Overtime
Serenity
‘You know, one day, you’re gonna have to quit looking at it.’
It’s a Friday night. Above our heads are pretty fairy lights. I’m dressed in a long, silk slip dress. Jake is looking suave in a tux, his arm wrapped around my waist.
I lean into him. ‘I am never gonna stop looking at it,’ I sigh over the music, holding up my left hand as it cuts across a shaft of light from the dance floor.
‘Purple looks good on you,’ he says with a smile, stroking the fabric of my dress.
We’re one of several couples chaperoning River’s winter formal at her high school gym, and in accordance with River’s strict instructions, we’re keeping a low profile, tucked into the shadows behind the drinks table.
Jake’s right about me being distracted; I keep catching myself getting lost in the ring he gave me, now settled on my finger.
A stunning, soft square, double halo-mounted diamond, with larger, graduated stones on the band.
Quite literally the most exquisite thing I’ll ever own, I’m sure of it.
His mother and River helped Jake pick it out, and he went to my father and asked for my hand, retrospectively, before asking me, properly, for a second time.
Next to it, on my finger, is Harmony’s slender, silver ring, which she let us keep, after Jake proposed at the Danube.
We spent bye week together. The one week in the NFL calendar where the Mutineers team had no game scheduled, allowing players a well-earned rest. Harmony quit the squad, the same day Jake and I got engaged.
Everybody thinks she’ll be expecting by Christmas, and by her own admission, she and Hudson want to start raising a family soon.
Why wait any longer, she said; I know she waited long enough.
Ashlyn has been appointed our new captain, and Samantha Conway reluctantly agreed that Persia and Mona could return to the CMC.
I heard Lemon’s been given a promotion, and not a single individual got fired for allowing the CMC protest routine to continue on the field that day.
Her mother’s reportedly taking some time out ‘for reflection’.
She’s given us a grace period, so that we can plan our dream wedding.
My daddy wants to walk me down the aisle, and our list of guests includes each member of the Mutineers, the CMC, and some of the girls from Surly’s Tavern too.
Both my squads.
‘Oh, Jake, look.’
The crowds of high schoolers on the dance floor have parted, momentarily.
We get a glimpse of River in her floor-length, silver satin gown.
She’s dancing up a storm with Wylder in his wheelchair.
She’s giving him her full attention, and he’s performing spins in the chair, clearly trying to impress her.
I feel Jake move and realize that he’s laughing.
‘What is it?’ I ask.
‘Nothing. She’s gone from thinking nobody liked her to being the center of attention.’
At the house, before we left, I witnessed both Jake and his dad get choked up, watching River walk down the stairs.
I helped her with her makeup and her dress.
In the few short weeks that we’ve know one another, we’ve gotten close.
Bridget’s helped me secure extra funding for my father, so that he has guaranteed oxygen when he needs it.
She couldn’t have been more helpful. Jake’s talked about moving him out of Temptation Heights, once we’re married.
It’s wonderful, having this whole new family.
And I believe it now, when Jake tells me I have absolute power over him.
But he doesn’t know the power he has over me too.
How deeply I’ve fallen for Jake Walsh. My hero.
And how I can’t wait to call myself his wife.
The music shifts. It’s a slow dance. I turn into Jake, lifting his arms into position.
‘I have a secret,’ he whispers in my ear when he holds me.
‘Oh yeah?’ I ask. ‘What is it?’
‘I can’t dance.’
I stifle a giggle. ‘Then I’ll teach you.’
‘You will?’
I pull back. ‘Sure,’ I tell him, placing both my hands on his chest. ‘We’ll start with the basics. Then we’ll graduate to the next level.’
He frowns, like he’s unsure. ‘What’s the next level?’
I let go of him, wrap my arms around his neck and kiss his mouth. When I break the kiss, he looks at me like he wants nothing more than to get me home. My lips twitch. I emphasize my southern accent when I say, ‘Cowboy, I was gonna offer to get you a pair of poms.’
And he’s laughing again.