Chapter 3
I twirled the gold chain with my finger.
I held the small heart pendant between my fingers and lifted it up to my lips.
I pressed a kiss to my good luck charm and said a silent prayer.
No matter the occasion, my necklace never left my neck.
It was the most important piece of jewelry in the world to me.
My grandmother gave me this necklace when I was thirteen years old and had my first school basketball game.
That night, I scored seventeen points. I always wore the necklace to games.
Call me superstitious or whatever, but I needed the necklace to play.
If I didn’t have my necklace, I wouldn’t play. It was serious to me.
“Good morning, Vipers.” Coach Amanda Carson greeted us with a bright smile.
Amanda Carson was an Olympic gold medalist and three-time MVP winner.
She had two championship rings and had an amazing career with the Vipers.
When she retired, everyone knew she would take on the coaching position.
It was amazing to work under her leadership.
She had a natural talent for mentoring and training us.
“Good morning, Coach,” we recited in unison. All twelve of us were locked in and ready to have a successful practice. Some of us had spent the weekend leading up to practice drunk and turned up in the clubs. Luckily, we were all able to bounce back.
“Today we’re playing six on six. Divide yourselves amongst yourselves, and treat this shit like a life-or-death situation.
I will pick my starting five based on game play today and tomorrow.
” Coach Carson went through the agenda. She explained the different plays and screens we would practice during this team scrimmage.
The season would start in a few months. The GM completed trades a few weeks prior, and if everything went as scheduled, the current roster would be who we played the season with.
I wanted to get to know all the rookies’ strengths and weaknesses.
Everyone considered me a veteran on the team because I had four years under my belt and had gotten the Vipers to three championships.
Unfortunately, we’d come short three times.
My goal was to perfect my craft and build our team’s chemistry to a victory. Everyone loved the underdog, right?
It took about thirty minutes to complete our warm-ups before the scrimmage began.
It was Gloria Chavez, Cinnamon Jones, Caliah Calloway, Kimberly Yates, Marnajah Hastings, and I on one team.
Our opponents were Tyra Johnson, Ashley Jefferson, Julia Cambridge, Yvette Barrett, Arianna Nichols, and Livy Redd.
At tip-off, Ashley and Cinnamon went up. Cinnamon got the ball for our team to have first possession. We ran several plays and had a great time overall. Coach stopped practice a few times to fix forms, adjust positions, and to have teaching moments.
“Screen!” I shouted to Marnajah. Marnajah and Gloria ran a screen for Cinnamon and me to switch positions. With the opening, I lobbed the ball to Caliah. When the buzzer sounded throughout the arena, I smirked. My team had won by six points.
“That’s what the fuck I’m talking about, ladies. Good shit, to everybody!” I dapped my teammates up, then we dapped up the other girls.
Coach called us in for her final notes before she concluded the practice. I grabbed a basketball from the rack and dribbled it around while most of the ladies said their goodbyes and went into the locker room to shower and get their things.
Most of the greats said they got to their GOAT status by going the extra mile. My father drilled the ideology into my head while I grew up. He’d say, “To be the best, Ava, you have to do more than everyone else. Not only do more but do it better too.”
I hadn’t even realized how long I’d been out on the court until Marnajah called me over. She’d showered and changed into a cute sundress.
I dribbled the basketball between my legs and behind my back as I closed the distance between us.
“What are you doing after this girl?” she asked.
“Ice bath and probably the gym.”
She whistled. “How the hell do you have so much energy to work this much?”
“Years of practice. My daddy made sure I started building my endurance at a young age. It drove my mama crazy, but it worked.”
She nodded. “I see. You’re doing amazing things. Our chemistry is out of this world. Look out 2013 clippers. We might be the new Lob City.”
“Period.” I laughed.
Marnajah had been on the team for almost two years. She had a bad injury at the start of last season and spent all year in recovery. Missing out on the season woke up the beast in her. She had locked in and was almost as hungry as me to get that championship title.
“I do want to ask you a question, though.”
“What’s up?”
“What was up with you and my brother at the club? He’s usually calm, cool, and collected. Not only was he ready to crash out, but he was ready to do it for you.”
I stopped dribbling and held the ball under my arm while I grabbed my bottle of Gatorade. “Nothing, really. He felt the need to stand up for me against a nigga who didn’t understand his time was up.”
“Right, but then the two of y’all left the section and weren’t seen again. When I checked your location, y’all was practically on top of each other.”
I choked on the sip of sports drink in my mouth.
Shit. I forgot she had my location.
“Huh?” I asked.
“If you can huh, you can hear. Girl, did you fuck my brother?”
