Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Ariana chuckled as she sat back and sipped her drink. “Agreed. We both love the game. Hey, where do you practice?”
Nicole furrowed her brow. “Practice?”
“Your jump shot is smooth as butter,” Ariana said. “You have to practice.”
“Oh, I’m lucky,” Nicole said. “My building has an exercise space on the roof. There’s a basketball hoop, a running track, and an area for outdoor yoga. There’s also a weight room with bikes and other machines in the building.”
Ariana smiled. “Shooting hoops on the roof, how fun is that!”
“It’s sweet,” Nicole said. “But you have a state of the art practice facility and an arena to practice and play in.”
“Yeah, but yours sounds like more fun,” Ariana said. “Sometimes mine is too much like business.”
Nicole nodded. “Yeah, you have to have fun.”
“What do you do during the week when you don’t have games?”
“I study,” Nicole said. “I watch other games and do research.”
Ariana could picture Nicole staring at a monitor or her TV taking notes just like Ariana had last night. “We go to DC on Tuesday and then we’re in Connecticut on Saturday. It’s almost like a home game because we’ll come back that night. How about your week?”
“We're going to Atlanta on Wednesday,” Nicole replied. She smiled at Ariana and raised her brows. “And then we’ll be in Connecticut on Saturday.”
Ariana’s face brightened. “You’re calling my game!”
Nicole nodded. “Yep, Shea and I will be there.”
Ariana leaned over the table and almost reached for Nicole’s hand, but thought better of it. “I’ll need to talk to you before the game,” she said in a hushed voice. “You can give me intel.”
Nicole laughed. “Okay.”
“You said it wasn’t insider information!”
“You seem to be doing just fine without my info,” Nicole said.
Ariana tilted her head. “Just imagine how much better I’ll be with it. You told Chloe I was the best player in the league. We both know that isn’t true. But with your help…”
“Did you ever think that maybe what I said was true?”
Ariana looked down and felt the heat rushing to her cheeks.
“Are you blushing?” Nicole reached over and pulled Ariana’s chin up with her finger.
When her eyes met Nicole’s she felt the rush of heat in other places. Those beautiful brown eyes were just as soft, but now she saw a hint of something else. Wonder, fascination, admiration?
“I thought you liked it when I say nice things about you,” Nicole said.
All Ariana could do was smile. She took a deep breath. “We need to play one-on-one sometime.”
“Huh? Why would I sign up for that!” Nicole exclaimed.
“You dribbled around me and went in for a layup earlier today,” Ariana stated.
“Were you even trying?”
“I’m always trying,” Ariana said.
“Be sure and google me when you get home and pay attention to my age,” Nicole said.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Ariana said, furrowing her brow. “You set a good screen on me today.”
“You know that was a foul.”
Ariana smiled. “I didn’t mind and Chloe scored.”
Nicole raised her brows and smiled. “I’ll give you a suggestion for your Tuesday game, but I want something in return.”
“I’m listening.” Ariana leaned in a little closer.
“Watch Kia,” Nicole said. “She hates to go to her left. Force her that way and you’ll shut her down. She loves to dribble to the right and take the shot. If she can't, that should save you a few baskets.”
“Okay.” Ariana grinned. “Thanks.”
“If you find that information useful…”
“What do I have to give you?”
“Spot me points in one-on-one,” Nicole replied.
Ariana gasped and her eyes brightened. “Does that mean you’ll play with me sometime?”
“I have a feeling you’re going to keep asking until I play you at least once.”
Ariana sat back and grinned at Nicole. It was one thing to play basketball with her, but Ariana realized this meant they were going to see each other again. Something about that made her heart do a little flip in her chest.
“When’s practice?”
“Practice?” Ariana asked with a confused look.
“Your team. You have practice today.”
“Oh! That practice.” Ariana looked at the time on her phone and widened her eyes. “Soon.”
“You better get going. This was fun,” Nicole said. “I think we made Chloe’s day.”
“You have certainly made mine, Nicole Neal.”
Nicole smirked and looked down at her drink.
“Now who’s blushing?” Ariana chuckled. She finished her drink and looked at Nicole. “Would you like anything else?”
Nicole shook her head. “Thanks for the smoothie. Next time it’s my treat.”
“Next time?” Ariana said with a hum. “Would it be all right if I texted you after my game?”
Nicole nodded.
Ariana wasn’t sure what was happening between them. Maybe she did have a little crush on Nicole. Nah. All she knew was that she had practice, a game to prepare for on Tuesday, and she was looking forward to playing one-on-one with Nicole.
They got up and threw their cups away and walked outside into the sunshine. Ariana loved this time of year. May in New York wasn’t too cold and it wasn’t hot.
“Don’t be crashing into any tables in DC,” Nicole said. “I won’t be there to catch you.”
Ariana gazed over at Nicole and gave her a salute. “Yes ma’am.”
“Come to think of it, you never apologized for landing in my lap,” Nicole said.
Ariana raised her brows and shrugged. “Because I’m not sorry.”
Nicole huffed and Ariana saw the surprise on her face.
“The way you looked at me with your pretty brown eyes,” Ariana explained, “I wouldn’t miss that, no matter how bad it hurt.”
