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,veryMarcus.
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 thenthe 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.”
