All Star

by KB Winters

After a while, Trey pulled some of the fruit from the picnic basket and we munched on it and talked about the house hunt and my day at work, slipping right back into what normal, everyday couples discuss over dinner, as though we weren’t sitting, practically naked, in the middle of a major sports arena. I didn’t have my phone on me, but I knew it was getting late. As if on cue, an alarm sounded and Trey reached for the cellphone in the pocket of his discarded jeans. “We should probably get going,” Trey said, after consulting the phone. He pushed up from his place beside me on the blanket. “The security guy that I paid to stay away will have to do his sweep eventually.”

  “Trey!” I gasped and began to scramble to get back into my clothes and Trey laughed. “You didn’t tell me that part!”

  “You worry too much, baby. I wasn’t going to let him walk in on us. Have some faith.”

  I shot him a look as I tugged on my tee shirt.

  When we were both dressed, and Trey had the empty champagne bottle and glasses stashed away, he retrieved something from the bottom of the basket and handed it to me. “Oh, I almost forgot. I brought you a little something.”

  I took the box from him. It was small and white and looked vaguely familiar. “Wait, I recognize this box.” I lifted the lid and smiled down at the busted up baseball that Trey had arranged to have delivered to my hotel room after he hit the home runs, I’d challenged him to after the night we met in the bar. “What’s this doing here?” I’d thought it was home, packed away with some other memorabilia that I’d collected over the last months with Trey: movie stubs, jewelry he’d given me, plane tickets, postcards, and love letters he’d sent or left on my bed before heading out to an away game.

  Trey smiled up at me and stroked a hand down my back. “You remember that night we met at the bar?”

  I nodded fervently. “Of course I do.”

  “That was the day that I fell in love with you, Josie. Right there outside your hotel room.”

  Tears pricked at my eyes. “You did?”

  “I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell you. I didn’t wanna scare you off. But you’ve had my heart for quite a while now, baby. That night, the way you smiled and didn’t put up with any of my bullshit. You knocked me right on my ass and I loved every minute of it. But then, that final line, where you teased me and said that only hitting one homer in your honor wasn’t good enough coming from a grand slam champ. Damn, girl. That got me. I knew you were everything I wanted and more. So much more.”

  “That’s sweet, Trey. I love you too.”

  Trey reached over and cupped my face. He tugged me gently to him and kissed me softly. Heat flared in my belly and I wanted him all over again. When he broke apart, I pressed my fingertips to my lips, memorizing his kiss.

  “Open it,” he said, glancing down at the box that was still resting in my hand.

  I opened the lid and lifted the battered ball out of the box. “I thought you already gave me the ball?”

  He nodded. “If you’ll recall, I hit three homers that day.” He paused, giving me his cocky smile. “I gave you the ball from the second one. The first one was snatched up by an eager fan. This ball…” he dropped his attention to the box in my hands. “This is the third one. When I hit this one out of the stands, all I was thinking about was you. How much I couldn’t wait to leave the damn game and see you again.”

  I picked the ball out of the box and then my heart stopped, dead in my chest, as a slight glimmer caught my eye. “Trey…” My eyes flew to his and he shoved up from the ground and knelt before me.

  “Josie, I’m crazy in love with you. I don’t even want to think about where I would be if you and I hadn’t met. I was a busted up, broken man, just like this smashed baseball. But you somehow saw past all my shit and damage and gave me a chance to show you who I really am, or, who I could be. I can’t imagine my life without you, and if you’ll have me, I’d like to put that ring on your finger in front of all our friends and family and promise to be your faithful, loving husband for the rest of our lives.”

  A breath caught in my throat as I gasped. Tucked underneath the baseball was a gorgeous, solitaire cushion cut engagement ring and a wedding band that was studded with countless diamonds. “Trey—”

  He lifted the delicate ring from the box, setting the baseball aside, and held it out to me. “Josie Crawford, will you be my wife?” A glisten shown in his eyes and my heart felt like it exploded into a thousand tiny butterflies racing around inside my chest. “Please say you will. Make me the happiest and luckiest man alive.”

  I nodded, overcome with emotion. “Yes, Trey. Yes!”

  He slipped the ring on my finger, beaming with pride, and then wrapped me in his arms.

  All of a sudden, soft, romantic music started to play through the sound system and as I glanced up at the music, the scoreboard lit up with electronic fireworks and then, in giant letters, “SHE SAID YES” lit up the board.

  “They wouldn’t let me light off real fireworks. Some kind of fire hazard,” Trey complained through a crooked smile as he watched me take it all in.

  I giggled at the grand display and looked up from the giant ring on my finger and into the face of the man I loved. “This is really happening?”

  “It better be! I already promised your dad that I’d take good care of you.”

  I covered my mouth and the tears that I’d barely been holding onto started sliding down my face. “You talked to my dad? He knows about this?”

  “Hell yeah, baby! I asked for his blessing after that last playoff game. I wanted to see him and your mom in person to ask them for their blessing face to face.”

  I shook my head, marveling at him. “How on earth did I get so lucky?”

  “Trust me, Jo, I’m the lucky one here.”

  I hope you loved bad boy Trey and super sweet JoJo! Locker Room is next. It’s the final book in the Bad Boys of Summer Series.

  You can find all of my books at KBWinters.com

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  Y’all are the true champions.