Chapter Eighteen
Dominic
She’s all I can think about right now.
Actually, more specifically, her lips are all I can think about. I can’t go five seconds without replaying the moment on the beach—how easy everything felt with her. Like I didn’t have to perform or impress or prove anything.
We can just … exist together.
And somehow, that feels like enough.
“Neelson, you planning to join us today?” Coach yells at me, voice tinted with just enough anger to make me shudder.
“Yeah, Coach. Sorry,” I grunt, fighting not to bend over as the burning in my thighs reaches existential levels.
He narrows his eyes. “You want to tell us all what’s so interesting out there? You’re slow today. Just because we won one doesn’t mean that the whole season is over! You better not have any excuses.”
“No excuses, Coach,” I breathe out as I straighten out and take off for the half-court line.
He nods, sharp and clipped. “Good. Hit the line. Let’s go.” He claps his hands.
Get it together, Dom. You’ll see her tonight anyway.
Marcus coasts past me on the sprint and mutters, “Come on, Texas, you hungover or just in love?”
I almost trip over my own two feet. “Shut up,” I manage, but I’m pretty sure my cheeks go redder than my T-shirt.
We break into groups for passing drills. I’m paired with Jayden, the starting point guard, and a rookie whose name I keep forgetting.
Oh, and the guy with the girl who insulted mine.
The ball slaps hard against my palms. I attempt to shake the fog from my head, but every time I try to focus…
Nicole has to be my favorite person.
And that realization hits harder than any crush ever has.
“Ball, Neelson!” Jayden’s voice snaps me out of it just in time to see the pass headed straight for my face. I snatch it with one hand, and Jayden cocks a brow. “You sure you’re here, man?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” My sarcasm falls flat, and Jayden just shrugs.
Stop. Thinking. About. Nicole. That’ll just have to be my mantra for the next two hours.
“I think it’s cool you’re giving her a chance,” Jayden’s voice comes back, and I’m not completely sure I heard him right.
“What?” I pass the ball back to him.
He catches it. “You know, with the money her old man has, it makes total sense why you’d want to be with her. She might have a bad reputation after that whole skincare catastrophe, but at least she’s ho—”
I cut him off with a hard shove to the chest. “You need to keep my girl out of your mouth.”
Jayden stumbles back, caught by such surprise that he actually trips over himself and falls. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it… You know how women are… I just…”
“Find another woman to talk about. Leave mine alone.” I ignore the way all the rest of the team has stopped to stare and sweep up the ball and jog back to my place.
I expect to get in trouble, but Coach simply eyes me with intrigue and then blows his whistle. “Again! We leave for Texas this weekend, and I need a team!” he shouts. “Let’s do it again. Same partners.”
Jayden shoots me a weird look as he stands to his feet and shakes his head. He gets back in place, and this time, I feel more confident and focused. Maybe I just needed to let out some steam.
“I didn’t mean to insult you,” Jayden huffs as we start moving again. “I guess I didn’t realize how much she meant to you. Most of the guys on the team don’t really take relationships seriously.”
I nod, understanding the type. “Yeah, that’s just not me.”
His face flashes with something genuine. “That’s cool. I totally respect that. I wanna be that way, but you know…” His voice trails off. “It feels like I gotta put on a mask to fit in.”
“I know what you mean,” I affirm, passing the ball for the last time.
“Cool.” He smiles, placing the ball under his arm as we trot over to join the rest of the team. “I like you, Texas.”
We all circle up around Coach, and I wipe the sweat from my face, feeling energized despite the physical fatigue.
“You want to win games in this league, you communicate,” Coach barks, eyes bouncing between us all. “You move as a unit, and I think that’s something we need to work on. Let’s see what we can do.”
He splits us into teams for a scrimmage, choosing selectively for each team.
Marcus and I end up on opposite sides, which always gets competitive fast. We set up, and the gym fills with the sound of squeaking sneakers and our momentary shouts.
On the first possession, I attack the closeout, plant, and go for a floater.
It clangs off the rim.
Marcus grabs the rebound, grinning. “Nice fail, Texas.”
“Ha ha,” I say dryly, and try to shake it off as the game keeps going.
At the other end of the court, I get beat on a switch and I’m down, sprawled on the hardwood, staring at the gym lights above me. For a few beats, I consider just staying on the floor. Maybe they’ll just keep playing around me.
