Page 84 of Love & Streetball

Kane slid his hands into his pockets. “Technically⁠—”

“We’re married,” I finished. “We eloped.”

The whole kitchen went silent. Even the music seemed to get quieter.

“A what?” Mama asked.

“A wedding ring.”

Her eyes moved down to Kane’s left hand.

“I told Slim we could still have a wedding, but she doesn’t want one,” he said, swallowing hard. I mushed his head for throwing me under the bus.

A smile formed on Mama’s lips. “Congratulations. I wish I could have witnessed it, but I’m still happy for you two,” she said. “I knew it would be you and Kane from the first day he came over. He was so attached to you.” Mama giggled, and Kane dropped his head with a grin.

We stayed over there for at least two hours and then went on to his Mama’s house, to break the news to her. Just like mine, Mrs. Stone took it well. She was so excited, she opened a bottle of wine just for herself since me and Kane didn’t drink, and when we finally made it back home that night, we made love right in the middle of the basketball court.

I often thought about what would life be like without Kane in it. He was sent to me for a reason and I was happy I let him in despite not wanting to back then. Vani left me and I still had Kane. Maybe that’s how it was supposed to happen, but I couldn’t lie, Vani’s death still hurt me to this day, and when I got in my feelings, Kane was always there. The love of basketball brought us together.

Kane loved me through every version of myself. The guarded teenager. The woman who sometimes woke up crying because she had a dream about the night Vani got shot and killed. The wife who could be stubborn as hell. He loved all of me.

Life hadn’t been perfect for us. We argued. We got on each other’s nerves. We spent too many nights in different cities, sleeping alone while one of us was on the road. We lost people we thought would live forever. We learned that money couldn’t protect us from pain, and success didn’t stop grief from showing up whenever it felt like it, but at the end of the day and with each other…we made it.

Kane was my best friend, my husband, and the only man who could piss me off and make me laugh in the same breath. He was my peace. He was home, even when we were thousands of miles away from the house we shared.

EPILOGUE

Six years later…

“Jordan, slow down!” I yelled as our son took off running toward the basketball court.

He didn’t listen. Of course he didn’t. He was Kane Stone’s child.

Jordan’s little red-and-black sneakers slapped against the cracked concrete as he raced ahead of us, carrying a basketball that looked too big for his six-year-old hands. His wild curls bounced with every step, and the number thirty-two covered the back of the miniature jersey Kane had custom-made for him.

Not twelve.

Thirty-two.

“Why he gotta slow down?” Kane asked beside me. “Let my boy live.”

Kane’s lips twitched beneath his beard as he tried not to laugh. Age looked good on him. Too damn good. His body was still strong and covered in tattoos, but there was a maturity in his face now that hadn’t been there when we first met. A few more lines sat around his eyes, and his curls were cut shorter these days, but he was still the same fine, irritating man I had fallen in love with.

“Your son gets that hardheaded shit from you,” I said.

“Our son gets his athletic ability from me.”

“He gets it from both of us.”

Kane sucked his teeth. “You wasn’t doing what I was doing at six.”

“I was better.”

“Scottie, don’t start lying in front of our child.”

I shoved his shoulder, but Kane caught my hand and pulled me against his side. He kissed my temple as we continued toward the court.

The neighborhood had changed, but not completely. A few of the old buildings had been renovated. The city had replaced the rusted fencing surrounding the court, added new lights, and repainted the faded lines. Kane and I had donated the new goals, and bleachers.