Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Ariana groaned. She could hear the song “Red Wine Supernova” and wondered if she was dreaming about Chappell Roan. Then she heard the rumble on her nightstand as her phone vibrated.
“Who would be calling me this early in the morning after an away game,” she grumbled. If she could just silence her phone then maybe she’d fall right back to sleep. Ariana reached behind her without opening her eyes and fumbled around to grasp the offending noise maker.
She opened one eye and could see one word on the screen. Crush.
Her other eye flew open and she hurriedly swiped across the front of the phone, cutting off Chappell and almost dropping her phone in the tangle of her sheet and blanket.
“Hello,” she croaked.
“Good morning, Superwoman.”
Ariana chuckled. “Is it?”
“I’m so sorry,” Nicole said. “You were still asleep.”
“Mmhmm,” Ariana mumbled, rolling over on her back. “But it’s okay.” The fact that she even answered the phone wasn’t lost on Ariana. She preferred to text and most of her friends knew this. However, she wanted to talk to Nicole and didn’t mind being roused from her sleep.
“Are you sure? I can call you later,” Nicole said. “I should’ve texted you.”
“No, no,” Ariana said, finding her voice. She wanted to call Nicole last night when she got back from DC, but knew she would already be asleep.
“I got your text, but the reason I’m calling is to see when you wanted to play one-on-one?”
Ariana sat up and leaned against her headboard. “I’m ready when you are.”
Nicole chuckled. “Your sleepy voice is kind of cute.”
Ariana cleared her throat. “I almost called you last night. I was so hyped from the game that I couldn’t go to sleep.” She stifled a yawn. “What time is it?”
“It’s ten o’clock. I’m on my way to the airport.” Nicole sighed. “You are obviously more thoughtful than I am. I should’ve waited until this afternoon, but I thought you’d be busy.”
“Nic, it’s okay,” Ariana said. “I’m glad you called me.”
“You played such a good game last night.”
“Thank you.” Ariana smiled. Why was it when Nicole complimented her it meant more than hearing praise from her teammates and even her coaches. “So how many points am I going to have to spot you? Your information was obviously valuable.”
“Hmm. How about ten?”
“Ten points! Okay, done,” Ariana replied. Nicole’s laughter through the phone warmed Ariana from the inside out.
“We’re only playing to twelve, so now I have a chance!” Nicole exclaimed.
“What? No fair!”
“Oh yes it is!” Nicole fired back. “You’re a professional basketball player!”
“Okay, okay,” Ariana said. “I’ll get you back. I’ll call you in the morning and we’ll see what your sleepy voice sounds like.”
Nicole chuckled. “I’m not coming back until tomorrow. Our game is late so we’ll fly back in the morning.”
“Oh. Hmm, then you’ll have fans and groupies keeping you up tonight?”
“Uh, I don’t think so,” Nicole said. “We don’t have fans.”
“You have one,” Ariana said. “Chloe has your autograph.”
Nicole laughed. “When you don’t come home after a game, do you really have groupies knocking on your hotel door at night?”
“Sometimes they sneak through,” Ariana said.
“And?”
“And what?”
“Do you let them in?”
Ariana yawned into the phone. “I may have a couple of times my rookie year, but no, I don’t let them in. Besides, they're not interested in me. I do have a couple of teammates though…”
So far her team’s games had been close enough for them to fly back the night of the game.
New York was a popular team though and some cities had a healthy fan base who wanted to see their favorite New York players.
Fans would wait after the game and try to follow them to dinner or to their hotel.
Ariana had one teammate who met a fan after a game last year and ended up in a relationship with her the entire season.
“Is that where your party-girl reputation comes from?”
“What have you heard?” Ariana’s stomach fell.
She knew her reputation was unfounded, but if she tried to defend herself it would make things worse.
After her first year, Ariana was more aware of her surroundings when she went out in public and always conscious of how she could be perceived.
It was one of the few things she didn’t like about being a professional basketball player.
“Nothing you haven’t heard.”
