Chapter 17
I took a couple of days off because I wanted to be able to give Avalon my undivided attention.
During the anniversary party, she got a few inquiries and completed a couple of small jobs.
She also had been helping Mycah with her wedding planning, and she deserved a day or two to be catered to.
The day started with me sending her, Diamond, Mycah, and my sister for massages and to get their nails done.
Kairo insisted on helping pay the damage because he said he wasn’t letting another man pay for his wife to get pampered.
I took his money, too, because that shit was expensive.
I didn’t mind footing the bill, though, because Avalon was worth it, and I loved the friendship she had developed with my sister and sister-in-law.
Diamond was her best friend and cousin, so I wasn’t going to leave her out.
Once they were done, I had Karma help her get ready, then I went to pick her up. She had no idea we were going to a baseball game, and we would finish the date by having dinner on the beach.
I leaned against my truck as I waited for Avalon to come out of her house. Her smile lit up when her eyes landed on me. I pushed off my truck and closed the distance between us so I could pull her into my arms.
“Hmm, you smell good.” I inhaled her scent, then kissed her neck.
“Thank you.” She giggled when I nuzzled my nose against her skin.
I pulled back to look at her. Her hair was done in waves that cascaded down her back. Gloss covered her full lips, and her mocha skin shimmered under the sun.
“Did you have a good day?” I asked as I stared into her dark eyes.
Her eyes fluttered closed before she said, “Oh my God, yes. I can’t believe you did all of that. Imagine my surprise when the girls showed up here and told me to get dressed. Nobody would tell me where we were going, but I just went with the flow, and I don’t regret a minute of it.”
I kissed her nose, then her chin, then a final kiss to her forehead. I held back on kissing her lips because they looked too good.
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, baby. The day is far from over.” I released her, then grabbed her hand. When we got to my truck, I opened the door for her, and she squealed when she spotted the flowers and the multiple gift bags on the seat.
She turned back and looked at me. “Koda, what is all of this?”
“Just a few gifts for you.” I shrugged. Avalon was appreciative of everything I got her even when it was something simple like food.
“Let me grab them so you can get in. We have somewhere to be.” I picked up the flowers and the bags, then helped her in. Once she was situated, I put everything on her lap, closed the door, then walked around to the other side.
I started the ignition, then encouraged Avalon to open her gifts. Even though her eyes were so dark, they sparkled as she pulled out the earrings and bracelet set I had gotten her.
“Koda, these are beautiful.” She gushed.
“Just something that made me think of you.”
I glanced her way, and she had the biggest smile on her face as her eyes watered.
“Thank you. The spa and stuff were enough, so this is a surprise.”
“The day isn’t over yet.” I winked. “We have an entire day of stuff planned.”
“I’m excited!”
She was excited, but I was nervous because of how I thought the night would go. There was no doubt in my mind that Avalon was the one for me, and I wanted to make that known before the night was over. I wasn’t ready to propose, but I knew it wasn’t too far behind.
We drove for almost an hour until we reached our first destination.
Avalon looked around, and when she realized where we were, she screamed.
“Koda!” She sat up and looked out the window. “What are we doing here?”
“We’re here to see your boy play.”
She sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “I shouldn’t have told you that.”
I leaned over and pecked her lips.
“I’m not worried about him.”
“I didn’t think you were.” Avalon giggled.
I took the jewelry from her and locked it in the glove compartment. I should have waited to give it to her so it wouldn’t be in the car the whole time, but I didn’t think anyone would mess with my truck since we had VIP parking.
Avalon sported a smile as she unbuckled her seat belt and adjusted the small bag she had draped across her body.
“You ready?” I asked as I shut the ignition off.
“Yes. Now I know why Karma insisted on me using this bag.”
All the girls knew what my plans were, and I was grateful for Karma because I would have hated for Avalon to carry a bag that she wouldn’t be able to carry into the stadium. Once we got out of the car, Avalon and I walked hand in hand to the entrance gate.
