Page 15 of Full Court Press

“It’s not funny, Lilo. And stop letting her in your bedroom, giving her false hope, because we all know you ain’t marrying her ass. I feel like the only reason she even around is because she knows you’re going to the league.”

My eyes went to my nana as she looked away while sipping her tea. “Why you telling my business, Nana?” I asked with a smirk on my face. I was sure she knew what we were doing in my room, even though it was upstairs far away from her.

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Nana being messy!” Kyani exclaimed while laughing.

“Hush up. You go on to the back and play somewhere. Your little ten-year-old behind don’t know nothing about somebody being messy,” Nana fussed.

“Uh-huh, I watch Real Housewives of Atlanta. Them girls is messy!”

“You watch what, little girl?” Moms asked in shock.

“Bye!” Kyani hurried off toward the back of the house.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Kyani was my parents’ problem child. She wasn’t a bad kid, but she would do shit she knew she wasn’t supposed to be doing sometimes. Pops always protected her because she was the only girl. He swore he wasn’t an enabler when it came to her, but we all knew differently.

“Mama, leave my baby alone. She only does what her mama do,” Pops told her.

Moms looked over at him. “I do not watch ratchet TV around her!”

“Baby,” he called, looking at her as if to tell her to stop lying.

She waved him off. “Whatever.”

I chuckled. “Can I have my baby, please? She been reaching for me this whole time.”

“Boy, stop being delusional,” my moms said, laughing while passing me my baby. As soon as she got into my arms, her little body went berserk as she smiled wide and giggled. My moms and Nana cooed, seeing her reaction to me.

I kissed her cheeks and cradled her in my arms.

“So how are you feeling about everything this year? You got a lot of obligations and preparing for the combine. You ready?” Pops asked.

“As ready as I can be. I’m excited for this next chapter in my life.”

“We’re excited for you, baby. You got this,” my moms said, squeezing my hand. “She must have been waiting for you to get home. Look at her. Already dozing off.”

I smiled down at her lying in my arms with her little mouth open, eyes opening and closing. “I’ma go lay her down.”

“Meet me out back,” Pops said.

I smirked. “You don’t want to see me on those courts, Pops. I don’t want you throwing ya back out trying to keep up with me.”

“Boy, I taught you everything you know. You better be worried about me breaking your ankles out there.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, okay, old man. Give me a minute,” I told him, taking Kiy to her room and laying her in her crib. I pecked her forehead a few times before turning on her comfort music, then heading to my room to get dressed.

It only took me fifteen minutes to change into my basketball gear. Pops was already outside waiting for me in joggers and a white tank when I came out. Moms and Kyani sat on the sidelines, placing bets on who would win.

It was moments like these that made me feel content—happy. My family was everything to me. After slipping up with Nia, my moms was devastated to say the least, since she had me young. She didn’t want Kyani or me following in her footsteps, and I tried my best to obey her. But Nia was a manipulator. She used her trauma to rope me in, and I fell for it because she was my best friend.

Those two times we had sex produced a bundle of joy that I would shut the world down behind. My only goal in life was to live out my dream of being an NBA star and take care of my daughter. Whether Nia fell in line or not, I was going to make sure Kiyanne Imani Grey never lacked anything from me when it came to her health—mental, physical, or emotional.

Pops and I played a game of twenty-one, and of course, I came out the victor. When he wanted to run it back, that was when our mini crowd left us, not wanting to keep watching Pops lose. I laughed because we didn’t even get through the second game before he tapped out and sat down on the bench, guzzling water like a fish.

“It’s okay if you ain’t got it no more, old man,” I told him, laughing.

“Yeah, you better hope you still have it when you get my age. You only won because I ain’t been working out like I should.”