“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your Colorado Pinnacles!”
The crowd erupted. Music blasted. Lights flashed. And one by one, the players ran onto the court.
When DaVinci’s name was called, the arena went absolutely insane, and so did I.
“NUMBER FIFTEEN, POINT GUARD, DAVINCI BRYNS!”
He ran out with that easy confidence, waving to the crowd, dapping up his teammates. And then, right before he lined up for the national anthem, his eyes scanned the courtside seats, and he blew me a kiss and winked.
The cameras caught it. The Jumbotron caught it. Everyone caught it.
I felt my face heat up, but I couldn’t stop smiling. I waved, small and subtle, and he grinned before turning back to his teammates.
“And that,” Omni said, “is how you claim your woman in front of twenty thousand people.”
By tip-off, my nerves were gone, and by the first bucket he hit, I was locked in like I’d been courtside all my life. My baby was in his bag immediately. He attacked the basket with something to prove, hit back-to-back threes, and every no-look pass sent the crowd into chaos. He played with a whole chip sitting on that shoulder.
During timeouts, during free throws, during reviews, his eyes always found mine, and each time, that same fire lit up in me.
“He’s showing off,” Omni said halfway through the second quarter.
By halftime, the Pinnacles were up by eight, and DaVinci had twenty-two points.
The second half was even better than the first. The Pinnacles pulled ahead, and DaVinci was unstoppable. Forty points. Twelve assists. The crowd was on its feet for most of the fourth quarter.
After a particularly nasty crossover that left the defender on the floor, he pointed at me again. The cameras caught it. The announcers mentioned it.
“DaVinci Bryns is feeling it tonight, folks. And I think we know why. That beautiful woman courtside, or maybe it’s the retirement talks. Either way, we are seeing an invigorated DaVinci Bryns.”
I wanted to crawl under my seat, but Omni was eating it up. For the rest of the game, I watched intently, occasionally talking to Omni about nothing or our plans for the summer. I’d had a drink or two as well and felt at ease.
“Bryns, for the final shot,” the announcers yelled as the buzzer went off and the shot went in. The arena erupted. DaVinci’s teammates mobbed him, and he was all smiles.
But before he celebrated with anyone else, he jogged over to the sideline. Right to me.
He was sweaty, breathing hard, but grinning at his performance.
He reached out and touched my face, right there in front of everyone. I was looking up into his eyes with nothing but love and respect. Even more so than before.
His eyes dropped to my mouth, then came back to mine.
“You look too damn good, Angel. Had me fighting for my life tryna focus.”
“You seemed pretty focused to me. Forty points.”
“That was all for you.”
I grabbed his jersey and leaned up and kissed him. He wouldn’t be the only one doing the claiming and marking territory tonight. I licked his lip and winked.
Cameras flashed from all angles. And I stopped caring.
Because this man just played the game of his life and came straight to me.
“Go celebrate,” I said when he pulled back. “Your team’s waiting.”
“They can wait.” But he stepped back, still smiling. “Meet me after? I want to take you out to dinner.”
“You don’t have press?”
