, “she was very shy and didn’t trust me very much. I think the only words she signed to me the whole day were hi and bye. You were so protective over her then, I didn’t think this relationship was going to work. I had to do a lot of work to gain not only her trust, but yours as well. I think it took both of you a whole year before you were comfortable enough to leave me alone with her.”

Katrina stopped talking and took a sip of the red wine in her glass. It was hard to believe that she’d once thought Mia being in Zeke’s life would screw up their relationship, but now, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Zeke’s lips twitched as he reached across the table to wrap his hands around hers. He wasn’t sure how many times he’d thought this, but he was so happy Katrina stayed with him. Zeke and Jax had been around to protect Mia forever, but he knew she wouldn’t be able to come on the road with him all the time. Katrina was the perfect solution. She not only gave Mia the mother-like figure she’d been craving, it also made Zeke much more comfortable going on the road and not having to always worry about his younger sister.

“I know I’ve said this before, Kat, but I’m so happy you stayed. Not just for Mia, but for me as well.”

Katrina opened her mouth to speak, but no words escaped her as Zeke rose from the table. There was a twinkle in his eyes like she hadn’t seen before. It didn’t quite click in her head exactly what he was up too until he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring.

The tears welling up in her eyes made it much harder for her to see the beautiful diamond sparkling under the lights of the restaurant, but her ears did not miss any of Zeke’s words.

“Kat, you’ve been the perfect girlfriend all of these years. You’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty not only as my girlfriend, but as Mia’s mother-figure and sister. When I’ve lost my head worrying about Mia, you’ve been the voice of reason. You’re my biggest fan and I’m your biggest cheerleader. I wouldn’t be able to cope without you. Because of you, I’m not afraid to face any challenge that comes our way. You being in my life has to become permeant, so I ask you, Kat, will you marry me?”

Katrina’s entire body shook as she sobbed out a “YES!” and Zeke carefully slid the ring onto her finger.

Never had two people deserved this moment more than Katrina and Zeke.