Ariana sighed. “I like to have fun. That includes dancing, laughing, and sometimes I can be loud. But I rarely drink and I don’t go out during the season. I celebrate victories with my teammates and we go out for team dinners, but I don’t date.”
“Why? Because your focus is on basketball?”
“Yep. I’m a good girlfriend, Nic,” Ariana said. “My girlfriend deserves the best. Right now my attention is on basketball. There’ll be plenty of time for romance after I retire if the right woman comes along.”
“After you retire!” Nicole exclaimed. “That’s years away. What if the right woman comes along now?”
Ariana thought about Nicole’s question. She wasn’t sure what she’d do. But she wasn’t looking for a girlfriend and wasn’t interested in anyone, so how could it happen? The real question was how would she know if the right woman did come along?
“Ari?”
“I’m here,” Ariana said. “I don’t see how the right woman could come along when I’m this focused on basketball. I don’t know what I’d do because I don’t think it’s possible.”
“Okay, but—look, it’s not my business, but waiting until you retire seems like a very long time.”
“What about you? You don’t have a girlfriend,” Ariana said.
“I told you. It’s hard with my travel schedule.”
“Are you a good girlfriend, Nic?”
“No, Ari, I’m not,” Nicole replied. “That’s why I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Ariana furrowed her brows. Nicole had been nothing but nice to her. She found it hard to believe she wouldn’t be a good partner. “You’re not?”
There was a pause on the other end of the phone. Ariana could hear Nicole sigh.
“I’m like you. Focused on the season.”
“And if the right woman came along?”
“Why are we talking about this?” Nicole asked with frustration in her voice.
“Why are you getting upset?”
“Last week Kate and Shealyn both mentioned my dating habits. They don’t seem to understand that a woman can be happy without a partner.”
“Oh, so it's a sore subject,” Ariana replied. “I’m sorry. Wait—why am I apologizing? You’re the one who brought it up.”
Nicole groaned. “Guilty. My apologies.”
Ariana chuckled. “It’s okay. Really. I do want to make it clear that I do not sleep with random women when we stay over after a game.”
“Oh, Ariana,” Nicole said. “I never thought that.”
“Good,” Ariana said. “Can you say the same thing?”
Nicole chuckled. “Yes, I can. I do not sleep with random women.”
“I think we’ve found another thing we have in common,” Ariana said. “On top of that, this conversation really didn’t have anything to do with basketball.”
“We were talking about groupies at a basketball game,” Nicole stated.
“Yeah, but we were really talking about our dating lives.”
“That’s true.”
Ariana smiled. “Surely you have women asking you out all the time.”
“Not really.”
“Okay, maybe we can talk about this another time,” Ariana said, suddenly curious about the type of woman Nicole found attractive. “And uh, going forward, I may not be as thoughtful as I was last night.”
“I’m sorry I woke you,” Nicole said with tenderness in her voice.
“No, I’m glad you did,” Ariana replied. “When I got home last night the only person I wanted to celebrate our victory with was you. But I held back. I may not be able to next time.”
Nicole chuckled. “Understood. Didn’t you celebrate on the plane on the way back?”
“We did, but I was still excited when I got home.”
“Ari, you can call me anytime,” Nicole stated.
“Be careful,” Ariana said. “You may regret that.”
“I don’t think so, but right now, I’ve got to go,” Nicole said. “We’re pulling up to the airport.”
“Safe travels and thanks for calling,” Ariana said.
Nicole chuckled. “It sounded like you meant that.”
Ariana laughed. “I’ll be watching tonight.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” Nicole said. “Last night when they interviewed you, when you stared into the camera about the tricks you learned…”
“Yeah, Nic. I was looking right at you.” Ariana smiled as she remembered staring into the camera hoping Nicole was watching.
“I knew it!” Nicole laughed. “Hey, did you say anything to Cameron?”
“No, this is just between us,” Ariana replied. “It’s like we have a secret.”
“Yeah, just between us.”
“Go have a great game,” Ariana said.
“If I knew where you lived I’d send you an excellent cup of coffee,” Nicole said.
Ari chuckled. “If I knew where you lived I’d send you a peach iced tea.”
