Chapter 2 – Nick
Middle school was a turning point for Nick.
When most of his time was spent playing with his friends, and basketball was becoming more fun than it had ever been.
And it had always been fun. But everything was suddenly starting to feel more real in his life.
His body was growing and developing, allowing him to do more, to do better, and gain the skills needed to make his dream of going pro come true.
Declan was his biggest annoyance and asset.
They were constantly competing and pushing each other, climbing higher and becoming proper rivals. Then there was Reece.
Nick always played it cool around him, but he was all kinds of messed up when they were together.
Of course, Reece was great to play against. He had a talent for basketball just like they did, but what really got Nick was everything that happened off the court.
Reece was always so playful and happy and he was always teasing Nick in a way nobody else did.
Declan might’ve been his biggest enabler too. An instigator even.
At Declan’s birthday party, he had everyone playing this ridiculous game of spin the bottle, which Nick wanted no part of.
The idea of getting locked in Declan’s closet with anybody for seven seconds, much less seven minutes, had him sitting on the floor with his nose wrinkled up.
Every time someone took a spin, Nick glared at the bottle, daring it to land on him.
Thankfully, it never did. But then he had to take his turn, only doing it because Declan was so thrilled about the whole game. And then the bottle landed on Reece.
The way Declan started jumping around his bedroom, throwing his arms around, hollering out cheers, had Nick feeling as if he’d been hoping for this all along. Nick felt as if all the blood in his body was draining, limbs tingling as he stood up, Reece hopping up silently to follow him.
In the closet, Nick stared down at Reece’s flushed face, his downcast eyes.
He watched Reece tuck his silky blond hair behind his ear and fidget about, his own heart racing.
Nick swallowed, clenching his fists at his sides because he didn’t understand why he wasn’t nervous or put off—why he was actually excited.
Each second that ticked by with Nick watching Reece squirm only fueled his growing excitement. Seven minutes was a long time. Long enough for him to think and imagine all the ways this could go, but Nick didn’t want Reece to feel forced into anything, regardless of his own feelings.
“We don’t have to do shit,” Nick said, holding both hands up to placate Reece.
Reece’s blue eyes locked on Nick’s, and as if everything he was mulling over in his head suddenly didn’t matter anymore, he said smoothly, “We can do whatever we want.”
It came off like he was telling Nick he was down for whatever, something about the way he said it and the way he looked at Nick changed him—like a new part of him was unleashed.
“So… what do you want to do then?”
Reece tilted his head, eyes still on Nick’s, but now peeking from the corners cutely. “What do you want to do?”
Nick wanted to kiss him. “I dunno… You ever kissed anyone before?”
Reece hesitated, thinking it over before he answered honestly. “No… Never.”
Then Nick swallowed and said, “Me either.”
“O-oh…” Reece seemed both relieved and delighted to hear it. “Do you want to try then? At least if it’s us, if we mess up—”
Nick didn’t let him finish talking before he grabbed Reece’s face and kissed him, never so overly aware of a single moment in his life.
The soft, silken tresses his fingers were buried in.
The warm skin of Reece’s cheeks and neck on his hands.
The softness of Reece’s lips as they locked with Nick’s in a way that felt too perfect—like two puzzle pieces connecting.
How Reece’s eyes fell closed and his hands went around Nick, hands clutching his shirt at his back.
It was just a quick kiss. Nick broke away almost immediately, shaken by how lost he’d been in the moment.
Lasting seven minutes in there with Reece was impossible.
It had only taken three to rock Nick’s world, and only seconds of those three minutes involved any kissing.
After that kiss though, every time Nick looked at his friend, he thought about it.
And he wished he’d used all seven of his minutes.
High school made it even worse. Freshman year started fast, the days seeming both longer and shorter at the same time.
He lucked out having most of his classes with Declan and all of his classes with Reece.
They were very different people, so that’s why Nick assumed the way he felt about them was different.
Reece hadn’t gotten a haircut since he moved to Miami, his silky blond strands falling down the back of his neck now, curling softly at the very ends and around his newly pierced ears.
Nick thought the small diamond studs suited him but Reece kept talking about wanting hoops as soon as he could change them.
