Bryant Landis and I started to hang out more after the night of Stevien's going away party. I think dad was secretly trying to make that happen. Bry was something else. He was laid back and easygoing. He stayed in shape with regular running and lifting. He even invited me to join him. I gladly accepted. We began to run together every day in the early morning. His shift for work was from 0700-1500, which took me a while to get used to because I was so used to hearing or saying 7:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m. but after a short while, it became second nature to convert military time to standard time and standard time to military. He worked five days a week followed by two days off or three depending on the week.
The more time I spent with Bry, the more I began to feel something in me stir. I had not felt that since junior prom with Stevien. He, himself, was flourishing with the Cleveland Indians. He was in the starting rotation, pitching nearly every fifth game, and was on his way to set some records. I always made a point to watch his games, though I usually recorded them to watch them after work. The different time zones sometimes made it difficult to catch the games live, but when the opportunity came for a live game, I watched it. Sometimes, my father and I would get together to watch the games, other times Bry and I would watch them together at my place or his house, and sometimes, my dad would join us.
Bry had purchased a cute little craftsman bungalow house on the opposite side of town from dad's house. Though it was older, it had modern touches found in the kitchen and bathrooms. The original woodwork remained intact and was restored beautifully. I was impressed with it, to say the least, and dad offered to buy it from him on more than one occasion. Bry and my dad seemed to enjoy each other's company. I was glad to see him making friends, especially after Mr. and Mrs. Jones moved to San Diego when Tyrus left for college. They moved to be closer to Lucy's family which was great, but it was hard to see my dad sad over his best friend moving away. It was only about an hour away but getting together with Darius became a lot more involved than just walking next-door.
Bry was always so supportive of me watching Stevien play. Even though he was more of a football fan than a baseball fan, he knew how much it meant to me to see Stevien live out his dream. I was so proud of how far he had come since moving in next to dad and me, almost twenty years earlier. Stevien was amazing to watch. The way he could pitch the ball and find the strike zone around the batter was amazing. He was quick and agile for his size. He had bulked-up a lot since high school and college, and it showed just how talented he was to be able to change up his pitches with each batter. He was a force to be reckoned with. The biggest change, though, that I could see was his level of leadership. I could tell that his teammates rallied around him and would look to him to make the plays happen. He had grown so much as a player. Despite never reaching out to me after all the letters I had written him over the years, I still was proud of the person he was becoming.
As Bry and I began to bond over the sport of baseball, the stirring I had, began to turn into feelings for him. I could tell that he felt the same with me, but he was holding back for some reason.
One Saturday night in the middle of fall, he invited me over. The weather had been slightly warmer than normal during the day, but was chilly that night, so Bry had a fire going in his backyard. The fire was almost perfect to roast marshmallows for smores, low flames and cool enough to get close without feeling like you are in a dry sauna.
While we waited for the fire to die down a little bit more, I confronted him after gathering my courage because my curiosity had finally gotten the better of me.
"Bry, can I ask you a question?" I asked shyly, wringing my hands together while looking at the ground.
"Well, you just did," he joked back trying to ease my discomfort. It worked and I looked up to smile at him.
"Do you not like me?"
"What?"
"Do you not like me?" I asked again.
"What do you mean?"
He was thoroughly confused and I looked down at my feet before explaining.
"Well, it just... it seems like you like me, but... you haven't asked me out or even talked to me about dating. And... I guess... I don't know. I... I like you and the last guy I liked... I thought that...oh gosh...I thought he was going to ask me out and ended up dating the one person who always made me feel like I was nothing. And...and after that, I always thought that it was me. That there was something... wrong with me. I don't know. I guess... If you like me but don't want to ask me out, then I just kind of feel like... then it wasn't him, and there is something wrong with me after all."
There it was. I had just laid out all my insecurities in front of Bryant. I hoped that he would say something, anything, to break us out of the awkwardness I had created, but he said nothing.
Instead, Bryant reached over and grabbed my hands, turning my body to face his. I could feel him staring at me, beckoning me to look at him. When I didn't meet his gaze, he reached for my chin, gently raising it until our eyes met. Then, he smiled with a relieved look in his eyes. I watched him closely. I was just as confused as he was mere minutes before. His eyes looked deep into mine for what felt like hours but was only minutes. He broke the trance between us as quickly he looked down and back up to meet mine. Before I could understand what was happening, his lips captured mine. It was unexpected and unbelievable.
"Does that answer your question?" he asked after he broke from our kiss.
"Umm, yes. I suppose it does," I blushed, staring at him wide-eyed. I broke out in an awkward laugh suddenly and then tried to hide my face.
"What? Did I do something wrong? Did I misunderstand what you were saying? Ellie, I am so sorry if I did," he asked rapidly, which made me laugh even harder.
"No. Bry, you did nothing wrong," I smiled at him. "This is embarrassing to say, but that was my first kiss."
"What!?" he exclaimed, completely flabbergasted.
"Yeah...it was," I said while cringing slightly at my admission.
"Oh my gosh, Ellie! If I had known that, I would have tried to make it more special or something. Not out here in my backyard."
"Bry. It was special." My voice came softly as I recalled the kiss. "I was just embarrassed that I had never kissed anyone before. That and I was super nervous about asking if you liked me."
"Ellie. I cannot believe that I got to be your first kiss. It is unbelievable. You are unbelievable. You are so beautiful and kind and smart and funny and so many other things that I can't say because they won't do you justice. I just... How has no one swept you off your feet before?"
"I don't know...Maybe I just had to figure out who I was before I could let someone else in?" I asked not expecting an answer.
"Maybe. But honestly, I can't believe it. You amaze me, Ellie, every day... And I would be honored if you would go out on a date with me."
"Bry, are you asking me out?"
"Yes. I am," he said boldly.
"Okay," I answered with a smile.
"Okay! A date it is then...Wait, you have been on a date before, haven't you?"
I shuttered at the memories of the few dates I had been on to appease my dad. They were terrible.
"Yes. And before you ask, there were a few and none of them resulted in a second date. They were...less than pleasant experiences."
"Wow. Well, it looks like they set the bar low for me," he laughed.
"I suppose so," I laughed in agreement and grabbed the marshmallows to make the smores.
Nearly a year later, Bry and I went for a walk in the park. It was dark enough that we could see the stars, but the park lights hid some of them from our view. We stopped at the swings and stayed there talking for a while. After a little bit, Bry got off his swing and reached out for my hand to continue our walk.
"Did you know, you are the only person who has ever called me 'Ellie'?" I asked him, breaking the silence, in which, we had been walking.
"Really? I would have thought that would be the number one nickname for you," he replied quizzically.
"You know, I never really thought about that before. Usually, it was just 'El'. I think that Stevien started it back when they first moved in next-door. And it just stuck. All through school, people called me 'El' unless they were being serious or in a certain case hated me."
"How could anyone hate you, Ellie? You. Are. Perfect."
I blushed at his words and tried to hide my face. I was so consumed with hiding my embarrassment, that I failed to notice what he was doing. He had stopped us in front of the water fountain in the middle of the park. We were surrounded by only the dim lights emitting from the fountain. Its serene beauty was only enhanced with the view of the stars above us. He looked at me and reached into his pocket. After he found what he was searching for, he knelt on one knee, in one hand, he held mine and in the other, he held my mother's engagement ring.
Word Count: 1742