Wicked Love (D'Angelo Russell)

14

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

D'Angelo 🏀

I held Ariel's hand as we skated at the ice skating rink at LeFrak Center, located at Lakeside Prospect Park in BK. She was really struggling.

We were here with my brother LaShawn and a few of my other friends. We can't forget a couple of teammates as well.

"Babe, you have to point your toes inside." I say.

She glared at me, making me chuckle.

"Relax baby girl. You're not gonna fall, I'm right here to catch you." I say.

"But you're not 100% healed. If you fall and get hurt, I'll feel guilty." She exclaimed.

"I got me. The trainers got me. I'm gonna be okay, I promise." I say.

She sighs.

"Now come on, let's skate." I say.

She nods, continuing to ice skate as best she can. She squeezed my hand as she almost fell. I laugh. Literally right after that she fell, and I fell with her.

I fell down on my back to protect her from falling face first. We sat there for a couple minutes, laughing it off.

"Clumsy." I say.

She grins. I kiss her nose, standing up. I help her up with me. I wrap her arms around my waist from behind.

"Just hold onto me, okay?" I say.

"Okay." She said.

I then began to ice skate again. I'm taking her ice skating because today is Valentine's Day and she's been talking about it for forever. The reason we're doing it so early is because I have a game later on.

"Babe?" She said from behind me.

"Yeah?" I say.

"I have to pee." She said.

I chuckle. I lead her off the ice rink and take her in the direction of the bathroom. It's one of those pregnancy things where she pees like there's no tomorrow. I'm telling you, this shit is crazy.

I waited outside the bathroom as she emptied her bladder. LaShawn and Rondae laughed at me as they skated past. I flipped them the bird as I continued waiting.

When she came out, she grinned.

"Done?" I say.

She nods.

"You wanna skate some more or you not ready to fall again?" I ask.

"It's not about how many times you fall, it's about your strength to get up and try again." She said.

I smile.

"That's my girl." I say.

She smiled back as I kissed her lips.

"I love you baby girl." I say.

"I love you too." She said.

She holds onto my bicep as I lead her back onto the ice.

*****

"Sorry I had to do all of this so early. If I didn't have a game tonight, we'd be doing much more." I say.

"This is fine D'Angelo. I appreciate it." Ariel replied.

I kiss the top of her hand that was laced with mine over the middle console. I drove with my left hand, keeping my eyes on the road. These Brooklyn streets stay busy.

"So where are we headed now?" She asked, snapping me out of driving mode for a second.

"Lunch." I say, making a left at the light.

"Oooh, I wonder where we're eating." She said.

"You'll see in a minute." I say, looking around at the stores and restaurants.

I pull up to Freddie's. It's an Italian restaurant that's about 45 minutes from home and 25 from Barclay. 33 from where we just left.

I park the car get out, waiting for Ariel on my side as she gets out on the passenger side. When she joins me, I lock the car and grab her hand, lacing our fingers together.

I swung our hands lightly as we waited for cars to pass before crossing the street.

When we got to the front of the restaurant, I held the door open for her and she thanked me. We walked to the front desk where I told the lady we'd like a table for 2. She soon led the way and we followed.

Once seated, we both sat and decided what we wanted to eat and drink.

"Whatever you get." I say.

"I think you mean whatever we get because I am eating for two." She said.

"If that makes you feel better." I say.

She giggles as I grin. We ordered our drinks, in which she decided on water. I laughed.

"It's not funny DLo." She whined.

"It is." I say.

"No it's not." She said.

"Why not?" I say.

"Because you did this to me. Now I can't drink for another 8 months." She said.

I shake my head, chuckling.

"Woman you live off water, hush up." I say.

She laughs.

"I hate you so much." She said, shaking her head.

"I love you too baby girl." I say.

She rolls her eyes playfully as I grin.

*****

3 minutes left in the game and we were trailing the Pacers. At this moment there was nothing we could do. I took as many shots as I could to help the team, but nothing was really working.

We were making our shots, it just wasn't enough juice to come back.

Once that buzzer went off, we knew the game was over. I was pulled to the side for an interview shortly after the loss.

"D'Angelo, what's going through your head right now?" Andrew Ruches asked.

"Just thinking about how we can come back better. What we're gonna have to work on this week to improve and get the win." I reply.

After a couple more questions, I was able to head to the locker room. I walked over to where Ariel stood, hugging her against my sweaty body.

"Ugh, you stink." She exclaimed, making me chuckle.

"It's called hard work baby girl, get used to it." I say.

I pull away, kissing her forehead. She then looks up so I can kiss her lips. Her thumbs found the waistband of my shorts, pulling them out and releasing them with force. I groaned at the slight pain it caused.

She pulled away from my lips giggling.

"Go shower stinky." She said.

I unwrap my arms.

"I love you." I say.

"I love you too." She said.

"I'll be right back." I say.

She nods. I then make my way through the tunnel, slapping hands with fans who were eager to get a high five. I hand a little girl my towel as I continue through the tunnel.

I love Brooklyn.