“Isn’t that what basketball buddies do?”
Nicole chuckled and nodded. She got up and walked around the coffee table. “Has tonight been a big enough deal for you to have a Diet Coke as a treat?”
“Oh yeah. I think we should celebrate our honesty and being on the same page.”
Nicole grinned and walked into the kitchen. She came back with peach iced tea for herself and handed Ariana a large glass of Diet Coke.
“To basketball buddies,” Nicole said, touching her glass to Ariana's.
Nicole knew this friendship was already worth it. Getting their feelings out in the open should make it easier to manage them. They had the end of the season to look forward to and inthe meantime they could be together doing the things they loved and get to know each other better.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Ariana asked. “I can see your mind working.”
“I was thinking about what you said earlier about not telling Cameron if you were seeing someone new,” Nicole explained. “I’d be the same way with Shealyn and Kate.”
“You keep it to yourself to see if it’s going to be something without your friends’ interference. Believe me, they would be all over it and trying tohelp.” Ariana made air quotes with her fingers.
Nicole chuckled. “Yeah, you keep it to yourself because it’s special and just for you for now.”
Ariana nodded. “Yeah, it’s special, just for us.”
Nicole smiled. It might be hard to keep her hands off of Ariana Villa after all. Those sweet words coupled with her smoldering eyes might just be too much.
Nicole slid onto the stool next to Kate and bumped her shoulder. “You’re early.”
“So are you.” Kate looked her up and down. “I didn’t think you’d be here for another half hour. Did you finish all your basketball calculus wizardry?”
Nicole chuckled. “I decided to come early and see Stuart.” She had finished her analysis of tomorrow’s game long ago and spent the last hour talking and texting with Ariana. To Nicole’s surprise Ariana had found a quiet corner in the arena and called her after shootaround. They’d texted after that and Nicole hoped to watch part of Ariana’s game at Stuart’s bar while meeting Kate for a drink.
“A beer for the lovely lady,” Stuart said, setting a frosted glass in front of Nicole. “It’s a new brew and I wanted you to try it.”
“Thanks.” Nicole took a sip and nodded. “Bold, but I like it.”
Stuart grinned. “I’ve got this TV tuned to your favorite team’s game.”
Nicole smirked and shook her head. “There you go with that word again.”
“You know the queen of neutral can’t use thefavoriteword,” Kate said.
“Come on,” Stuart said. “It’s just us. Your favorite team was here last night for a team dinner.”
“I don’t have a favorite team,” Nicole stated. “But I do have a few players who are friends.”
“Uh huh,” Stuart said.
“I also have a few favorite people and two of them are sitting right here.”
“Nice save,” Stuart said with a wink. He walked to the other end of the bar to wait on a customer.
“Are you feeling better?” Nicole asked.
“Yeah, that was the strangest thing Sunday. It just hit me,” Kate replied. “I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re better,” Nicole said. “You’ll never guess who I ended up having brunch with.”
Kate took a sip of her drink and raised her brows.
“Do you remember meeting Ariana Villa here?”
