Chapter Forty-Nine
Nola
Four Months Later
Under the glow of the Jaguars arena, it wasn’t lost on me that I was back where Bee and my story began. But this time, there wasn’t animosity, media narratives, or outside noise fueling our relationship. It was just us and an unprecedented run for a reactivated team.
In just two years, Tashi had turned the Miami Waves into something to fear. There wasn’t a ramp up period last year when the team made it to the playoffs, and there sure as hell wasn’t an adjustment period this year with us in the finals.
It wasn’t easy going up against the Violets in the semifinals, but I was going to do whatever it took to avoid any narrative that Olivia was indeed the better Young for the franchise. I hated rooting against her, but Bee had taught me it was better to root for myself, than not at all.
I looked to my girlfriend now, sitting across from me in the visiting team locker room and watched her dial in to her pregame ritual with her headphones on blasting music I knew was higher than my resting heart rate.
We had still yet to reveal our relationship to the public, but we’d long told the team, human resources, and my nosy aunts.
It came with questions, disbelief, and more hands exchanging money than I would’ve guessed, but the way I trusted everyone here paralleled the bonds I made in my first home.
The only person who was surprised was Gia. And Bee had to do a lot of recon with Farrah to ease over the secret keeping.
Bee broke the trance she was in and our eyes met across the room. Naturally, I winked at her to make her blush.
And it was like it was the first time all over again, as I watched red creep into her face.
“What happened to no PDA in the locker room?” Poppy pretended to gag.
“You’re just mad that whoever you’ve been texting day and night since the summer can’t be here tonight.” I pulled my jersey over my head.
“If that’s what you want to think.” Poppy’s eyes flashed at me before moving to Bee’s side of the room and back.
“What does—” I started but was quickly distracted.
“Gia, if you’re going to hurl, do it now and not during the game. You don’t want that moment cemented on the internet forever.” Courtney shouted from across the room.
“Aww, poor rookie. Don’t worry, it’s just your first finals jitters.” Farrah chirped
“I thought it would go away after semis.” Gia jumped up and down to shake her body out.
“It never goes away.” Bee tugged off her headphones and put her jersey on, careful not to mess with the braids that lined the front half of her hair while the rest of it sat in her signature top bun.
“Listen y’all. We’ve had a killer season,” Farrah started her captain speech, reminding us to get in the zone. “The Violets and the Jaguars have been our biggest competitors this season and we’ve already knocked one out of the way.”
“Hell yeah!” Poppy hyped her up.
“Let’s lock in, let’s get this dub and then do it all again in our city. On our court. Let’s remind them why no one wants to play in Miami.”
“Home court advantage won’t work for them tonight!” Bee shouted, adding to the growing yells of the room.
It took me a while to get here, to feel comfortable in this new place, so far from what I thought I wanted. I never believed that everything happened for a reason, but this year had shown me the opposite of that. Well, including a little intervention from my aunts and a walnut.
The team stood in the center of the locker room, right hands in, ready to head out into the Hunt Arena.
But not before I felt a hand slip into my left one.
My girlfriend stood eye-to-eye with me, a massive smile on her face that shone like the moon.
This moment, this small intimate gesture would be the last one before we were out on the court and focused on everything but us.
And yet there was no other way I would rather play. With my equal by my side, my own home court advantage.