Chapter One
Brayden
If Brayden Birks lived to be a thousand years old, there wouldn’t be a better day to propose to the most amazing woman on the planet. From the day they’d met, Tilly Creswick had captured his heart. She was the one. The. One. He didn’t need to date other women to see if there was something better out there. There wasn’t. Tilly may not be perfect, but she was perfect for him.
And he couldn’t wait to slide a ring on her finger.
With a win in his back pocket and his girl waiting for him in the parking lot, Brayden couldn’t get out of the locker room fast enough.
“Good game,” said Dustin, the shortstop. He slapped Brayden’s shoulder as he walked by on his way to the showers. Brayden had already showered and dressed in an athletic shirt and a pair of climbing shorts covered by a loose pair of basketball shorts. Tilly was taking him climbing; little did she know he had a surprise for her at the top.
“You too.” Dustin had made a game-saving catch. A line drive to his right, Dustin had to dive, roll, recover, and send it back to first for the double play. Exceptional baseball! It was these moments of greatness that told Brayden the team was shaping up under Coach Wolfe. The guy had a way of making you feel like you were part of something big, that success was just around the corner. He hadn’t moved on to the “next-season” pregame speeches yet. Good thing, because as long as there was a game to play, there was a game to win.
“You were on fire out there.” Blake Rygs, the closer who had finished out the game by holding the opposing team at three while the Redrocks scored two more runs, plopped down on the bench next to Brayden and shucked off his cleats.
Brayden hated being taken out when he still had juice in his arm, but his stats would reflect the win. His baseball brain absorbed all of that, but his heart was thrumming for Tilly.
He was on fire, all right, and it burned deep in his heart for his girl. Tilly was different from other women—in all the best ways. She wore her hair in dreadlocks, and it smelled like cactus flowers. Which would be strange, except that was the only way to describe the scent of the desert that clung to her skin. She could have been a desert gypsy the way she was at home in a climbing harness or on a mountain bike trail. He was constantly amazed at her ability to scramble up a cliff or find her way over any obstacle. Where most people saw the impossible, she saw the beautiful challenge and rose to it—every time.
“Whatever you’re drinking, share some of that with me,” added Blake. His long legs took up all the space between the bench and his locker. Brayden looked around the room for a moment, grateful he’d landed on the Redrocks. Not only were these guys his teammates; they were his friends.
“And me,” added Dustin, toweling off his hair. No one lingered long in the shower stalls around here. That set you up for a prank. Ice water dumped over your head, Kool-Aid packets emptied into the stream of water, whipping cream showers when you stepped out—he’d seen them all.
Brayden glanced around once more to make sure no one was watching. He reached into the top shelf of his locker, the very back corner, and pulled out a small white box. Crouching down so Blake’s body shielded him from view, he said, “This is what I’m drinking.” He opened the box slowly, the light catching the diamond ring.
Dustin let out a low whistle. “The stone’s a little flashy for my taste, but I think I can make it work.”
Brayden stood quickly. He cuffed Dustin on the back of the head. “It’s for Tilly, you idiot. Like I’d want your sorry self.”
Dustin laughed. “I have all I can handle with Clover—she keeps me on my toes.” His grin said he loved every second they spent together. Clover had been raised on the streets. She worked at a hotel and volunteered at the local food pantry. “It’s all I can do to keep her from wandering parks and parking lots at night, looking for the homeless and giving out those essential bags. It drives me crazy to think of her walking around town meeting men who may be in desperate circumstances and offering to drive them to the shelter for the night when we’re on road trips.”
“What’s going on?” Jimmy Holt strode in, a towel wrapped around his waist. He was a starter, had an excellent sinker, and hadn’t said a bad word about anyone in all his life.
Brayden flashed him the ring.
Jimmy’s eyes lit up and he flapped his hands in front of his face like a beauty pageant winner. “You shouldn’t have.”
Brayden snapped the box shut and glared at Jimmy and Dustin. “You two should start a comedy club.”
“Wait, this is legit?” Blake stared hard at him. “You’re asking Tilly to marry you?”
“No, I’m asking Juan.” Brayden hooked his thumb towards the right fielder, who was busy giving Ross Ketcham, their newest catcher, a rapid-fire rundown of his night taking care of this three daughters, who all had the stomach flu. Ross looked like he might be sick if the conversation continued much longer.
Dustin waved away Blake’s surprise. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just mad because you’re proposing first. That’s awesome, man.”
“How long until you and Elise …” Brayden wiggled the ring box in the air at Blake.
Blake ducked his head. “A while now. I have to ask her dad first. Maybe the end of the season.”
“Dude! You should do it big. Like,on the field during a gamebig.” Dustin threw his hands out to the side, his arm span filling the space around them. “That way, she’ll be too embarrassed to tell you no.”
Blake half-heartedly swung at him. “Like she would tell me no. That girl is so in love with me.”
“Only because I was off-limits,” called Juan, proving that he always had half an ear on the conversations happening around him. He jerked his chin at Blake, teasing him. In reality, Elise had had eyes for just Blake from day one. Kind of like how Brayden felt for Tilly. Okay, not kind of like—exactly like.
He tucked the ring box in his pocket. “I’m in such a good mood, not even you yahoos could spoil it.” He tucked his keys into his gym bag. “I’m outta here.”
A chorus of catcalls and congratulations from his teammates followed him out the door. Before he made it to the parking lot, the whole locker room would know what he was up to tonight. That was fine with him. These guys where the closest thing he had to brothers.
