Page 56 of Beach B!tch
Autumn jumped over, grabbed my hands, and dragged me up into her hysterical hug. Her screams finally reached me ears, along with those from the crowd. I looked up and found my Squad section jumping up and down, shouting and hugging each other. Dean rushed onto the court and grabbed me out of Autumn's hold to lift and spin me around. I tilted my face to the sky and let the sun shine down on me.
I couldn't decide if I wanted to scream or cry. I'd only known life to be messy and hard, but in this moment, I discovered that it could be bright and beautiful too.
Dean
Fuck, I was so proud of my girl. I respected her so much; I wasn't sure she should even date me. I mean, really, the girl was a straight goddess. To watch her play with that level of athleticism, to see how fierce she was, how determined, how fucking badass she was...it made me want to be a better human, just to be by her side.
Watching her move like that in a bikini was awe-inspiring enough, but then when she pointed to me after absolutely killing that spike, I swear my heart skipped a beat. Then she dropped some salsa dancing action into her ace serve and I understood why our instructor said "Seeeexxxxyyyyyy". When something was that hot, the word needed to be longer. And this girl was everything that was sexy to me. Of course, I also admired her abilities and her heart. Yeah, she was hotter than a July day at the beach, but she was also so much more.
Now I just needed to get her alone so I could tell her I loved her. The crazy thing was, we hadn't even slept together yet! Our sex life was the tamest I'd ever had in a relationship, but it was the closest I'd ever felt to anyone.
I wasn't sure if she felt the same way about me yet, but I was willing to put it out there. Hell, I'd work that much harder to win her love, now I knew how invested I was. She was it for me.
I rushed out onto that court and got my hands on her the second I could. There were no words to express how proud of her I was, so I just laid a big kiss on her hoping that would convey all I felt.
And then I let her go.
She deserved to be in the spotlight. Not with some Neanderthal stealing her moment, or even trying to share in the moment. She got to this point all because of her own hard work and dedication. I wanted her to bask in her achievement for as long as she wanted. She deserved every second of it.
I could wait to attack her once we were home. At least, I hoped I could.
Brinley
Dean put me down and then stepped back. I looked over his shoulder and saw my mom, Shasta, and Beth closing in with a huge banner held between the three of them. It readBrinley Wilson, IVP Proat the top. Then at the bottom, in smaller print,We Love You, Your Proud Moms.
That's when the waterworks started. My mom was teary-eyed, Beth was full-out crying and clapping her hands, and Shasta was grinning at me like she might never stop. I put my arms around them in a big huddle and let the first tears fall. I'd made it, and I'd made it with my three "moms" cheering me on. This must be what people meant when they said "having it all".
Before I could become embarrassed by my tears or even tell them what their support meant to me, Bailey and Esa grabbed me from behind and jumped up and down, bringing me with them, whether I wanted to or not. My tears kept coming even as I started laughing. I was a mess, and it was awesome.
En mass, we all left the court and moved off to a more private area in the sand, away from the tournament. Everyone was so excited for me and I was damn proud of myself.
Autumn and I still had a game to play later today, which she reminded me of before I got too carried away.
"We're up against the team that took fourth in the last tournament. It's gonna be a tough one," she warned me.
"It's all good. We'll play our best and see what happens," I responded quickly. Nothing would bring me down from my high, not even a loss in the next game. I already had everything, remember?
