by Mj Fields
God, I love her.
The whistle blows, and the screen goes back to the game as the men all run out onto the court.
Tae rebounds the ball and looks down the court. Brock is wide open. I see him mumble, “Shit,” and then he throws it hard to him.
Brock makes a three, and the crowd goes nuts.
I smile when Trae looks up at me, and he shrugs.
***
WITH TWO MINUTES LEFT UNTIL halftime, we are down by five when the Pistons call a timeout.
“It’s time for The Stable Arena’s kiss cam, brought to you by Bayside Jewelers, the preferred jewelry store for the Seattle Stallions,” James announces.
“Get your lips ready, everyone, and let’s see where the camera stops!” Christa says excitedly.
It stops on a young couple. The woman is holding a baby on her lap, who is wearing a Stallion’s onesie. It’s totally adorable. The couple kiss, and the crowd cheers.
We are ten seconds to the half and behind by two.
Trae rebounds and flies down the court.
“Rhodes is going to tie this up at the half,” James announces.
But he doesn’t tie it up. He makes a three, and the half ends with the Stallions up by one.
During halftime, I watch the sponsors on the court doing giveaways for the crowd. I love it, the crowd loves it, and so do the sponsors.
I try to stay away from the locker room, but I can’t.
When I peek in, they are all in the conference room while Landry goes over plays.
Trae looks toward the door as if sensing me, and I step back. I don’t want him to see me. I want him to be in the moment, enjoying his moment, because I enjoy watching him.
***
WE ARE FIVE MINUTES UNTIL game over. It’s like a damn game of table tennis. The Pistons score. The Stallions score. It’s completely back and forth.
Another timeout is called by the Pistons, and another player interview video comes on the screen.
It’s Trae again.
“Tell the fans your top five favorite things, besides basketball,” the interviewer, Christa, asks him.
“My daughter and wife tie for number one. Don’t tell my mom.”
“Your wife, huh?”
He nods then smiles. “Yeah, my wife.”
“So, is it true you got drunk and married in Vegas after the exhibition game?”
He nods. “I let loose for the first time in years, got drunk, and was with the most beautiful, kindest, sexiest woman in the world. Throw a little Elvis in there to set the mood, and a pushy friend...it happens.” He shrugs.
“Best friend,” Christa corrects him.
He laughs. “We just played rock, paper, scissors, and I won the title.”
She puts her face in the camera. “Whatever.”
He laughs again.
“If you weren’t drunk, would you have married her?”
“No.” He shakes his head, and my heart drops. “Not in Vegas.”
“What would you have done differently?”
“I’d have asked her to be my wife in front of the entire world.”
“And what if she said no?”
“She wouldn’t. We were meant to be, and I will never stop falling in love with her.”
Christa appears on the screen again. “Swoon.”
The screen goes black, and then James says, “It’s time for the final kiss of the night on The Stable Arena’s kiss cam, brought to you by Bayside Jewelers, the preferred jewelry store for the Seattle Stallions.”
I watch the screen as I hold my hand over my chest, still reeling from what Trae just said. I never believed in love at first sight, not ever. I mean, your eyes may love something beautiful, and you may want to wear it around for a while, but the heart doesn’t just attach itself to another person or thing and stay that way forever. Or, so I thought...until Trae.
“Wise men say, only fools rush in, but I can’t help falling in love with you,” plays over the speaker as the kiss cam circles the crowd and lands on me.
I roll my eyes and shake my head no. Then I notice Trae standing next to me and time seems to stop.
He holds his hand out and takes mine, helping me to my feet. Then he grabs my crutches and leads me down the stairs. I hobble along until he gets sick of seeing me hop and scoops me up.
“What are you doing?” I ask, sighing in exasperation.
He says nothing as he walks us out to center court and sets me down in the middle of the Stallion. Then he whispers, “You can’t be pissed at me,” before he kneels and opens his hand.
Inside the palm of his hand is a box. When he opens it, I see the most brilliant diamond I have ever seen.
Giddiness, happiness, love, and a girlish giggly fit overcomes me.
Is this really happening?
Taking a microphone that Christa hands him, he says, “Courtney Cohen-Rhodes, we are already married and this may make no sense to anyone else here, but I gotta ask: will you give me all your time if I give you every last season?”
Tears spring to my eyes as I nod. “Yes. Yes, every last one.”
He puts the ring on my finger, stands, and wraps his arms around my waist, lifting me and giving me a kiss.
The crowd goes nuts as he kisses me the entire way back to my seat.
When he pulls away, neither of us can stop smiling, but then the whistle blows.
Ugh.
“Go. Go win this for us,” I tell him.
Three seconds left in the game, Trae makes a three-point shot.
“And the Seattle Stallions win their first home game! Their first of the season!”
Trae smiles at me, for me, and I smile at him, for him, because he just won, and so did I.
