Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ariana could feel the excitement buzzing through her body as she got off the elevator. She unlocked Nicole’s door and dropped her bag in the hallway. “Hey, honey, I’m home.”
She heard Nicole chuckle as she walked out of her office. “You’ve been calling me honey a lot lately.”
Ariana grinned and kissed Nicole lightly on the lips. “It’s because you sent me that song, honey.”
“How was practice?” Nicole asked. “Do you have it all figured out?”
“I think so,” Ariana replied. “Would you mind if we went up to the roof and took a few shots? I have a little nervous energy running through me.”
“Sure, let me change my shoes,” Nicole said.
A few minutes later they were on the roof trading shots and rebounds.
Ariana watched Nicole line up a shot and let the ball fly. “You do have a beautiful jump shot.”
“Why, thank you.”
“You know, there are a lot of reasons I love you and this is one of them,” Ariana said, sweeping her arm through the air. “And there’s the hot sex.”
“Oh yeah, we’re very good at that,” Nicole said, taking another shot. “Championship caliber, I’d say.”
Ariana chucked. “Absolutely, but there’s also this.” She heaved a shot up and it swished through the basket. “Plus breaking down games.”
“These old legs won’t last forever,” Nicole said.
“You’ve taken a lot better care of them than I have my knees. I’m thinking we’ll both wear out around the same time.”
Nicole dribbled the ball over and stood in front of Ariana. “We’ll find something else to do together when that happens.”
“Yeah, we will.” Ariana smiled, leaned down, and kissed her. “Maybe we’ll travel.”
“Ugh, we travel enough,” Nicole complained. “Maybe we’ll spend the off season somewhere besides New York. Stay in one place that’s not here.” She dribbled once then banked the ball off the backboard and it went through the hoop.
“Won’t that depend on what we’re doing?” Ariana said, rebounding the ball. “I mean, I’ll be retired from playing basketball, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be doing something.”
“Have you thought about what you’d like to do when you’re through playing?”
“A little.”
“We already make a great team,” Nicole said, raising a brow. “Can you imagine calling games with me?”
Ariana was about to shoot but pulled the ball back and looked at Nicole. “What about Shealyn?”
“She’ll be retired by the time you decide to retire.”
“Hmm, I don’t know. Do you think I’d be good at it?” Ariana shot the ball and watched it fall through the hoop.
“You will be by the time I get through with you.”
Ariana laughed and grabbed her by the hips. “You’d better never be through with me.”
Nicole wrapped her arms around Ariana’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, I’ll never get enough of you.”
Ariana leaned in and softly pressed her lips to Nicole’s. “Mmm, another thing I love.” She smiled then her face fell into a pout. “I just realized if we win tomorrow I won’t get another song since we won’t be going back to Vegas.”
“You mean when you win tomorrow.”
“Dip you in honey so I could be sticking to you,” Ariana sang.
Nicole chuckled. “You liked that Harry Styles song?”
“Yes, ‘Daylight’ is one of my favorites because I know what he’s feeling. When I stay with you I sometimes curse the daylight because then I have to leave.”
“Hmm, maybe we can do something about that.”
Ariana’s brows rose and her heart began to beat a little faster. She hoped to do something about it herself when this series was through. “I have discovered that I can be a good girlfriend and a good basketball player at the same time. I’ll be able to show you soon.”
“You already have,” Nicole said. “You’re the one who had to come over here all the time so we could be together in secret.”
Ariana shrugged. “You act like that was a hardship. Look what I was coming to. You!”
Nicole chuckled. “But won’t it be nice to walk down the street together holding hands?”
“Absolutely.” Ariana grinned. “Where should we go first? Oh, I know. Our little diner that we love so much.”
“Yes and then we can go wherever we want.”
Ariana rested her forehead against Nicole’s and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. As she exhaled, the anxiousness left her body to be replaced by the calm and harmony she felt when she was with Nicole.
“Feel better now?”
Ariana nodded and tilted her head. “You know I didn’t want you to resign, but there’s something about you being in the stands at my games.
When I look up and see you smiling down at me, clapping your hands and encouraging me…
” She shook her head. “It’s different than when I’d glance over to see you on the sidelines speaking into your headset.
Your eyes would be on me and you’d encourage me with a look, but it’s not the same.
When I look up and see you, part of me is playing for you.
I know you’re going to say that’s not good, but it’s true. ”
Nicole smiled and rested her hand on Ariana’s cheek. “I’m not going to say that. You’ve played for the love of the game and now I’m part of that. It makes me so proud, so happy, and I feel very loved.”
“Let’s go downstairs and you can feel my love in other ways.”
Nicole chuckled. “I have one more song for you tomorrow. I’ll send it to you before the game.”
“Thank you.” Ariana once again pressed her lips to Nicole’s in a soft kiss.
Ariana felt surprisingly calm as she sat in front of her locker. This was one of the biggest games in her career and yet she wasn’t nervous. She’d come to the arena and gone through shootaround as usual.
Just as she was leaving the court she saw Nicole with their little friend, Chloe, from the youth events.
Nicole had arranged for her to meet Shealyn and get an inside look at how they prepared to commentate the game.
Ariana ran over to say hi to Chloe and the excitement on the little girl’s face was everything.
Yes, Ariana played this game for the joy, but encouraging young kids made it even more worthwhile.
Of course, it helped to get a moment with Nicole before she went back into the locker to change into her uniform. Nicole winked and simply reminded her to play free and remember to have fun.
“Did you get a song today?” Cameron asked, bringing Ariana back to the moment.
