𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬

𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫

"THIS IS the most important moment of my life. It cannot go wrong," Ethan declared.

"And it won't. You gotta relax, man," Mark reassured him.

The two were currently at Mark's childhood home. It was summer, so they were on break from the NHL. Ethan got drafted to the Devils, and Mark got drafted to the Golden Knights. Despite being on different sides of the country, their friendship remained strong.

Today was a big day for Ethan. He was taking Sophia out on a date tonight, and it had to go as planned.

"Asking Sophia to marry you is going to be a piece of cake. Do you know why? Because there's no way she'd say no," Mark said.

"Easy for you to say. You asked Jasmyne to marry you at graduation. You've been married for two years," Ethan countered.

"Yeah, but I didn't stress about it because I knew she loved me. Sophia is head over heels for you, Eddie. There's no way she's gonna say no," Mark reassured him.

Ethan sighed. "There's also your father, who I'm terrified of," he confessed. "My dad loves you. Why are you scared?" Mark asked.

"Because Sophia is his only daughter. Fathers are scary. I remember when I met Kayla's father. I was genuinely terrified that man was gonna pull a gun out on me," Ethan recalled.

"Really?" Mark asked, surprised. "Because Mackie said when he met Kayla's parents, they were nothing but nice to him," he added.

"Yeah, you know what else is crazy? Her father let her move to Florida with Mackie. He wouldn't even let me upstairs," Ethan said, making Mark chuckle.

"Just go ask my dad. He loves you," Mark patted him on the back and opened the door. Ethan sighed before walking out of Mark's room.

"If I die, I'm coming back and haunting you," he called out.

He walked up to Sophia's father's office door, hesitating to knock. What if he said no? What if he—

"Ethan," his thoughts were interrupted when he heard Sophia's father's voice pierce through the door.

"Sir?" Ethan asked.

"Stop standing outside my door and just come in," Sophia's father replied.

Ethan wasn't going to argue, so he just walked inside. Her father was sitting down at his desk, facing Ethan. Ethan cleared his throat before walking towards him.

"I have something to ask," he began.

"Sit," her father ordered, and Ethan sat down in the chair facing the desk.

"Um, sir, you know I love your daughter," Ethan started.

"Stop with this 'sir' talk. You've been here for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and more. Call me Mark," he said.

"Mark," Ethan sighed. "I love Sophia more than anything. You know that. I would do anything for her, and I would never hurt her," he said.

"I think of you and your wife as family. Mark's been my brother since freshman year at college. Sophia has always played a special part in my life. That's why I'm here. I'm asking for your blessing to ask your daughter to marry me," Ethan said, hoping that he'd still be in one piece after this conversation.

Her father sat there, appearing to be deep in thought, contemplating his choices.

"Yes," he said, facing Ethan. "Y-yes? Just like that?" Ethan asked, taken aback.

Her father nodded. "Did you expect another reaction?" he asked. Ethan shrugged.

"Let me tell you something, son," her father began.