Page 177 of On Merit Alone
He wasn’t happy about my contract with the Germany basketball team. As his own new season had just begun, he was especially unhappy with the limited time we were set to see each other in the next six months.
“I’ll see you soon enough,” I said.
I was exaggerating, of course. I would see him in a month or so, but only for a few hours. I was set to fly back to meet the new General Manager of the Denver Dynamite since the old piece of shit—ahem—oldGMhad recently been released due to allegations of maltreatment of players and later on, evidence of inside Sports betting.
Good riddance.
When I let myself think about it too long, I guess I could say I was disappointed that I spent the better part of years trying to impress a man who was actively betting against me and my team. But when I thought about it as a whole, I didn't care about the guy. I had stayed strong against his tyranny, and in the end, I was just glad that his ideocracy was the catalyst that allowed for many things. The largest of which was shaping my circumstances in a way that brought me in front of Ira that fateful night; the most convenient of which was getting himself fired, which allowed for the sparse few days that the Germany team was allotting me to make the trip back to meet the three time National Championship Winner with Nashville in her first general management position.
Times were exciting to say the least, but the trip back was already jam-packed. Ira would just be getting back from an away game when I landed and would have to leave for another before I even took off. It was the worst possible timing. We wouldn’t see each other again until the holidays when I would possibly get an extended break depending on certain results this fall.
The frown I’d been seeing all week persisted, and I felt my heart ache a little. I tugged on his shirt, my voice going kind of raw as I spoke. “C’mon, I. Lighten up. We won, didn't we? I’m coming back to Denver after all. No evil Manzinni to try and ruin me, either. So please smile like you always do. It’s not right, me being the cheeky one.”
He swallowed as he looked down, spearing an outright glare at the concrete he was kicking at. “I hate Germany.”
I laughed despite myself or the Ira-sized hole leaving for six months was placing on my heart. I laughed because he seemed so unlike himself with this pout on his face, and it felt both bad and satisfying that I could be the one to bring it out of him.
Eventually, he sighed. His demeanor melting, he wrapped himself around me and nuzzled close to my throat as he rumbled, “But God, I love you.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I love you too.”
“Come back soon, alright?”
“Before you know it.”
“And stay.”
“Stay?”
“Yes, stay.” He pulled back and stared right into my eyes. “I know your contract will be over and you want to focus on training here instead of playing overseas next year. I know your lease is up in your apartment and you told Ryan you’re considering buying now that the Mites have new management. I know you told Iris that you’d live with me if I was ready for that. That you’d do more. So this is me telling you that I’m ready for that. Stay with me. In this city, in my house, wherever you want. Just stay with me, Six.Bewith me. Because you haven’t even left yet and it’s killing me.”
“Woah, I.” I laughed nervously, though I wanted to keep crying. Preferably as I said yes to all of his requests. But I had to pace myself. Just because I was ready to jump off any cliff with himdidn’t mean he was ready to do the same. “Remember how we worked on your promises not sounding like proposals?”
He moved a hand in and out of his pocket. Flipping something around in his fingertips, he held it up between them. My eyes focused as the light of the sun hit a perfectly cut diamond ring.
I gasped.
Ira just pinned me with a look. “Stay with me.”
“Ira…” I blinked. All I could do was blink. He stepped forward and picked up my hand. But I was looking at him. My gaze a question.
He smiled softly.
“Not a proposal, Six. Not yet. You deserve way more than a proposal in the parking lot of an airport, but…” Slipping the ring onto my finger, it was a perfect fit and for a second, both of our breaths caught. “But you’re crazy if you think I’m sending away the best thing that’s ever happened to me without telling her that’s what I want. It’s what I’ve wanted since the moment I realized I was meant to be yours.”
I looked at the ring. Not an engagement ring, but a beautiful flurry of small oval, round, and pear shaped diamonds decorating a shining gold band. In the light, it sparkled beautifully, almost blindingly.
Perfect.
“Ira?”
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t have to get me a diamond ring. I would stay with you for nothing but your promises alone,” I said. “I would stay because you asked me to. I would stay because you’re the best thing to ever happen to me too. And I haven’t even left yet, and it’s already killing me. I will stay as long as you want me to?—”
Soft lips cut me off as Ira kissed me slow and sweet. When he pulled back I opened my mouth to continue, but he just kissed me again. Kissed me quiet.
But there was no quieting me here. Even against his mouth, I still whispered, “I want to stay with you always.”