“I—I…”
“I knew it. That’s crazy. Y’all weren’t slick at all. I don’t need any details because ew.”
“It kind of just happened. Are you cool with that? I won’t pursue him if you don’t want me to, for real. I value our friendship too much to let some great dick?—”
“—Ava, please!”
“—ruin our friendship.”
We shared a laugh together as I sat down beside her. “I don’t want to ruin the chemistry we’re building, Najah. If it’s a problem for you, I’ll ghost him right now.”
She laughed. “I don’t care who you fuck, Ava. We’re gonna be cool, regardless. If you like my brother, explore it. It won’t affect us at all. I promise.”
“Pinky?” I held my pinky finger out to her.
“I pinky promise, fool.” She hooked her pinky with mine.
“What are y’all doing?”
The sound of Marcus’s voice elicited memories from our all-night encounter. Visions of his face between my legs plagued my mind. I cleared my throat and tried to keep calm.
“Talking about you,” Najah stated.
“What y’all talking about?”
“Nothing. I didn’t know you’d be here today,” I commented.
He nodded. “Yeah. I dropped this big head off and decided to use the team gym.”
“Did you have a good workout?” I asked.
“I did. It was leg day, so I’m a bit sore.”
“I’m glad you give your entire body attention. There are some dudes who are all top heavy and walk around here looking like Johnny Bravo.”
We all laughed at the visual. Marcus grabbed Najah’s bottle of Gatorade from her bag and waterfalled the drink into his mouth.
“Excuse you.” She gave him a stank face while reaching for her bottle.
“You’re excused.” He pushed her away as he finished her drink. He held the empty bottle out for her, but she rolled her eyes and lifted her middle fingers toward him.
I giggled. “Aww. Y’all are so cute. I always wanted siblings.”
“Girl, you can have my brother.” Marnajah rolled her eyes playfully.
I looked at Marcus and grinned. I hope my true arousal wasn’t present in the moment. “Can I have you?” I asked innocently.
He claimed a seat and adjusted his backpack from off his shoulder to his lap. He cleared his throat as our gazes locked. It was like he knew my intentions weren’t so pure. My words may have been innocent, but my mind was in the gutter. It was like he felt the same way.
“You can have me.”
Najah looked at the both of us and smirked. “Oop.”
I walked over to Marcus and grinned. “In what way can I have you?”
He licked his lips. “Well?—”
“—Aht. Before y’all continue this conversation… give me the keys so I can excuse myself from witnessing anything that will scar me for life.”
I giggled as Marcus dug into his pocket and pulled out the key fob. He tossed it to her, and she all but bolted out of the area. I shook my head.
“We’re not even that bad.”
“Right.” Marcus agreed.
“Let me see your phone,” I demanded.
He grabbed the phone from out of his backpack and held it out to me. “Here you go.”
“No questions asked?”
He chuckled. “We’re not dating. I also have nothing to hide.”
“I know that’s right. I just wanted to see if the image I remember seeing the other night is actually what’s on your wallpaper.” I looked at the screen and nodded when I saw the anime scene on his screen.
“You watch anime for real, or you just think this would make a nice background picture?”
My question amused him. He sat up straighter. “I watch it for real. I love it, actually. I prefer anime over most shit on television right now.”
“Interesting. What are your top three anime?”
“Of all time or current?” I asked.
“Let’s do current because I can guess your all-time favorite list easily.”
“Can you? Let me see you try.”
I smirked and handed him his phone back. I took a deep breath before I recited the list. “You look like your top three are Hunter x Hunter , Dragonball Z , and One Piece .”
His eyes widened in surprise. “How did you guess that?”
“I’m just like that.”
He chuckled. “Right. Of course you are. Anyway, my current list is Sakamoto Days , Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End , and Solo Leveling .”
“Tea. Those are all good. I love Sakamoto Days . It’s the perfect amount of goofy and action packed. Sakamoto is one of them ones. If I could move like him, I would.”
“I know an anime bar we could hit up when you have some free time. If your schedule is anything like my sister’s, I know it’s hard as hell to make time for extra shit. I know shit started sexual, but I really enjoy your company and wouldn’t mind taking you out to do something different.”
I smiled softly. “I would like that a lot.”
“I’ve got your number. I’ll hit you up with a plan.”
“Sounds good”
“See you soon, Ava.”
“See you.”
I waved at him before I dribbled back onto the court. I could feel his eyes on me as I stood at the free throw line and shot a warm-up shot into the basket.
Swish.
The sound of the ball hitting only the net was music to my ears. Basketball was my first love—my only love—until now. I had only ever had my heart set out on playing ball… until Marcus came along and rattled my world. Could he truly be my person? It damn sure felt like it.