Chapter 9
Amelia
Amelia carried two shopping bags full of crisps, pretzels, and popcorn over the threshold of Coach Grant’s house, following Evie’s dad, Michael, as he led her into the spacious living room.
“You didn’t have to bring all this,” Michael said as he helped Amelia empty the bags onto the solid oak coffee table. “We picked up a bunch of snacks yesterday.”
“You know how much this lot can eat, though,” she pointed out. Entering the room behind them, Evie laughed, arms laden with various dips, hummus, and salsa.
“You need to include yourself in that, Preston,” Evie joked, carefully putting down the glass condiment containers.
One end of the spacious living room was almost fully glazed, overlooking the sizeable garden where the sun was just beginning its descent towards the horizon.
She’d witnessed many illustrious sunsets from one of the two large cream sofas, or the single soft chair.
The seating was centred around a large wall-mounted flat screen television currently displaying a sports channel.
The rich, dark scarlet rug under the coffee table matched the accent art pieces on the walls, and every thread felt as familiar as her own living room carpet.
Except for today. Today the room felt disjointed, as if someone had moved all the furniture two inches to the left.
“What time is everyone arriving?” Amelia asked.
“The game starts at seven, so I told them all half six, but who knows.”
Amelia ran her fingers along the back of the sofa cushion before rolling a loose strand between her fingers.
“Did you invite Keira as well?” she asked, attempting nonchalance.
“I invited everyone, Ames. Don’t worry. Jenna and Hayley are coming too, so you can say hi to them as well.”
“Who said anything about being worried?” Amelia could hear the slight waver in her voice.
“Mm-hmm.”
Coach Grant huffed through the doorway. “Aren’t you and your friends a little old to be hanging around your parents’ living room?” she ribbed Evie. Evie shrugged before responding.
“It’s your fault for having the biggest house and a giant TV.”
“And free snacks always help,” Coach Grant grumbled. “Amelia, while I’ve got you, I was going to ask if you’d had a chance to look at the video from our last game, and—”
“Ah-ah! No shop talk!” Evie interrupted, holding up a hand in her mother’s direction. “Today is about team bonding, not basketball.”
“You’re literally about to watch a basketball game.” Coach Grant rolled her eyes.
“You know what I mean,” Evie said sternly. Her mother looked between Evie and Amelia, then threw her hands up in defeat before leaving the room.
Amelia tried to stay out of Evie’s way as she continued to fuss around the room, organising snacks.
She had looked forward to this rare night off from both basketball and work for weeks, but something niggled at her, preventing her from fully relaxing.
She’d not had much of a chance to speak to Keira since their game.
Since she’d practically run out of the changing room.
That’s not quite true. You’ve been avoiding her.
Now they were potentially spending several hours in the same room. Granted, it was a large room, but it would still get crowded.
“Chairs!” Evie’s exclamation jolted Amelia from her thoughts. “I sent TJ for the camping chairs ages ago.”
“I’ll go find him.” Amelia quickly slipped out before Evie could protest.
She checked in the sitting room and the dining room.
Both were pristine, and empty. She walked back into the hallway, past the sideboard with all of Coach Grant’s business awards and basketball trophies displayed.
Amelia remembered hearing about all the arguments Michelle and Michael had about whether to display the business awards or not.
Michelle had not wanted to blow her own trumpet; Michael demanded she let him be proud of his wife.
She checked the kitchen next. The crisp, intricately designed space was full of clean lines, with a large kitchen island in the middle. A large mixer and rolled-out biscuit dough dominated the island, with flour dusted all over the surface. The oven glowed orange as it pre-heated.
“Need help with something?” Michael asked kindly, looking up from the mixer.
“TJ?”
“In the garage.” Michael pointed his thumb behind him, towards the utility room door, which further led to the garage.
“Thanks.”
Amelia opened the garage door, and TJ immediately jumped out of his camping chair seat.
“Oh, it’s only you.” He exhaled and sat back down.
“Just me,” Amelia said, grabbing a second camping chair and unfolding it. Sitting down next to him, she asked, “Since when has Evie stressed about a basketball social?”
TJ shifted in his seat.
“I dunno. I just know I don’t want to be on the receiving end of it.” He scratched at a stain on the arm of the camping chair, deliberately not looking at her. Amelia waited for further explanation, but the silence dragged on.
