CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MASON
I shouldn’t have asked.
That was the first thought I had the moment I stepped into the arena the next day.
Because I already knew what I was doing.
Waiting.
Not for practice.
Not for Coach.
Not even for the usual noise that came with being here.
For her.
Which was the exact kind of thought I didn’t have time for.
“Reed,” Coach called, clapping his clipboard once. “Warm-up. Lock in.”
“Yeah.”
I wasn’t not locked in.
My body was fine.
My head just kept checking the same place without permission.
Media section.
Empty.
Again.
Jace noticed before I did.
“You’re doing it,” he muttered as we ran lines.
“Doing what.”
“That thing where you pretend you’re not waiting for someone.”
“I’m not waiting.”
He laughed under his breath. “Sure.”
We started drills.
First few were clean.
Then I missed a read I don’t miss.
Coach whistle snapped instantly.
“Again.”
We reset.
I tried to focus harder.
That made it worse.
Because now I was focused on not thinking about her.
Which meant I was thinking about her anyway.
“Reed,” Coach said again, sharper now. “What’s your head doing?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s the problem.”
Silence.
I ran it again.
Better.
Not perfect.
Close enough to pass.
But not me.
Not usual.
Jace jogged past me low voice. “You good?”
“Yeah.”
He didn’t believe it.
Neither did I.
Then it happened.
Not dramatic.
Not announced.
Just shift.
The arena doors opened.
And I felt it before I looked.
That awareness again.
Rowan.
She stepped in like she owned the space even when she didn’t try to.
Bag over shoulder. Hair slightly messy. Expression neutral like she wasn’t aware of how much she changed the atmosphere just by being present.
But she wasn’t alone.
Caleb was beside her.
Talking.
Easy.
Too easy.
And I stopped moving without meaning to.
Just for half a second.
Not enough for anyone to notice.
Except Jace.
“Yeah,” he said quietly beside me. “There it is.”
“Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
But he was smiling.
Because I wasn’t looking away.
Not immediately.
Rowan didn’t look at me first.
That was new.
She looked at the court.
At practice.
At everything except me.
Like she’d decided something without saying it out loud.
That did something sharp in my chest.
Coach called out instructions.
Nobody noticed I’d gone still for a second too long.
Except I did.
Caleb leaned slightly closer to say something to her.
She laughed once.
Small.
Quick.
Not performative.
Real.
That was worse than anything else.
Because I knew that version of her now.
And it wasn’t for me.
Jace nudged me lightly with his elbow. “You’re staring.”
“I’m not.”
“You are absolutely staring.”
I forced myself to move.
Ran the drill again.
Missed timing by half a beat.
Coach whistle cut instantly.
“Reed!”
I exhaled once.
Reset.
But my eyes still drifted back.
Even when I didn’t want them to.
After practice, I stayed on court longer than I needed to.
Everyone else left.
Noise faded.
Shoes gone. Voices gone. Just echo and empty space.
I kept shooting anyway.
Because I didn’t want to think about anything else.
But she was already there anyway.
In the background of everything.
That was the problem now.
She didn’t need to be present to take space.
My phone buzzed on the bench.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
I didn’t check it immediately.
Then I did.
Rowan.
you played like you were distracted today
I stared at it.
Then typed:
I wasn’t
Sent.
Three dots.
you were
I exhaled through my nose.
She was annoying.
Accurate.
Both.
you always watching me?
Pause.
Too long.
Then:
only when you’re bad at hiding things
That landed.
Not loud.
Just… clean.
Too clean.
I locked my phone.
Put it face down.
Stared at it anyway.
Because now it wasn’t just attention.
It was pattern recognition.
She was noticing me noticing her.
That was the problem.
The next day, Coach changed schedule.
Last-minute review session in a smaller room.
No court.
No movement.
Just film.
That should’ve been easy.
It wasn’t.
Because the room was tight.
Seats close.
People shoulder to shoulder.
No space to disappear into.
I sat down.
Jace on my left.
Niko on my right.
Door opened late.
I didn’t look immediately.
I did anyway.
Rowan stepped in.
Late.
Of course.
She scanned the room once.
Then chose a seat.
Front row.
Right in my line of sight.
Not directly.
Not obvious.
Just… unavoidable.
Caleb came in after her.
Sat one row behind.
That detail shouldn’t have mattered.
It did.
Coach dimmed the lights.
Film started.
Normally I’d lock in instantly.
Instead I felt it.
Her presence without her doing anything.
Shifting slightly in her seat.
Crossing legs.
Writing something.
Not looking back.
Not once.
That was the part that irritated me most.
Not attention.
Control.
She wasn’t reacting to me.
She was just there.
And I was the one noticing.
Jace leaned slightly toward me.
“Don’t,” he whispered.
“Don’t what.”
“You know what.”
I didn’t answer.
Because Coach paused the screen.
Pointed at a mistake.
“Reed,” he said. “Explain this read.”
I looked up.
Brain slightly delayed.
Then answered.
Correct.
But late.
Coach noticed.
Of course he did.
“Again,” he said.
But I wasn’t looking at the screen anymore.
I was aware of something else.
Rowan shifting slightly in her seat.
Caleb behind her leaning forward.
Something in my chest tightened without permission.
And for the first time—
it wasn’t just distraction anymore.
It was interference.