Nicole laughed. “I really have to go. Again, sorry I woke you.”
“It’s okay. Bye, Nic.”
“Bye.”
Ariana stared at her phone and smiled. She was pleased Nicole had called instead of texting her this morning.
As she replayed their conversation in her head she realized they hadn’t talked about the game.
Ariana wanted to thank her again for her insight which she’d used and was sure it led to at least three of her steals last night.
Her thoughts kept returning to their short discussion about their dating life.
Ariana had learned over the past several years she was better off not dating anyone during the season.
On two separate occasions she’d tried the long distance dating life that her travel and basketball schedule seemed to warrant.
Neither of those relationships had lasted very long.
Ariana knew who she was and had worked too hard not to give her full concentration to her professional life as a basketball player. Her friends and family understood her focus and devotion to basketball. When it came to a girlfriend or partner she hadn’t figured out the balance to make that work.
Was it because she hadn’t found the right woman as Nicole put it? Wouldn’t the right woman understand her and work with her? Ariana meant what she said about being a good girlfriend. She wanted to be, but simply hadn’t found a way to make that happen with her career.
A noise outside Ariana’s closed bedroom door brought her out of her thoughts. She got out of bed and walked into the kitchen to find Cameron making coffee.
“Did you stay here last night?” Ariana asked.
“Good morning to you, too.” Cameron took two mugs down from the cabinet and turned to smile at Ariana.
“Good morning.”
“No, I got home a little while ago. I thought I heard you talking to someone.” Cameron raised a brow. “Do I need to get another mug?”
Ariana scoffed. “No. I was on the phone.”
“Who called you so early?”
“It’s after ten,” Ariana replied, walking over to get a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“I know,” Cameron said. “But you were up late last night.”
Ariana shrugged. “I was talking to Nicole on the phone.”
“Nicole Neal?” Cameron’s eyes brightened. “Is there something you need to tell me?”
Ariana chuckled. “Yeah, she saw our game last night and we were talking about basketball. We’re just friends.”
Cameron gave her a wary look and nodded. “Okay. If you say so.”
“Why are you home?” Ariana asked in an attempt to change the subject. She suddenly felt protective of her budding friendship with Nicole and decided to keep it to herself.
“Terrance is going out of town for work so you're stuck with me until after our game on Saturday.”
“I’m not stuck,” Ariana said, pouring them both a steaming cup of coffee. “This place is yours, too.”
“Yeah, but I’m not here very often,” Cameron said. “I appreciate your understanding.”
“Duh! You’re my best friend,” Ariana stated. “I’d better be the first to know when Terrance pops the question.”
“Whoa!” Cameron exclaimed. “Slow down. The season just started, we’re kicking ass, and that is our focus. Right?”
Ariana laughed. “It is, but spending nights with Terrance certainly doesn’t seem to affect your focus.”
Cameron smiled and sipped her coffee.
Ariana liked Terrance. He and Cameron were perfect for each other and she expected them to get married someday. They had figured out the grind of being apart during the basketball season and made it work.
“Hey, Cam, how do you and Terrance do it?”
Cameron’s brows comically flew up her forehead. “I know you’re a lesbian, but surely you can figure it out?”
Ariana groaned and rolled her eyes. “I mean how do you make it work with both of you being away from each other during the season?”
“It’s all about trust and communication,” Cameron said.
“If it becomes too much, and sometimes it does, we make a special effort to spend time together whenever we can. He sometimes arranges his work schedule so he can come to away games. There are times when I don’t go out and celebrate after a win so I can go be with him. ”
Ariana nodded.
“Where did that come from?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just wondering. You know I’ve never been good at the dating during the season thing so I don’t do it.”
Cameron nodded. “You’ll figure it out when there’s someone you not only want to see, but need to see. You’ll feel it.”
Ariana sipped her coffee and nodded.
“Okay, I’m taking a shower then what do you say we go out to lunch,” Cameron said. “I’m starving.”
“Me, too.” Ariana smiled as Cameron left the kitchen.
“Want to see and need to see,” she mumbled, thinking about what Cameron said. “Hmm.”