She looked around the garage, taking in the wall of storage, carefully labelled tool station, and workbench. Amelia smiled at the old, faded, telescopic children’s basketball hoop in the corner. The hoop itself wouldn’t be much higher than her waist.
“How’d you find assistant coaching the game?” she asked, unable to take the weird silence any longer.
“Oh, it was great,” TJ replied, his eyes lighting up. “In some ways, I’m enjoying coaching more than playing at the moment. It’s a different kind of challenge. Plus, you lot need my help.”
She laughed and playfully shoved him, making the camping chair creak under his weight.
They both jumped as the garage door wrenched off its hinges. Evie stood in the doorway, an indignant hand on her hip.
“How long does it take you to grab a couple of camping chairs?” she demanded. Then she apparently registered both Amelia and her husband sat lounging around, rolled her eyes and walked away.
“Doesn’t she remind you so much of Michelle sometimes?” Amelia laughed as she stood up.
“Yes, but don’t tell her I said that, or I’ll be sleeping on the sofa for a week.”
Half an hour later, the living room was full with the Blizzards clan, as well as Jenna and Hayley, and loud, rowdy conversations pinged around the room.
Michelle had taken a handful of snacks and declared she was watching the game elsewhere, away from the rabble.
Evie had directed Amelia to sit next to her and TJ on the sofa.
All the other seats were occupied, and some people had to lounge on the floor.
The commentators on screen were conducting pre-game interviews and reviewing each team’s stats for the season.
Without breaking conversation, Evie took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before letting go again. Drawing her gaze back from the door, Amelia’s cheeks flushed, but Evie didn’t say anything.
When the living room door swung open and Lucy stepped inside, Amelia was surprised to find herself disappointed.
“What’s up, guuuuuys!” Lucy said, greeting everyone as if she hadn’t just seen them at training a few days ago. “Look who I found!” She stepped further into the room.
Keira entered, almost timidly, behind her. Amelia’s breath caught. Keira was wearing jeans, a plaid shirt, and had parted her long hair to the side. The way her hair cascaded around her face, revealing a slight undercut on one side, made Amelia’s heart thrum against her rib cage.
Lucy had already plonked herself in the middle of the fray, grabbed a fistful of snacks and shoved them into her face. Keira still stood by the doorway, looking hesitant.
“Why don’t you sit here, Keira?” Evie shoved TJ unceremoniously along the couch, squashing his tall frame against the armrest. The move created a small gap between her and Amelia. Amelia looked at Evie with alarm. Evie’s eyebrows twitched upwards, and she grinned.
You planned this. She wished Evie was telepathic, so she could psychically tell her off.
Keira scanned the room, still hesitant. Finally, she picked her way through the mess of limbs sprawled across the floor and squeezed herself in between Amelia and Evie.
Amelia was hyperaware of their hips touching and, after greeting Keira, she determinedly kept her eyes fixed forward.
She suddenly wished she’d worn something fancier than an old basketball shirt and joggers.
She thought she felt Keira’s gaze on her once or twice, but she didn’t dare check.
The game started, though Amelia barely registered it.
Her attention was unequally divided between the unfolding match and the few millimetres that separated her and Keira’s thighs.
Keira leant forward to get snacks from the coffee table, and her leg pressed into Amelia’s.
Amelia had to stop from gasping aloud at the sensation spreading through her body.
She tried taking a deep breath, but all that did was fill her lungs with Keira’s intoxicating floral shampoo.
She wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed it before.
Suddenly images of Keira fresh out of the shower filled her mind.
How her shoulders, pumped from the game, looked as she clutched her towel around herself.
“Yeah!” Lucy punched her fist in the air, sending popcorn flying everywhere. Amelia jumped. One of the Connecticut Sun players made a particularly hard, but apparently clean, contest for the ball, and won, leading to a quick basket at the other end of the court.
She was still waiting for her heartbeat to slow down when Keira leaned close and whispered near her ear.
“Maybe they’ve been taking tips off you,” Keira said, her voice smoky and her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Amelia’s mouth went dry as their gazes met.
Thousands of words passed unspoken between them, before Keira returned her attention to the game.
She subtly leaned forward on the sofa, letting her leg gently brush against Amelia’s.
What is she doing. She knows we can’t.