Nick often found his gaze wandering over to Reece in class, and every time Reece peeked at him and flashed him a smile, Nick sort of felt like he was melting.
Reece was just sweet like that and had that effect on people.
In just over a year, Reece went from being someone who’d never played basketball to someone coaches approached and encouraged to try for their high school team.
Of course, the three of them had already decided they’d be playing together.
Reece had plenty of talent, he was a natural, so light and quick on his feet that he was surprising Nick constantly, so Nick had no doubt that Reece would secure his position on the team right alongside him and Declan, and together, they were going to have a blast playing on a capable team against other teams with opponents more skilled than any they’d faced before.
“I’m kind of nervous,” Reece said when they were sitting on the bleachers in the gym the day of tryouts. “What if I like, trip or something?”
“It’ll be the most graceful fall in history,” Declan commented and Nick smacked him. “What?! I’m just sayin’…”
“Yeah, well, stop talking. You’ll be fine, Ree,” Nick told him with the utmost certainty. “You always come through under pressure.” Even when he was anxious, Reece faced everything with a brave face.
“Thanks, Nicky,” Reece said, smile lighting up his whole face, blue eyes bright.
Nick felt his own face matching Reece’s smile until Declan scoffed at them.
“Y’all are doing that thing again,” he said, pointing his index finger from Nick to Reece and back again.
“What thing?” Reece watched Declan, calm now and blinking slowly as he awaited an answer but Nick grabbed the tip of Declan’s finger and pinched it.
“Yeah, Declan, what thing?”
Declan snatched his finger free with a huff and tucked it under his other arm. “It’s not like you to be such a big baby,” Declan said instead of answering and both Nick’s and Reece’s brows shot up.
“Don’t talk to him like that,” Nick said, taken aback that Declan would speak that way to Reece.
“I was talking to you.”
Reece’s jaw dropped and Nick felt as if he’d been set on fire from his feet up.
“Say what?” Nick scowled but relaxed knowing it was just Declan taunting him and not actually being rude to Reece.
“Don’t fight.” Reece slipped his arm around Nick’s middle and Nick had to stare at the ceiling, fighting with his lips to not form the smuggest look possible. Declan was about to go off again when the head coach finally stepped in.
Tryouts spanned across three full days, each session nearing three hours long.
Nick loved every second. Even doing warm-ups and conditioning thrilled him.
Showing off his skills was one of his favorite things to do.
For Nick, tryouts lacked any form of challenge until they finally made it to scrimmages.
That’s when the real fun began, the last day of tryouts and at the end of the session, only Nick, Declan, and Reece were left standing, the three of them shooting hoops just for fun while the rest of the guys were already headed out or slumped on the bleachers or side court.
“It was a lot less scary than I thought it would be,” Reece admitted, shaking his long hair out as he dribbled the ball, facing off against Nick on his left and Declan on his right. “You’re both way scarier.”
Nick shrugged, accepting the fact with a smirk on his lips.
“All that practice pays off,” Declan chuckled. “But this is when you meet your match, Blondie.”
“Nah, this is when both of you drop out and I’m the last man standing,” Nick corrected and with one quick, smooth swipe, he stole the ball from Reece and zigzagged between them to dunk the ball.
“Whoa, nice dunk, Nicky.”
“Eat your heart out,” Nick teased, poking his tongue out at Reece, whose pale skin darkened to a deep shade of red.
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Declan grumbled and Nick threw the ball at his head, which Declan caught as easily as he expected.
Things were looking great for the three of them.
High school really felt like it was going to be the best time of Nick’s life, and it was for the first three years.
Nick was set for his future already before his senior year even began.
His parents made sure he was on the track to success with their undying support, all Nick had to do was have fun doing what he loved.
* * *
“It’s been a while since we had dinner together at home,” Nick’s mom, Nia, said, watching him across the table with that warm fondness that always put him at ease. Her spiraling curls were clipped back out of her face.
“I know. These long hours at the office and business trips are cutting into our time.”
Nick frowned at his dad’s words. Running a business was no easy feat but Derek Gray did it well.