After scanning our tickets, we headed toward our seats.
“Do you want to get snacks or anything before the game starts?”
“No, I’m good for now.”
“Okay, let me know if you change your mind.”
We continued to our seats, and Avalon’s eyes widened when she realized we were seated behind the home plate, but we were in the seats that were slightly elevated.
I could have gotten closer seats, but I wanted us to have the best view of the field.
I’d gone to a few games, but I was always with my dad and my brother. Being here with Avalon felt different.
“This view is great,” Avalon said as she sat down.
“The best in the house.”
“You just ain’t want me to get too close to Caleb.” She smirked.
A light chuckle escaped me. “That’s not it at all, because we’ll see him after the game.”
I was going to wait to tell her, but I had arranged for us to meet the players when the game was over. They had some signed memorabilia for her, too, but she’d find out later.
“We are?” A smile spread across her face.
“Don’t get that happy about it.”
Avalon giggled, and my heart skipped a beat.
“I’m not. I was just asking.” She giggled again.
“Yeah, aight. The game is about to start. Are you sure you don’t want anything?”
She leaned forward and grabbed my beard before placing a kiss on my lips.
“I’m sure.”
Since she was good, I was good. We turned to face the field and watched as someone sang the national anthem. When the teams were introduced, Avalon screamed and clapped her hands as each All-Starz player’s name was called.
Avalon had laser vision once the game officially started. She cheered when they scored, but she also yelled and cursed when there was a bad call.
Watching her be so passionate about the game made my dick hard.
She was more into it than I was, but I just wanted her to enjoy herself.
We spent over two hours eating, drinking, and having a good time.
Avalon even took pictures of us and posted them to her social media.
I had a lot of notifications because she tagged me in the pictures, but I wasn’t worried about what anyone had to say.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if it were chicks I dealt with in the past. I hardly used social media anyway, especially not on my personal page.
Anything I did was for the hotel, and it was posted on the hotel’s page.
When the game was over, Avalon and I headed down to the clubhouse to meet with the team.
Someone gave us a tour while we waited for the players to get ready.
“Wow! Koda, I can’t believe you did all of this for me.
I’ve been to the games, but I never been in here.
” Avalon’s eyes darted around the room. She was so excited, she didn’t know what to focus on.
We stopped in the training room, the food room, and some other rooms. Avalon couldn’t wait to take pictures with all the trophies the team had gotten over the years.
She made sure to get me in a few of the pictures as well.
“You deserved a day to just be. You’ve been working hard, and I wanted to show you that I’m proud of you.”
She practically launched herself into me and kissed me so passionately that it made my head spin. My dick jumped, and I had to think about something else before I took her to the bathroom to handle it.
I heard someone clear their throat. “I know that ain’t Avalon Jackson making out like a teenage girl.”
Avalon and I disconnected to find Caleb West standing next to us.
“Caleb!” She squealed, then hugged him.
Caleb laughed as he hugged her back. Once they released each other, Caleb shook my hand. “What’s good, man?”
“What’s up. I don’t know if you know, but Avalon is your biggest fan.”
Caleb looked at Avalon and smiled. “So I’ve heard. I got some stuff for y’all. Follow me.”
I grabbed Avalon’s hand, and we walked with Caleb to the locker room.
I stayed quiet while the two of them asked about each other’s families and caught up with each other.
When we reached the locker room, Caleb introduced Avalon and me to the other players.
I played camera man for her as she took pictures with them, and I held the bag of goodies they had for her.
I got in some of the pictures, but the day was truly about her.
As long as she kept that beautiful smile on her face, then I was good.
We spent an hour with the players, then left for the second part of our date.
“This day has been amazing, Koda.” Avalon gushed as we pulled away from the stadium. “Like, I really don’t have words.” She shook her head.
“Your smile says it all, baby. Why don’t you see what you got, then relax as we head back,” I encouraged.
The bag they gave her had multiple things inside.
