Epilogue
NOVA
“Everything better be vegan this time,” I mutter, stirring the pot on the stove.
My feet ache from breaking in new shoes for tonight, and I chewed my lipstick off my mouth hours ago.
Clay and I are hosting dinner at our new house to celebrate Emily’s first birthday.
Harlan and Mari had a party for her, but this is for family.
I want tonight to be perfect. I still have memories of Mari’s bachelorette party when I messed up the cupcakes.
“We made it ourselves,” Chloe points out, picking up plates to set the table. Halfway across her kitchen, she pauses, eyes widening. “Except…”
“What?!” My heart leaps into my throat.
Her eyes brighten. “Kidding. Everything’s perfect. Besides, Mar’s been mainlining dairy since she had Emily. Bodies are weird.”
The front door opens, and there are Clay and Jay, carrying alcohol. “Got the wine.”
“I love you,” I exhale.
“Both of us?” Jay asks, cocking his head.
“If that bag is full of vintage alcohol, then yes.”
Clay sets his bag on the counter and comes up behind me.
“Can we help?” Jay offers.
Chloe finishes washing her hands and dries them before she lifts a bottle from the bag, groaning. “Open. Pour.” She hands it to Jay, who salutes.
“It smells really good in here,” Jay says as he gets to work.
“You’re not just saying that?”
“Nah. I always wanted…”
The guys look at each other.
“Vegan pumpkin risotto,” I supply.
“Yeah, that.”
When Harlan and Mari come over, they’re already in the middle of a conversation, Emily’s carrier in Harlan’s arms.
“She hates this outfit,” Mari frets.
“She’ll be fine,” Harlan insists. “You’re a great mom, Mar, and Emily knows it.” He turns a smile on us. “Nova, Clay, thank you for having us.”
Clay serves drinks as Chloe and I finish preparing the meal. Harlan sets Emily’s carrier next to the couch.
Chloe and I bring the food to the dining room.
“This looks amazing,” Mari says once we’re all seated.
“Surprised?” I ask.
“No.”
Harlan covers his laugh with a cough.
The meal is delicious. The six of us eat risotto and talk about life, and work, and movies and TV as though we’re all friends. I suppose we are.
“You guys are cute,” I say after a glass and a half of wine, waving my fork between Chloe and Jay. “I never heard why things ended.”
They exchange a look.
“It was Jay’s fault,” Chloe says.
“That’s some bullshit,” he says before she finishes.
“You look so good together,” I say.
Mari catches my eye, shaking her head as if she’s thinking the same. My lips twitch.
After, we do presents. Emily opens them with help from Mari.
“It’s… a purple basketball!” Mari says with feigned enthusiasm when they open the package from Jay.
“Gotta start ‘er soon if she’s going to be pro, right Clay?”
“Hell yeah.”
“They’re bath paints,” I explain when she opens the gift from us. “So she can make art on the side of the bathtub. It washes off, I promise.”
Then, there’s a cake with a sparkler. We sing for Emily, and Mari blows out the candle.
Jay shifts in his seat. “When Brooke and I were growing up, everyone got a wish for the year.”
We’re silent for a minute as we each do it.
“Everyone got theirs?” Jay asks.
I cut a look at Clay as I think about what I want.
We nod one by one.
“Now what?” I ask.
“Now we eat cake.”
Once the meal is done, Clay ensures everyone’s glasses are full.
“I ordered something special,” I say, ushering everyone out to the balcony at sunset.
“What is it?” Mari asks, glancing around.
The fireworks start.
Mari gasps. “You did this?”
I nod. “They were your favorite when we were kids. You asked for them for your birthday, and our parents always said—”
“Fireworks are for holidays,” she finishes. “And I said my birthday was a holiday.”
“Thought we could start a tradition for Emily. You and I moved around, but we were always under the same sky.”
She throws her arms around me.
I rest my head on her shoulder. “What’d you wish for, Mar?”
“That I can fit in here as well as you do.”
On my other side, Clay takes my hand and squeezes. I squeeze back and watch the lights dance across the horizon, each color blazing and shimmering and fading into the next.
“You did this.”
Clay’s murmur makes me turn toward him.
“I know. I got the fireworks.”
“No, I mean all of this. You stuck this group together. You came looking to put your family back together, and you made a whole new one.”
My eyes tear up.
“Oh! I almost forgot.” I rush to the fridge for a bottle.
I’m wrestling with the cork when I hear Clay come up behind me.
“What’s going on?”
“Need. The champagne. To celebrate.” I blow the hair from my face.
“Allow me.”
“I’ve got it. But thanks.” I grind my teeth together as I feel him behind me. “Can’t have the perfect celebration without—”
“I can’t do it.” His words are a groan. “I wanted to wait another night, but I can’t with you looking like this.”
I turn and find Clay on one knee on the tile.
One hand flies to my mouth. The other’s still gripping the bottle, my thumb on the cork.
“Nova, we always seem to have these moments at Harlan and your sister’s events, which is kind of fucked, but I can’t wait. You’ve been it for me since the day you sat in my seat.”
He reaches into his pocket and produces a box.
“You took a chance on me that day. You let me into your heart and showed me what it meant to have a life worth living.”
Clay flips open the box, his eyes never leaving mine.
“I’ve been chasing a championship ring my whole career. Lately, the only ring I can think about is this one.”
Inside is a ring with a pink diamond, so huge and bright it sends thousands of sparkling rainbows dancing over the cupboards and walls.
My lungs squeeze hard.
So do my hands.
The cork pops out of the bottle and hits the wall, champagne streaming out of the bottle and over my bare arms.
“You stole my heart on that godforsaken plane. I have a better life than I deserve, and I don’t want any of it without you. Marry me.”
“Yes,” I whisper. “But it was my seat—”
Clay kisses me hard, not releasing me until everyone comes into the kitchen.
“You know what this means,” Jay says, looking around. “Team honeymoon!” he declares at the same time as Chloe says, “Another pre-season wedding?!”
“No,” Mari and I say at the same time.
But then Clay’s kissing me again, and that’s all that matters.
Thank you for reading King of the Court.
Read a short excerpt of Game Day, a King of the Court Wedding Novella, below.