King of the Court

“Hey, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kayla says, holding up her hands in innocence. “Anthony and I were just inside talking.”

“Okay, well you two were talking for the better part of an hour.”

Kayla winks at Raelynn. “What can I say…Anthony’s a real talker.”

“Talk talk talk,” Caleb parrots, making us all laugh.

I’m not sure how Kayla and Anthony came to be. They met a month back, when we were all at dinner, and I swear to god, within five minutes of meeting, they were making out at the table.

I’ve asked Raelynn and Anthony about it.

Anthony says he’s in love. Raelynn says Kayla won’t stop talking about him either.

At the end of dinner, when everyone’s relaxed and picking at their desserts and the sun’s gone mostly down, coloring the sky orange and pink, I nudge Raelynn with my shoulder.

“Hey, walk with me for a second?”

When she smiles and nods, I take her hand and we circle around the side yard, hidden from the group as we walk toward the trees that line the perimeter of the property.

“You can lure me away from cornhole if you want,” she teases, “but you know you still owe me a rematch. You might be a big NBA superstar with a handful of championship rings, but I’ll have you know I’m the reigning third grade cornhole champion at Barbara Bush Elementary School.”

She talks like she’s some bigshot, and I can’t help but smile before leaning down to steal a kiss.

“I’ll gladly give you a rematch if you want it,” I say, keeping my voice low as I draw back. “But I don’t think it’ll work out well for you.”

She scowls and pokes me in the side. “We’ll just see about that.”

With a chuckle, I tug her toward me, throwing her off balance for a second so I have to loop my arm around her waist and right her as we keep walking. She slides her hand into the back pocket of my jeans and asks me if I noticed Ryan and Julia flirting by the pool. I didn’t, because I have other things on my mind.

“They’re in love, I know it. I had to run up to our office the other day to grab my laptop, and I swear they were kissing before I opened the door. They jumped apart, looking guilty and everything.” Raelynn shakes her head before switching topics altogether. “Do you think there’s enough dessert for everyone?”

She keeps right on rambling about the fact that we don’t have a berry pie. She worries not everyone likes pecan pie, and I just listen and smile. With everything she had going on today, the ponies and sheet cakes and daisy centerpieces, she didn’t notice the extra cars in the driveway or the people bustling around back here, hanging a few hundred glass globe votives from the branches of an eighty-year-old oak tree.

The tree is hidden until we turn the corner around the side of the house and the quiet scene I planned comes into view. Up ahead, a couple dozen yards, hundreds of twinkling lights sway in the breeze beneath the tree’s canopy.

Raelynn comes to a sudden halt, drawing back.

Her jaw hangs in shock as she blinks, trying and failing to comprehend what she’s looking at.

“What is this?” she asks, turning to me, her eyes shiny with emotion. “Ben Castillo, you tell me right now—what is this?”

I grin and tug her along, not saying a word as her hand flies up to cover her mouth.

The sun hangs low in the sky as we dip beneath the tree and stop beside a small wooden bench Caleb and I have been building slowly over the last few weeks. It’s nothing too intricate. I know my talent lies on the basketball court, but it’s sturdy, and on the seat, right in the middle, we carved two letters that are only just legible.

B + R

Raelynn looks down at it and gasps in shock, though I’m not sure if it’s at the sight of my handiwork or the black velvet ring box sitting beside our initials.

I reach down for it as she takes a step back, tears swimming in her eyes.

“Little Bird,” I whisper, trying to give her the chance to recover from her shock before I continue.

I tilt my head and smile, holding up the ring box.

She shakes her head in disbelief, over and over again, convinced this can’t be real.

I open it to show her what’s inside.

The ring consists of a cluster of stones with an oval diamond wedged in the center. Round sapphires and blue topaz and smaller diamonds surround it, pressed together like a constellation from the night sky.

“I wanted to give you your beloved stars.”

Tears slide down her cheeks as she stares down at the ring. I draw it out of the box and hold it up as I bend down to one knee. Looking up at her, backlit by hundreds of flickering lanterns, my chest squeezes tight, and for a moment, I can’t speak.