Sidelined: A Sports Romance

by Violet Paige

  Skye laughed as she tossed a beach bag on the floor. “I have sunscreen, a blanket, and towels. Do you think that’s enough?”

  “I think that’s plenty.” He tapped his shorts pocket for the tenth time that morning. He had managed to conceal the ring last night when they got back from dinner, but there was no way he could continue living in the same room with Skye keeping that kind of secret. Today was the day.

  “You ready?” He was excited enough to jump over the side of the convertible and into the driver’s seat, but instead he opened the door and slid behind the wheel.

  “You bet. I can’t wait to do this.” Skye pulled out a map from her purse. “I grabbed this from the front desk. It shows where all the waterfalls are along the way.”

  He eyed her tan legs as she slipped into the seat next to him. In the few days they had been in Maui, her olive skin had been sun kissed to a deep bronze. She looked more gorgeous than he ever remembered seeing her.

  “Waterfalls it is.” He threw the car in drive and peeled out of the resort drive. The top was down, Hawaiian music was on the radio, and the woman he loved was next to him. It was going to be the best day of his life.

  The first stop they made was an hour into the trip. Skye squealed at the first waterfall marker.

  “I know there are a hundred of these on the way, but can we stop at this one?”

  Bolt pulled over on the mulch shoulder and they walked through thick brush. On the other side of the path was a trickling stream and waterfall.

  “Ok, take my picture. It’s the first one.” She handed him her phone.

  He laughed. He had never seen her this excited. “Ok. Got it. Let’s keep driving towards the big ones.” He wrapped his hand around her waist and led her back up the path.

  Two hours later Bolt pulled off the main road and rolled along a gravel path.

  “Where are we going? This isn’t on my map.” Skye pulled her sunglasses down to study the blue triangles on the foldout in her lap.

  “Secret.” He grinned.

  They passed fields of sugar cane and a few cottages tucked under tropical foliage. The farther they went off the path, the more worried Bolt became that he had his directions all wrong. He wanted privacy, but he didn’t want to drive off a cliff.

  They emerged in a clearing and he parked near a banyan tree. This was the place. It was the perfect spot. With the engine quiet, they could hear the roar and splash of a nearby waterfall. This wasn’t a little trickle of water. This was a powerful surge of water tumbling into clear blue-green pools.

  “Ben, this is amazing.” Skye pulled the beach bag over her shoulder while he unclipped the picnic basket from its safe seat.

  “Yeah, it’s even better than I imagined.” He walked toward a grassy spot where they could see the ocean on one side and still be close enough to the waterfall to watch its majestic cascade into the pool below.

  Skye spread the blanket over the grass and tugged at the corners. “After we eat I want to take a hundred pictures of this place. I can’t believe we’re on the only ones here.”

  Bolt realized their alone time might be limited. They were off the beaten path, but they were a part of the most popular day trips in Maui. Some other helpful concierge likely doled out the same advice.

  He tapped his pocket before sitting on the blanket.

  “Skye, I can’t. I can’t do this.” He stood from his seat.

  “What’s going on?” Her eyes darted to his.

  “I had a plan. I think it was a good plan, but I can’t do the plan.” He kneeled beside her, his knee sinking into the Hawaiian quilt Skye packed.

  Skye’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God. Are you? Is this?”

  It all flew from his mouth, none of it rehearsed. “I love you. I’ve never loved anyone, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I love you. I want all the things I swore I never wanted—a house, and kids, and you. I want you in my life every single day.” He wasn’t sure how proposals were supposed to go. He didn’t know how this one would go, but he smiled as he saw the tear trickle along Skye’s cheek. “Baby, don’t cry.”

  “They’re not sad tears.” She choked on the words. “I love you too. I have loved you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Don’t you want to see the ring?” He laughed, as he pulled the stone from his pocket. The sun caught specs of the shimmering diamond. “You don’t like it?” He held it toward her, worried from her expression that he had guessed wrong when he selected the emerald cut.

  “No, no. It’s perfect. I love it. I adore it. I still can’t believe this is happening.” She studied the ring. “Is this really happening? I just don’t know what to say.”

  “Say yes. Say you want to get married and do the white picket fence thing with me.” He slipped the ring on her finger.

  “Yes, yes, and yes.”

  Bolt pulled her with him as he collapsed on the quilt. The warm Hawaiian sun shining on then, lighting the moment with tenderness. They lay there in a sphere of love, bound by the words exchanged, words their hearts had already known.

  “I was afraid you were going to say no.” He hadn’t realized until he heard her say ‘yes’ how his heart had been on pause, waiting to beat until he knew there was a future with the one woman he couldn’t live without.

  “Are you crazy?” Her lips brushed against his mouth. “And miss waking up to these lips and those eyes? No way I’m turning that down.”

  “You know I have no idea what I’m doing. Absolutely no clue.”

  She nodded. “I know. But that’s why we’re doing it together.”

  He sighed as she kissed him until they were both breathless. Their bodies melting together, their hands roaming with a new hunger.

  “Together.” He liked the sound of that. He didn’t know holding someone else in his arms could make him feel so whole and so alive. That was until he met Skye, and she taught him what it meant to fly.

  About the Author

  T.A. Foster met, fell in love with, and married her own Marine fighter pilot. Through deployments, trainings, and sometimes living oceans apart, their own love story continues every day.

  She grew up catching rays and waves along the North Carolina Outer Banks and now resides in the state with her husband, two children, and two canine kiddos.

  T.A. has an undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate degree in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University. When she’s not chasing her two-legged and four-legged children or trying to escape for date night, you can find her reading, writing, or planning her next beach trip.

  You can follow the latest on T.A. Foster’s upcoming news and events:

  www.tafosterauthor.com