She’d gotten a T-shirt with all their autographs.
Caleb gave her one of his jerseys that he’d signed.
She had team water cups, pens, and a couple of regular team T-shirts that she assured me she would give me a couple of them.
Apparently, they gave us season tickets, and I wasn’t expecting that.
I would have to send the team a donation or something for all they’d done.
After Avalon went through all the things, she put it back in the bag then put the bag in the back seat. Once she got comfortable again, she put her seat back and fell asleep.
It worked out for me because I wanted to make sure everything was set up for our dinner.
As she slept, I checked in with one of my staff members, and she assured me that everything was a go.
I told her I would let her know when I was about ten minutes out so they could have the food delivered to the table.
Once that was squared away, I drove the rest of the way with my hand on Avalon’s lap as she slept peacefully.
A little while later, we arrived at the hotel, and I parked as close to the beach as possible.
Avalon stirred awake as I placed kisses on her cheek and neck.
“Where are we?” she asked as she stretched. She put her seat up and looked out of the window. “The beach?”
“Yes, we are going to have dinner as the sun sets,” I informed her.
I gave her a couple of minutes to get herself together, then I shut off the engine, then walked around to help her out.
“Was your nap long enough?” I asked as I led her to the table that I had set up for us.
“It was. I didn’t realize how busy the day had been until I sat down. I’m still a little sleepy, but I’m good.”
“Good.”
When we got to the table, I pulled her chair out, then pushed it in once she was settled. I went around the table and sat in the chair across from her.
I arranged for an intimate candlelight dinner. On the menu was steak, potatoes, and broccoli. In the middle of the table was a bottle of white wine along with a pitcher of water.
I poured a glass of wine for each of us, then we blessed our food.
“This is beautiful, Koda. I honestly wouldn’t have guessed you were this romantic.”
“I had a good teacher, just never felt the need to do it. I know you like stuff like this and I believe you deserve it, so I’m going to continue to pull out all the stops for you.”
Her entire face flushed, and she tried to cover it with her hand, but I reached over and pulled it down.
“Nah, don’t hide. I love seeing your smile every time I make you blush.”
“You’ve been doing a lot of that since you first approached me. Even when I was sad, you still found a way to make me smile. I don’t know if I said it before, but thank you for having patience and understanding whenever it comes to me. I really appreciate you.”
“You make it easy for me to do that.”
We talked more as the sun began to set in the sky. She didn’t know it, but I had one more thing planned for us.
Once we were done eating, we took a walk on the beach. The moon illuminated the sky and the water that splashed next to us.
“If you could spend the day in someone else’s shoes, who would you pick?” Avalon asked.
“Not a damn soul. My life is great, and I was always taught to appreciate the things I have. I could never be envious of someone else. Plus, nobody else has you but me, and I’m not giving that up,” I told her honestly. “Would you do that?”
“Nope. My life is exactly what I want it to be.” Avalon stopped in her tracks when she saw the blanket and candles that sat in front of a big, illuminated heart.
“I’m glad you said that.” I pulled her over to the blanket.
“This entire day was to make you happy and to show you that I’m in this shit with you for the long run.
I appreciate you for showing me that there is more to life than fucking different bitches.
” Her nose scrunched up at that last comment.
“I appreciate you for trusting me with not just your body, but with your heart as well, and I plan to continue to cherish it. I want to know if you are willing to be my girlfriend.”
“About time.” She laughed. “Yes, Koda. I’m in this shit with you too.” She smirked, then wrapped her arms around my neck. I stared down at her and knew that it was the right decision.
My player card had officially been hung up, and I wasn’t upset about it. Avalon made me feel things I never felt before, and I couldn’t wait to continue to let our relationship flourish.
“Thank you, baby.” We shared a kiss that turned hot and heavy.
At some point, we lowered ourselves on the blanket, and I made love to my girlfriend while the waves crashed in the distance, and the moon glistened in the sky.
It was the best way to end the day.