Lynx star and fiancée talk about relationship

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FIRST GLANCE: On a crowded dance floor at the club.

Augustus: "I'm not a person that really goes out but my team encouraged me to go out that night. I don't dance, I don't do anything. I just stand by a wall.

"She came through and we kind of caught eyes and she gave me a little eye. From there she went on with her night, I went on with my night and later on that night when the club is about to close, I was talking to my teammate about leaving and I looked over and it was almost like the dance floor just kind of opened up and she was on the other end.

"So we caught eyes again and I kind of begged for her (to come over) and she was like uh uh. And I begged for her again and she finally came over. Me being so nervous, the only thing I could think of to say was do you want to dance, knowing that I can't dance. I kind of stood there and she danced. Then at the end of the dance I asked her for her number. We exchanged numbers and at the end of the week we ended up going on our first date."

Varner: "She asked me out on a date. I kind of procrastinated a little bit. But from that date until now, it's been phenomenal."

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FIRST DATE: The pair met for chicken and waffles before going to Valleyfair, an amusement park about 30 minutes south of the Twin Cities.

Augustus: "We did all the rollercoaster rides and everything while her mom called every five minutes. I was like gosh why does your mom keep calling? She was like, 'I don't know you.' I'm not going to do anything!

"At the end of the date, for an African-American female to get her hair wet is the ultimate no-no. So I thought I might throw that in there. How 'bout let's go on the water ride? She's like no I'm not going on the water ride.

"Then she said if I get to pick the water ride I'll go on one. So she ended up picking one that you just sit in and float around and you really don't get wet. You just look at the scenery. And it just so happened that the waves hit and it was a waterfall coming right as we bounced off a wall and I'm like 'Yeeeeahhh!' We ran through the waterfall and her hair, she has natural hair, went into a big afro. She's like 'Oh my God my hair is wet.'

"I was kind of happy because most African-American females will not get their hair wet for you at all and she did. She was kind of excited about it. So we went on with our date and I knew from that point, 'I must be pretty special to her for her to do this. So I might need to pursue this a little further."

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THE PROPOSAL: Augustus proposed to Varner on a beach in Miami, hiring a local sand castle maker to carve an elaborate sea shell in the sand with the words "Will You Marry Me Tay?" on it.