“I was about to listen to it,” she replied.
“Okay, we know you’ve got some hottie that has had your attention all season,” Rae said, walking up next to Cameron.
Ariana’s eyes widened.
“It’s okay,” Nia said, joining them and putting her hand on Ariana’s shoulder. “Whatever she’s done to you, keep doing it. We will not get into your business. But we’re happy for you.”
“Yeah, do you think we can meet her someday?” Rae asked.
Ariana smiled. “Yes. Soon.”
“Now, what’s this about a song?” Nia asked.
“Come on,” Cameron said. “That’s her business.”
“It’s okay,” Ariana said. “She sends me a song before away games, but since we’re going to win it all tonight she sent me one more.”
“Yeah!” Rae exclaimed, raising her hand for a high five.
They all exchanged high fives and left Ariana to listen. Maybe she’d be able to introduce them to Nicole tonight after the game if it went their way.
Ariana put her earbuds in and touched her phone.
“Taste” by August Moon began to play. Ariana smiled and listened.
She couldn’t help moving her shoulders to the music.
In some ways the song paralleled their relationship: being on the road away from each other, the highlight being together, their kisses and loving the taste.
“Come here.” She waved Rae and Nia over. “It’s not your kind of music, but the words say it all.”
She gave each of them an earbud and played the song. Rae’s eyes brightened while Nia started to move to the song. They began to dance and sing a few words. Ariana had no doubt they’d never heard the song, but what a way to relieve pregame jitters.
“This girl has it bad for you!” Rae said, high-fiving Ariana again.
Nia smiled and raised her brows. “Yeah, and you got it just as bad for her. Hell yeah.”
“Okay, let’s go play our game!” Ariana exclaimed, raising her fist high.
“We got this!” Rae exclaimed as they all held their fists together then yelled, “Champions!”
Ariana may have been surprised they could tell she was in love, but instead of teasing and jabs, they were a team, her friends. They ran out of the locker room and onto the court ready to do battle.
As they went through warmups Ariana looked into the stands where she knew Nicole was sitting.
She could see Kate and Emily along with Dave and his wife.
In front of them she saw Chloe and her parents.
When Chloe excitedly waved to her, Ariana gave her a big smile.
Before she had to return to the huddle Ariana’s eyes met Nicole’s and just like all those months ago, the world stopped.
Ariana could see the love in her eyes and although she really wanted to win tonight, it didn’t matter, because Nicole would be waiting for her.
The teams lined up to begin the game and Nia outjumped Las Vegas’ center sending the ball into Ariana’s awaiting hands.
She dribbled up the court while her offense took their positions and instead of passing the ball she took a long three-point shot.
The ball swished through the hoop and New York took the lead.
Ariana ran up to the opposing point guard just as Vegas threw the ball in.
While looking at game film last night Nicole had pointed out that Ariana might be able to intercept the inbounds pass because Vegas sometimes got lazy.
It could work for a basket or two which could be enough to win the game. Every point counted.
Sure enough Vegas was not expecting Ariana to be there and she stole the inbounds pass, following it with an easy layup. This set the tone for New York as Ariana’s teammates matched her enthusiasm and level of play.
As Ariana ran over to take her place once again she glanced up to see a big smile on Nicole’s face. That play was for her. There were so many times during the season that Nicole had shared details about a team and Ariana had turned them into points.
New York and Vegas battled and the score was tied at the end of the first half. Ariana went into the dressing room at halftime as the coaches adjusted their offense and defensive plays to hopefully outmatch Vegas in the second half.
The crowd was electric and cheered the home team on as the battle continued.
Ariana found her teammates with accurate passes and did her best to stop Vegas on defense.
Whenever she was open she trusted her training and had confidence in her shooting ability, but Vegas matched New York shot for shot.
The clock continued to tick down in the fourth quarter as the teams exchanged shots.
It appeared whoever had the ball last would win the game.
Coach Bell called a time out with under a minute to play and gave them instructions on which play to run to score.
She willed them to play their best defense and do whatever it took to stop Vegas.
Ariana knew the play, they’d run it so many times throughout the season with success.
As the defense came out on her she passed the ball to Nia, but two players swarmed her and Nia passed it back to Ariana.
Vegas knew she would try to shoot and sent two players out to block the ball.
Ariana sidestepped and flung the ball towards the hoop.
She had done this so many times on the roof playing with Nicole and wasn’t surprised when the ball went in. New York had a two point lead!
They ran back on defense with only a few seconds left.
She knew Vegas would try to get the ball to their best three-point shooter.
Ariana wasn’t known for her blocking skills since she was only five feet nine inches tall, but when the shooter got the ball she leaped with all her strength and imagined flying through the air the same way she did the day she landed in Nicole’s lap.
She felt the ball graze three of her fingers and it was just enough to knock the ball away when the buzzer sounded. New York was once again the champion!
The crowd roared and the players ran onto the court. Ariana hugged Cameron and looked up into the stands to see Nicole running down the steps. In a flash Ariana ran towards her and Nicole leaped into her arms.
“You did it, baby!”
The elation that flooded Ariana’s body as she hugged Nicole was like nothing she’d ever felt. Then Nicole’s lips were on hers with the sweetest kiss. When she opened her eyes all Ariana could say was, “I love you!”
All the rooftop games, the hours studying other teams, and the efforts to hide their relationship had come down to this.
It was worth it. They weren’t a secret any longer and Ariana was a champion.
She’d had several days in her life that were extremely happy and this was one she’d always remember.
But it wasn’t over yet. There was more to come.