But the next play is up already, and Coach is yelling, so I scramble up and get back to work.
We run a fast break, and Jayden shouts, “Trailer!”
I’m late, but I put my head down and hustle anyway. The ball finds its way to my hands at the top of the key, and finally, I don’t overthink it. I just shoot.
Swish.
Marcus jogs by, slapping my back. “There he is. I knew you had it in you, Texas.”
Relief floods my chest. The last thing I want is to tell Nicole I suddenly can’t play and she’s the reason why.
During a break, Coach huddles us up. “We’re running the pick-and-roll next,” he says, pointing at me and Marcus. “Let’s see it at game speed.”
We line up. Jayden takes the inbound, and I step up from the wing and set a screen for Marcus.
He cuts hard off my hip, and I roll. This time, everything slows down.
I watch the play unfold like I’m outside my own body.
Jayden’s eyes flicker, the pass whips past the defender’s reach, and I catch it in stride.
Two steps, jump, slam.
The rim shakes, and the gym goes dead silent for a microsecond before the rest of the team explodes.
Even Coach claps, which is so rare I almost expect him to say it was an accident. “There you go,” he says, pointing at me and Marcus. “That’s what I want to see. You got it in you. Just gotta show up every play.”
Marcus gives me a grin. “See, you just needed to break the curse, get your head in the game, and now look at you.”
“Look at me.” I chuckle, shaking my head. “It’s like I actually know what I’m doing or something.”
Jayden bursts into laughter. “You’re seriously the guy I was terrified to play. I’m glad you’re on my team.”
I can’t come up with a response, and the whistle-blowing keeps me from having to. All I know is that it feels good suddenly.
It feels like I belong.
The rest of practice is a blur. I stop overthinking every pass, every shot. We all morph into one well-oiled machine, and I manage to keep my head—with Nicole still at the back of my mind the entire time.
When Coach finally calls it, everyone is winded and sweating, but the vibe is what it should be. We linger on the court, passing the ball, messing around, a couple of the guys in the corner breaking into a weird dance-off for TikTok.
I sit on the scorer’s table, toweling off, and catch myself smiling. Actually smiling.
Maybe Marcus is right. I just had to settle in. Or maybe I’m just actually letting myself want to be here.
As we all finally start filtering to the locker room, Coach stops me at the door. He’s got the same stony expression as always, but there’s something behind his eyes that almost looks like approval. “Good practice today,” he says, squeezing my shoulder. “Keep it up.”
“Will do,” I mutter and head for the showers. Afterward, I dress in a pair of black jogger sweats and a white T-shirt, and plop down on the bench across from my locker. Finally, I have access to my phone.
And Nicole has sent me ten reels of funny dogs. Like she knows exactly what would make me laugh right now. Chuckling, I make my way through them, watching and reacting to each one. I then type out a text to her.
Me: Dinner tonight?
I stare at it for a full ten seconds and make myself send it. I set my phone down on my lap and look up. Across the room, Marcus is launching into some sort of story, talking about his high school girlfriend and a haunted chicken nugget … which is, for some reason, very Marcus.
Jayden rolls his eyes at him, pulling a hoodie over his head. He walks by and stops, wiggling his brows at me as he points to my phone. “You texting the dog girl?”
“What’s it to ya?” I shoot back at him, trying to sound serious but still smiling.
He grins back at me. “You know, you could just call her. That’s what men do.”
I chuckle. “Oh yeah? You ever called a girl in your life?”
Jayden shrugs. “Once. She blocked me. But it was bold.”
We both burst into laughter, and Marcus beams, thinking that we’re finding his strange McDonald’s monologue funny. But then the laughter fades, and one of the other guys perks up, taking a jab at the silence. “You hear the chatter going around?”
Marcus groans. “About what now?”
“Front offices doing their usual thing,” he says with a shrug. “Watching, evaluating. Seeing who fits where.”
My chest tightens, even though nothing he says is concrete.
“That’s always happening,” Marcus says. “Especially early in the season. Doesn’t mean anything.”
I nod along, but the thought sticks anyway.
Am I still being evaluated?
Is Edward still talking behind the scenes?
Jayden bumps my shoulder. “Relax, Texas. You’re playing solid. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
I force a breath and let it out slowly.
Yeah. Just keep playing.
That’s the part I know how to do.