Page 53 of Love, Literature, and the Linebacker

I’ve attended this thing three years in a row and never cared who won.

But tonight, Lucy is here.

She chose to step into this world on her own terms, but Meredith is the one who invited her. That’s enough to keep every instinct I have on alert.

Every year it’s the same. Too loud. Too flashy. Too much pretending. Guys posturing. Girls performing. Everyone acting like this stupid basket swap game means something more than bragging rights and hangovers.

I usually treat it like background noise. Blend into the crowd. Watch the guys grab a basket. Laugh when I’m expected to. Keep my head down and my future intact.

But Lucy doesn’t live in background noise.

She doesn’t perform. She doesn’t posture. She shows up carefully, with purpose. Lucy doesn’t walk into rooms like this casually. If she is here, she fought through every reason to stay home.

This room is built to reward confidence that takes up space. Lucy’s confidence is quieter than that. Deeper. It doesn’t announce itself. But if you’re paying attention, you’ll see it. And I know—without needing to look—that Meredith will be paying attention.

Not the game.

Not the baskets.

To Lucy.

To me.

To us.

“Where is she?” Darnell cranes his neck, searching the room like someone might break open downfield.

“Who?” I ask, already searching for a familiar flash of red.

“Carla. My date.”

I blink. “Is she your girlfriend?”

Darnell gives me a look like I’ve personally offended him. “She’s the woman Marcus set me up with on that app.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Please don’t tell me this is your first date.”

“Nope,” he says smugly. “We video chatted last night.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“It counts, and yes, she brought a basket.”

“That’s cheating.”

“All’s fair in love and war.”

I snort. “Is it, though?”

Darnell shrugs, unbothered, but my mind drifts again—back to Lucy. This is her first time in a room like this. First time surrounded by my teammates and their girlfriends, by expectations she never asked for.

She’s stepping way outside her comfort zone for me.

I want this night to go smoothly. I need it to.

A couple guys from defense drift past, already loud and carrying plastic cups they probably didn’t fill with soda.

Coach thinks this is a team social. He definitely does not know what is in half these cups.