Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Ariana quickly changed and slipped out of the locker room. She wanted to catch Nicole for a quick word before they went back to New York.
As she rounded the corner and went down the hallway towards the exit, she saw Nicole step out of a room.
“Hey,” Ariana said, hurrying up to her.
“Hi,” Nicole said, her face brightening. “I was hoping to talk to you.”
Ariana looked down the hall to make sure no one was watching them. “Are we still on for tomorrow afternoon?”
Nicole nodded.
“Could we talk about the game?”
“Of course.” Nicole smiled as Shealyn walked out of the room Nicole had come from.
“Hey there.”
“Hi, Shealyn.”
“I wanted to apologize to you for that silly call Maggie made on you at the beginning of the game. It wasn’t a foul,” Nicole said earnestly.
Ariana smiled. “I could see you were mad, but why apologize?”
“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine because I tried to set Nicole up with her on Tuesday night in Atlanta,” Shealyn said. “It won’t happen again.”
Ariana shrugged and tried to look surprised. She wasn’t sure Shealyn knew how often she and Nicole talked.
“What did she say to you?” Shealyn asked.
Ariana chuckled. “I asked her what her problem was. She said I got too close.”
“Too close?”
Ariana nodded. “Yes, according to her I was too close to the defender and her opinion is the one that counts,” she said haughtily, mimicking Maggie’s tone.
Nicole groaned and Shealyn shook her head.
“I told her it might be her business on the court but not off,” Ariana said, raising one shoulder.
Nicole raised her brows. “She was just being a bitch because we were laughing and having a good time before the game. Her dinner with us in Atlanta didn’t go well.”
“She was setting the tone with you tonight, as she explained to us at that dinner,” Shealyn said. “Sorry you got caught in the crosshairs. I’m glad she left Cameron alone.”
“I didn’t have any problems with her after that,” Ariana said.
“I hope you don’t later in the season,” Nicole said. “I feel horrible about this.”
“Why? It’s on her. She obviously can’t take rejection,” Ariana said. “But I get it.”
Nicole looked at Ariana and tilted her head.
“That’s right, Nicole,” Shealyn said. “I know I promised to stay out of your love life, but you’re one hot mama.”
Nicole groaned and shook her head. “No, I’m not! You’re the mother around here.”
“I have to agree with Shealyn.” Ariana chuckled. “I’d better go. I don’t want to miss the bus home. Have a safe trip back.”
“You, too,” Nicole said with a smile.
Ariana walked away, but couldn’t resist turning around one more time. When she did Nicole was watching her as Shealyn walked away. She smiled and gave her a little wave.
Ariana took one more look both ways down the hall and was relieved to see it was empty. No one else saw them talking. She was determined that this friendship was not going to be a liability to Nicole.
Tomorrow they’d get to talk about basketball and maybe even play a little. Ariana couldn’t wait.
Riding the bus home with her teammates had given Ariana’s excitement a place to go.
They had celebrated another win and even though it was early in the season they were undefeated.
Ariana had had another good game and adjusted to their defense which made her able to find her teammates just like she was supposed to do.
She was surprised how easily she fell asleep. Terrance had made the trip to the game and picked up Cameron at their practice facility so Ariana was alone at their apartment.
Now, she was up early and couldn’t quite believe it.
Her regular routine had her sleeping in on mornings after a game, but she’d woken up and knew she was too excited to go back to sleep.
It had nothing to do with the win last night; she was looking forward to spending the afternoon with Nicole.
She couldn’t wait to go over the game with Nicole because she knew she’d learn something that would only make her better going forward.
After getting dressed she put her shoes, shorts, and shirt in her backpack.
She decided to go out for breakfast. She could take her laptop and go over the stats from the game.
There was a little diner Ariana loved to go to occasionally but it wasn’t in her neighborhood.
It would be the perfect place to hang out until she heard from Nicole.
