“I’m very serious. I nicknamed you AP because I had every intention of changing your last name. There’s no time like the present and it ain’t even like you can stand that nigga whose last name you wearing right now. I knew then and I’m even more sure now, I love you and I want the two of us to be one.”
She giggled at my joke as I took the ring out of its custom box and sat the box on the ground. I held her hand not wanting to presume anything because she had yet to give me the go ahead. My desire was for her to give me her yes with no pressure from me. It was why I didn’t do this at ‘Twan’s or at the stadium but at home where we both felt safe. We’d made this place our haven from the prying eyes of the public, neither of us wanting the spotlight especially not on a moment like this.
“I can’t believe you’re asking me to marry you.” Aphrodite looked stunned at the thought and I wondered if she needed to sit on Doc’s couch with me. Money and his girl did therapy together and the abject shock on AP’s face had me thinking she needed someone else besides me to remind her that she was worthy to be loved.
“Where you been the last year, ‘Phro? You ain’t seen that I would go to war against anybody, including myself, for you. But you gotta tell me if your answer is no or not yet. Whatever your answer I’m never going to stop loving you even if it means I lose you. Whatever I’m not providing you I pray you meet someone that loves you the way you deserve. And I’d be right there to shoot that nigga in the head if he ever thought about hurtin’ you.” I meant every word I was saying but I prayed I wouldn’t lose my girl.
She was laughing but if she only knew how dead-ass I was. “That isn’t necessary, Ant.”
“It is for you. But you gotta tell me somethin’, ‘Phro. Am I packing up my pride or are we celebratin’? You gone marry me,baybeeh?” I held her hands as I looked up into her eyes. My breath was trapped in my lungs as I waited for her to respond.
“Yes.”
She was nodding and now it was my ass to act remedial. “For real?!”
“YES! Where you been the last year, Anthony? Of course I’m gonna marry you. I’m gonna marry you.” She spoke the last line like she was so utterly shocked at the realization of our situation settling in.
I didn’t give her ass a chance to panic, but I slid the ring on her finger as she kept staring down at me. The amount of love in her eyes had me shedding a few tears of my own. Once I got her ring on her finger I felt like an entire weight had been lifted off of me and the dam on my emotions broke. I kissed the hand that held the ring I’d selected for her and the tears fell as I held it to my lips.
“I love you, AP. I love you so much. You’re everything I ever wanted but didn’t think I could have.”
“Are you crying baby? No, Anthony don’t cry, please. I thought you’d be happy.” Her hand went to the sides of my head lifting my head as she caressed my face.
She was a beautiful blurry blob but I still smiled as she bent down, kissing my tears away. “I am. I’m overwhelmed with so much love and gratitude because I never thought I’d find a woman like you. But God been blessing me my entire life even when I didn’t deserve it. But damn, He did His biggest one wit’ you, AP.”
“I’m gonna be AP for real.” I could see her clearly and the grin on her face showed me just how much that thought made her happy.
“You’ve been AP for real since the first time I called you that. But yeah, you stuck with me baybeeh.”
“And there’s no other place I’d rather be.”
I kissed her, holding her as close to me as I could without physically being inside of her and lifted her off her feet. “Thank you for how you love me, AP. I could live forever and never have enough time to express to you how much I love you.”
She squeezed me harder than she had before and we just sat there content in the silence of one another. I finally let her go and slid her down the length of my body as my mans finally got the memo that we were about to have a wife. He sprang into action and Aphrodite laughed as she rubbed her hips into him.
I kissed her then, my hands going to the back of her hair feeling every inch of her as I pressed her tightly against me. Her hands went behind me and I felt her nails scraping the skin of my back underneath my sweater. I’d matched her fly by wearing a cream cashmere sweater and some black slacks. That shit had my dick straining but I had a question I needed to ask her. I pulled back, fighting the lust thrumming through my veins and looked down in her face. Aphrodite was as beautiful as ever, her lips kiss-swollen, eyes lowered and little streaks of tears from where she’d cried.
“You haven’t even said anything about your ring, baby.”
“I hadn’t paid it any attention.” She looked like a deer caught in the headlights and I had to fix that.
“Aphrodite, I ain’t one to be materialistic, but I put a lot of thought into your ring. It was a way of you carrying around a physical representation of the love I have for you. So, yeah, we ‘bout to talk about this muhfucka.”
She looked at her hand and her eyes finally registered what was on it. “Anthony—”
“You ask anything about money, ‘Phro and it’s gone be a problem.” I gave that warning knowing she was going to do it anyway.
She folded her pretty lips tight as fuck and I knew she was doing her best to keep from worrying I’d spent too much money.I’d spent a grip but she more than deserved it. The ring I’d selected was a heart-shaped diamond that was F in color with a VS1 clarity. I knew she would fuss about what I spent, but I wanted to give her the very best I could afford. I had Rye make sure my saving goals wouldn’t take a hit with me making this purchase. I’d done a lot of spending that was outside of my norm for the last few months with buying our house and now her ring. Lucky for me that I’d been earning far more than I ever had so I was good. My goals were based on my salary and not my bonuses. How Billy set up my contract really came in clutch because the baselines they’d set for my performance had been low. No one thought I’d be starting this early in my career so I’d blown every metric out of the water and had even far exceeded my escalation clauses. Next year I knew my salary would be higher but now I’d have a baseline of my pro-performance that would mean my production would have to increase. I was blessed to be where I was and able to provide for myself and my girl without having to think twice. And by the time we thought about kids, we’d be set. And that was without touching my endorsement money or anything that Aphrodite had in the bank or would win from her tournaments.
“You don’t let me do anything and now you’ve giving me this beautiful ring…I know—”
I kissed whatever self-deprecating bullshit she was about to say off her lips. “That I love you and that love for you means I wouldn’t jeopardize our future or my ability to provide for you. Before you say anything, I know you’d have me, but I won’t ever put you in the position of having to pick up my slack, AP. The biggest part of loving you is reminding you that you don’t have to carry the financial weight of anything. The greatest gift I can give you is to love you for you and you alone—not for what you can do for me. It’s always going to be that way with me, Aphrodite, get used to it.”
“Well, at least I get to pay for our wedding.” Her eyes lit up with joy like she felt she finally had me backed into a corner and I had to burst her bubble.
“Uhhh…” I looked around knowing that she was about to get pissed off.
“What do you mean, uh? Bride’s family pays for it and since I’m the extent of that.” She looked around as though she were trying to find some imaginary family that had volunteered to pay for our wedding.