Nicole’s gaze narrowed then she smiled and started to walk away. “Have a good practice.”
“Have fun studying,” Ariana replied. She watched Nicole walk away and remembered one thing she was going to do after practice. Google Nicole Neal.
Ariana had just enough time to get to their practice facility and hurried into the locker room to change.
Once practice started and she was on the court, Ariana began to pay closer attention to her teammates as she went through defensive drills.
She watched the ball, but she also glanced at their eyes and picked up on a few cues when a player would lean one way or the other.
“Dang, Villa!” Coach Bell said. “You’re on fire today. No one is getting past you.”
Ariana smiled and took her turn on offense. Once again she paid attention to her own habits and mannerisms when she made decisions to pass the ball or shoot. It was like she was seeing the game in a new light.
They finished practice with a three-on-three scrimmage and her team won every time.
After they went back into the locker room Ariana took a quick shower and changed back into the clothes she’d worn for the event that morning.
“Hey, how was the thing this morning with the kids?” Cameron asked her.
“Oh, it was fun. You’ll never believe who was there,” Ariana replied.
Cameron shrugged and waited.
“Nicole Neal.”
“Huh, your crush?”
Ariana chuckled. “More like my savior after catching me last night.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Cameron said. “Hey, I’m heading to Terrance’s. Do you want to come over?”
“No, you two enjoy your night,” Ariana said.
“Okay, I’ll be home tomorrow,” Cameron said.
Ariana smiled and left the gym. Cameron stayed over at her boyfriend’s place most nights, but she usually came home the night before a game. They’d have a good dinner, play a few video games, and get plenty of rest before travel and the game the next day.
Once Ariana got home she was so excited about how Nicole’s little tips had made practice so much better that she grabbed her phone to send a text. She stared at the phone for a moment then decided to call her instead.
“Hey, Superwoman.”
Ariana chuckled. “I don’t think so. I haven’t worked on my landings.” She could hear Nicole laugh into the phone.
“How was practice?”
“That’s why I’m calling. You’ll never guess what happened.”
“Uh, your coaches encouraged you to shoot more?”
“Ha ha. I thought about what you said and paid attention to my teammates' cues and oh my God! It was like a whole new game! The coach even noticed and commented on how good my defense was.”
“Good for you,” Nicole said.
“Then when I was on offense I noticed my own mannerisms and tried to change it up,” Ariana said.
“Ariana, don’t take the fun out of the game,” Nicole said. “If you’re so focused on finding these little keys all the time it might mess up your performance.”
“That’s just it,” Ariana said. “It was fun! It was like a game within the game. I don’t know how to explain it.
” She sighed. “I thought of it like a mystery that I was trying to solve. When I figured it out it was like I knew something the others didn’t and I got to the ball before them or found an open shot. It was so cool!”
Nicole chuckled into the phone. “That does sound like fun.”
“All thanks to you.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Are you blushing right now, Nicole? Come on, take the win. You deserve it!”
“Okay, okay,” Nicole said. “I’m glad it helped.”
“What have you been doing?”
“I’ve been watching the replay of Atlanta’s opening game, but I also watched a little of Washington’s as well. Kia’s still doing the same thing I told you about today,” Nicole said.
“Oh, I remember.” Ariana sat back on her couch and smiled. “I really had a nice time today, Nicole. I know we mostly talked about basketball, but it’s different talking about it with you instead of my teammates.”
“It is?”
“Yeah, I don’t know why, but thanks.”
“Maybe it’s because of all those things you said we have in common.”
Ariana laughed. “It could be. The list is growing. Let’s see, it always starts with pretty brown eyes, nice jump shots, Stuart’s bar…”
“Playing with kids,” Nicole added. “And loving the game.”
“I’m sure there’s more,” Ariana said. “How many points am I going to have to spot you when we play one-on-one?”
“You haven’t seen if my suggestion works yet,” Nicole replied.
“Oh, I can already tell it’ll work.”
“Hmm, it depends on what we’re playing to,” Nicole said.
“Okay, you think about it. I’ll let you go,” Ariana said. “I was going to text you, but I was so excited about practice I decided to call you instead.”
“I’m glad you did,” Nicole said. “I needed a break from watching basketball. Maybe I should work on my shot since I have a one-on-one game coming up.”
“That makes me wonder if we could ever have a conversation without mentioning basketball.”
“Hmm, I don’t know,” Nicole said.
“We’ll have to find out one of these days,” Ariana said.
“Maybe we will. Have a safe trip to DC and good luck.”
“Same to you,” Ariana said. “Don’t be catching any crazy point guards flying through the air.” She heard Nicole’s laughter through the phone.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied.
“I’d better go. There’s something important I need to do.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I’ve got to google someone.” Nicole’s laughter filled Ariana’s ear.
“Bye, Ariana.”
“Bye, Nicole.”
Ariana ended the call, but she really didn’t want to.
Ever since locking eyes with Nicole last night thoughts of her were never far away.
To run into her again this morning seemed so random, but also not.
Ariana sighed and wondered what was going on with her.
What a strange beginning to the new season.
Something told her that this new, dare she call it a friendship, with Nicole was going to make this season one to remember. She smiled and opened her phone to google Nicole Neal.