The weather was beautiful so Ariana decided to shoulder her backpack and make the walk to the diner. She noticed there weren’t a lot of people out on this Sunday morning and imagined they were sleeping in like she should be.
A smile crossed her face because she could feel this was going to be a good day. As she turned on to the block where the diner was located she looked ahead and was shocked to see Nicole walking towards her talking on her phone.
“Hey, Emily,” Nicole said, answering her phone. She was walking to the diner where they were meeting for brunch and was almost there.
“Hi, Nicole,” Emily said. “We’re not going to make it for brunch.”
“Oh no, is everything all right?”
“Kate has come down with something,” Emily explained. “It hit her this morning or she would’ve called you last night. Anyway, you don’t want to be around either one of us. We don’t want to get you sick.”
“Ah, I’m sorry she’s feeling bad,” Nicole said. “Is there anything I can do?”
“No, so far I’m okay and I’ll take care of her,” Emily said. “She said to tell you that she’ll call you tomorrow to talk about any ideas you have for your contract.”
“Okay, but tell her not to worry about that,” Nicole said. “Let me know if I can help.”
“I will. Sorry, we were looking forward to seeing you.”
“Me, too.”
Nicole ended the call and felt disappointment wash over her. She was near the diner and almost turned around when suddenly she recognized a woman standing on the sidewalk smiling at her.
“Ariana? What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” Ariana replied.
“I was meeting Kate and Emily for brunch, but they just called and canceled. Kate isn’t feeling well,” Nicole said. “What about you?”
Ariana smiled. “Would you want to have breakfast with me and I’ll explain?”
Nicole tilted her head and grinned. “I’d love to.”
They went inside and once they were seated Ariana looked across the table at Nicole.
“What?” Nicole could see the question on Ariana’s face.
“Is this okay?” Ariana asked, pointing between them.
Nicole smiled and appreciated Ariana’s concern. “It’s not like we planned this. What a coincidence. I mean, of all the diners in New York.”
Ariana chuckled. “Well, a few years ago I dated a woman who lived in this area.”
“Oh.” Nicole leaned back in surprise. Ariana’s dating life had been splashed on social media from time to time but they’d never discussed it.
“We didn’t last long, but I discovered this diner and after we broke up I kept coming here.”
“So, you got the diner in the breakup?”
Ariana laughed. “I guess you could say that. She ended up leaving town, so there’s no chance of running into her here. What about you?”
“I live near here and this is one of my favorite places,” Nicole said. “I love their brunch. Kate has joined me here several times.”
“Sorry she’s sick, but it worked out great for me.”
“That it did.” Nicole smiled as a wave of warmth ran through her. “And for me.”
“What did you think of the game last night?”
“Hmm, after Maggie pulled her bogus foul call, it gave them an opening with you,” Nicole said. “Again, I’m sorry about that.”
Ariana waved her hand, shooing Nicole’s apology away. “What do you mean, opened me up?”
“They knew you’d be tentative for a while and they exploited it.” Nicole watched Ariana narrow her eyes and furrow her brow in thought.
Ariana tilted her head. “I’m not sure I follow.”
“They drove at you several times right after that foul call,” Nicole explained. “You didn’t come up on them as tight as you usually do.”
The confusion was still on Ariana’s face.
“You’re not getting it. Are you?”
“I know what you’re talking about, but I thought I was guarding them pretty close.”
“I can show you,” Nicole suggested.
“How?”
“We can go to my place after we eat and I’ll show you at the court on the roof or we can look at the replay,” Nicole said. She was a private person, but the idea of Ariana playing basketball on her roof and hanging out at her apartment felt like a perfect way to spend the day.
Ariana smiled. “Can we do both?”
Nicole chuckled. “We have all day, don’t we?”
“You know, I woke up this morning and just knew this was going to be a good day.”
Nicole smiled and studied Ariana for a moment. Yes, she thought her confidence was sexy, but her optimism and that smile did something to Nicole’s heart. It had been so long since she’d felt anything like this for another woman.
