21. Reighvyn
ONE WEEK LATER
I was interested in how our transition to life after Sorrel and Vegas would work. Neither of us had been around each other in Cherokee Springs. There, she had her family, her friends, and her floral shop.
When I was at home, I spent most of my time alone. I was a bit of a recluse, and I was okay with that. Dove had always been a social butterfly, and I wasn’t sure that she would be okay with the way that I lived life.
Outside of fighting for EFC, I mostly traveled alone or with my siblings and played video games at home and sometimes with Noah whenever he’d drop by.
I wasn’t a fan of a lot of people because people hadn’t been kind to me.
They had been cruel for most of my life, and I refused to open myself to further damage.
Dove was a bright ray that attracted beautiful people wherever she went, despite her past relationship with Neal.
She had been working at her floral shop again, and I had been stopping by every day to take her little trinkets like breakfast, lunch, jewelry, gift baskets with her favorite snacks and books, and other little things to make her day go by.
Today was our first actual date. We had spent a lot of time together over the last couple of months, but I had never taken her out on an official date, and I was nervous.
Not just about going out in public, which wasn’t something I was comfortable with, but I was nervous about impressing her.
I wanted this first date to be one that she would never forget.
I rang the doorbell, and she snatched it open within seconds. I chuckled. “Damn, girl. You sitting by the door waiting for a nigga to show up?”
She giggled as she stepped out of the loft apartment and closed and locked her door. “Something like that.”
I smacked her on her fat ass and made her booty jiggle.
“Stooop,” she whined, smiling at me over her shoulder.
“So, were you waiting for me?”
“I said something like that.”
“Something?” I asked, taking her oversized bag from her hand. I had told her to pack grooming supplies only and to leave her clothes behind for our date.
“True confession? I was sitting there watching the Ring camera.”
I chuckled as I took her hand and led her out of the building to my BMW. “You wild, you know that?”
“Yep. Wild about you,” she replied with a twinkle. “So, where are we going?”
“I told you it’s a surprise.”
“Oh, okay. I see how you’re gonna be.” She smirked at me as I opened the door for her.
When she sat inside the car, I reached over and buckled her in before I headed to the other side of the car.
“Did I dress appropriately?” She wore leggings, a formfitting T-shirt, and gym shoes.
“Girl, you could’ve come out the house naked, and I would have thought it was appropriate for me.”
She giggled, and I pulled out and turned the radio on. We sang Chris Perry songs and rapped to Chablis’s latest CD as we rode.
When we pulled up to the drop zone at the local municipal airport, Dove leaned forward, gripped my arm, and shrieked. “Reigh! You for real?”
I chuckled. “You told me this is one of your favorite pastimes.”
“I know. I didn’t think you’d do it with me, though.”
“I’ve done it a time or two.”
“You never told me that!”
“Girl, why are you screaming?” I couldn’t help but chuckle at her excitement. She reached for the door, and I pulled her hand away. “I know you’re excited, but don’t forget who your man is.”
She looked at me and smiled. “You my man, Reigh?”
“Why you even gotta ask me some shit like that, Dove? You know what type of time I’m on and how I’m coming for you. Ain’t nothing I ever do is pretend. Quit playing, a’ight?”
She smirked and nodded. “Okay. Do your thang, boo.”
I shook my head and climbed out of the car. When I pulled her car door open and unbuckled her from her seat, she almost knocked me down running to where our instructors, Kyle and Ingram, waited.
“Someone’s excited and has the right energy for today,” Kyle declared, rubbing his hands together.
“Yeah, I love the feeling of free-falling. It’s the most exhilarating experience in the world.” Dove’s excitement was contagious, and Kyle and I couldn’t help but laugh with her.
After Kyle and Ingram welcomed us, Kyle explained what we could expect, gave us the assumption of risk agreement to sign, and then advised us to select our suits and suit up.
“I’m surprised we didn’t have to wait for a few hours. Usually, my wait time is no less than two hours,” Dove remarked.
“Dove, you’re connected, li’l bit. I promise I will always give you the best experiences, because you deserve nothing less.”
She smiled up at me sweetly and tipped up on her toes to kiss me, before we climbed into the plane with Kyle and Ingram. She chatted happily the entire time, talking about the previous times she had gone skydiving and how she became connected to the sport through a friend she had met in college.
Just before it was time to dive, she held my hand and prayed silently. When she opened her eyes again, she smiled at me and whispered, “Amen.” She gripped my hands and stared into my eyes.
“I love you, Reigh.”
“I love you more, Dove.”
The adrenaline rush that came with skydiving was incomparable to the rush that I got in the ring.
In the ring, the adrenaline came from my need to win, to dominate, to prove to the world that I was better than my circumstances or what they said I was.
It was an attempt to overcome the hurt and pain I had been saddled with from youth.
Skydiving gave me a freedom I never had in life. Dependent on nothing but the grace of God, no one was able to hurt me or judge me. It was just me and God up here free-falling, and my instructor. In the large scheme of things, for almost a full minute, even my instructor didn’t matter.
When our descent to Earth began, I had a good five minutes of riding down with my parachute to really think about my life. It would no longer be about the anger and pain of my past.
I wanted my future to be filled with light, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
I wanted to let go of all the obstacles and things that had held me down.
I had millions, championship titles and belts, sponsors, fans, and all the material items that I could want.
I didn’t have what mattered most—peace, and I hadn’t had it in a long while. I wanted peace. True peace.
I glanced past the videographer who was filming Dove and to her beautiful face. I wanted her and everything that came with her. I wanted her love, her friendship, her peace, and her hand in marriage.
My instructor gave me the pre-arranged signal just as the videographer turned in my direction. We were at an altitude of five thousand feet, and the main canopy had just deployed. I looked up to where Dove was, slightly above us and to our right.
The videographer gestured in Kyle’s and my direction.
Dove’s eyes squinted and widened and then squinted again before excitement covered her face as she read the gold lettering “Will you marry me” on my canopy.
She threw her hands up to her mouth, and I could see the shock and surprise as she took in the moment.
Within seconds, her lips were moving, and her head was bobbing wildly up and down.
No sooner than Kyle and I landed, I got up off my ass and reached in my pocket and pulled out the box. I didn’t want to wait to get out of my gear. I immediately kneeled as Dove landed not too far away. I held up the box as soon as her butt touched the Earth.
“Dove Reign Flowers, shit ain’t been easy for you this last year, and it ain’t been easy for me for a while.
I know that it might seem like we’re moving fast and out of order, but I ain’t never been that type of man to do things the way folks said I should.
I don’t care about that. All I care about is making the move that I feel is right for us now. I don’t wanna wait and play no games.
“Girl, you’ve been the only real peace I’ve known since I was seven.
The adrenaline that I get when I’m up in the air like that, the freedom that came with free-falling, and the heart pounding joy that came with watching you enjoy yourself the way that you did only comes when I’m in your presence.
I want a lifetime of bringing you that type of joy, and I want a lifetime of your love and peace. Dove, will you marry me?”
She stood and raced over to me. Kneeling in front of me, she grabbed my face and kissed me so hard.
The sweetness of her lips was combined with the saltiness of her tears.
When she pulled back, she was still crying.
“Yes! God, yes, I will marry you, Reigh. I can’t imagine a better life than one where you’re right beside me. ”
We kissed again as Kyle, Ingram, and our videographer, Joseph, congratulated us and clapped for us. My heart was full.