EPILOGUE
ON THE FIRST OF MAY, I’m pacing when I hear a vehicle pull into the driveway.
I look out the window to see it’s Trae, watching him as he opens the door, gets out, blows out a breath, and then shakes his head before walking around the vehicle and opening the passenger door.
I watch him unbuckle the seatbelt then pull out a smaller than average four-year-old girl.
She clings to him, shaking a little like she’s sobbing, and he closes his eyes and pulls her head toward him, kissing the top of it. Then he looks up and sees me.
I point toward the water, and he nods.
She likes blue. The water is blue, and it’s calming. In my head, she’s going to love it here.
The entire season when he talked to her, I was there, too. When he went home to visit, I went with him. He wouldn’t let me go with him to bring her home, however, because he loves that she sees me as a playmate, a friend, a prize.
I love him for that.
His mother opted out last minute to come. She said she would be doing it for selfish reasons. Neither Trae nor I agreed with her, of course, but her wanting this to be Callie’s “big deal” with her dad was actually completely selfless.
Off season, she will be with us. During the season, Callie will be in Idaho. And just like this past season, Trae and I will be there every given opportunity.
When he is with her, he amazes me. Without a doubt, my husband is the sexiest daddy alive. I swear, as bad as it sounds, I can’t keep my hands off him. He knows it, too.
Who would have thought?
I walk outside, holding a plate of blue cookies, and walk toward them.
When I get to the end of the dock, I kick off my shoes and sit down beside him. Callie is on his lap.
When she sees me, she smiles, and I smile back.
We remain very quiet, knowing it’s what’s best for her. But in the silence, somehow the love I feel grows louder, as I know it will in the coming years.
We are blessed.
Brock never pushed for the test, and I will never push Trae. As he said, she is his, and so am I. So, if he is mine, so is she. That is the way our love works.
IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING...
The Seattle Stallions ended the season with thirty wins
, leading their division.
Brock Boeheim played his best season in the NBA and was traded to the Lakers when his contract expired.
Trae Rhodes signed another year-long contract to the Seattle Stallions. His signing bonus? The Spyder.
Courtney couldn’t seem to keep track of everything...namely her bras. With her busy schedule, work, and family, instead of trying, she joined Madison Black’s bra and panty of the month club.
Trae accumulated a massive stash of bras because he preferred her to go without.
And yes, they live Happily Ever After.
SEATTLE BUSINESSES MENTIONED
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Pike Place Flowers
Northwest Fine Woodwork
Northwest Tribal Art
The Elliot Bay Book Company
Seattle’s Best Coffee
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To all my readers: If I didn’t have your support and love, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love everyday. My escape, becomes yours, what a beautiful circle. Thank you for letting me tell you stories.
To all the bloggers: You dedicate your time to read, review, and share my stories. I am forever grateful for everything you do to help me reach new readers. Your reviews, teasers, shares, messages are invaluable to me. Thank you so very much.
To Kris, Kim, Jules, and Lisa: a million thanks for helping me get this out. You’re all amazing.
To Miss ‘A’: You are my everything.
OTHER BOOKS
The Men of Steel Series
Forever Steel
Jase
Jase and Carly
Cyrus
Zandor
Xavier
Momma Joe
The Ties of Steel Series
Abe
Dominic
Eroe
Sabato
The Rockers of Steel Series
Memphis Black (Memphis and Tallia)
Finn Beckett (Finn and Sonia)
River James (River and Kianna)
Billy Jeffers (Billy and Madison)
LRAH Legacy Series (These families’ stories are intertwined starting with The Love series, they move to the Wrapped Series, the Burning Souls series, and end in Love You Anyways.
Many more series will spin off from these characters already written and each will be a standalone series but for those of us who love a story to continue I recommend reading in this order.
The Love Series
(Must Be Read In This Order)
Blue Love
New Love
Sad Love
True Love
The Wrapped Series
Wrapped In Silk
Wrapped In Armor
Wrapped In Always and Forever
Burning Souls Series
Stained
Forged
Merged
LRAH Legacy Additions
Love You Anyway
Love Notes
The Truth About Love Series
27 Truths (Ava’s Story)
27 Lies (Luke’s Story)
The Norfolk Series
Irons (Jaxson and Frankie, book 1)
Shadows (Shadows and Mary, book 2)
Titan (Coming 2017)
UnSocial Daters Club: Matched Duet
UnSocially Yours! (Prequel)
Match This!
ImPerfectly Matched!
Published with Loveswept/Penguin Random House
The Caldwell Brothers Series (co-written w/ Chelsea Camaron)
Hendrix
Morrison
Jagger
Standalones
Visibly Broken
Offensive Rebound
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author MJ Fields write books that scorch pages and melt hearts. Her style is raw, gritty and authentic. Love an alpha and a strong heroine? She does too.
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