“You do realize we’ve added something new to our list,” Ariana said.
“Our list?”
Ariana huffed. “I thought you were keeping up. Remember? The things we have in common.”
“The list is growing.” Nicole hadn’t forgotten the list and it was nice to know Ariana also thought about it. She smiled and looked into Ariana’s pretty brown eyes. They would always top the list.
Ariana tilted her head. “We were meant to be friends.”
Nicole stared at Ariana and took a deep breath. She wanted to be Ariana’s friend and could feel the chance for more between them, but how could they make that happen? “You mean basketball buddies.”
Ariana laughed. “We can start with basketball because we both love it, but there’s more. I know you can feel it.”
Nicole slowly nodded and felt her heart speed up.
“Sorry it took me so long to get over here,” the waitress said, setting two glasses of water on the table. “What can I get you?”
“Let me guess,” Ariana said. “You want the avocado toast.”
Nicole looked at Ariana in surprise. “How’d you guess?”
“You were having avocado toast the other night as we watched the game.” Ariana winked and pointed to her head. “I remember.” She turned to the waitress. “I’ll have the waffles. I’m going to need energy to keep up with you when we play basketball.”
“Okay,” the waitress said, writing their order on her pad. “I’ll have it right out for you.”
Ariana leaned over and Nicole noticed a change in her demeanor.
“I know you have to be careful associating with players,” Ariana said seriously. “I don’t want this to end, Nic. Hell, we’re just getting started. I promise, no one will know about our secret basketball sessions.”
Nicole sighed. She didn’t want this to end either. “I trust you, Ari. It’s not that. Look at what happened last night. Maggie took out her frustration with me on you. That can’t happen.”
“It won’t. That was a one-off,” Ariana said. She sat back and stared at Nicole.
“What is it?” Nicole could tell there was something else Ariana wanted to say. “You can tell me. Did she say something else?”
Ariana shook her head. “No.” She exhaled a deep breath. “I think Maggie was jealous and I can understand that.”
Nicole furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“When you told me about her asking you out, I may have felt a little hint of jealousy myself.”
Nicole’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe it. Oh no, this connection she felt to Ariana wasn’t one-sided.
“Don’t freak out on me,” Ariana said. “I know you can’t date players and you aren’t interested during the season, but can’t we at least be friends? Basketball buddies?”
This was a bad idea, but Nicole wanted this.
She felt it deep inside. Ariana was the person she could talk basketball with, plus they liked a lot of the same things.
Honestly, she sometimes got lonely during the season because none of her friends understood her commitment to her job.
Yes, she put it first most of the time and that could make friendships difficult to maintain. But not with Ariana. She got it.
“You aren’t saying anything,” Ariana said, her face falling.
Nicole swallowed. “I’m not freaking out. Well, yes, I am a little, but it’s not what you think.”
Ariana’s brows climbed up her forehead in question.
“The idea of having a friend who understands how committed I am to the game and what I do is kind of a dream come true. You know?”
A smile grew on Ariana’s face as she nodded. “I do.”
“We really do have to keep it a secret though, Ari.” Her job could be on the line if someone found out Nicole was spending time with a player.
“I know.”
“Do you? All I’ve done is give you mixed signals.” Nicole knew some of their conversations had evolved to flirting here and there and she liked it, but was it appropriate?
“What do you mean?”
“I had Stuart give you a note. I tell you how sexy you are. I call and text you.” Nicole sighed.
“That’s called being a friend, Nic,” Ariana said. “I do the same thing to you.”
Nicole sat back and sighed again. She hadn’t made a new friend in so long and it was obvious she didn’t know what she was doing.
To keep her professional distance she never let any players in too close.
But somehow Ariana Villa had barreled her way in before Nicole even realized it.
She was now part of Nicole’s life and she wanted to keep her in it.