Page 18 of Wrecked

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” I said with a goofy grin and an eye roll. I bent my knees and took another shot but missed. “Why are you here so late?”

“Practice ran long. I’m supposed to pick up Nina. She’s gonna be pissed that I’m late,” he said from the side of the court.

I retrieved the basketball and dribbled it. “Oh, that’s right, your girlfriend,” I said in a singsong, teasing voice.

Adam shook his head at my missed shot. He put down the bag and backpack and started walking toward me. “Gimme,” he said with outstretched hands.

I tossed him the ball.

“Your feet need to be shoulder width apart for good balance with your shooting foot slightly ahead of the other.”

Standing next to him, I mimicked his actions. Apparently, I was doing something wrong because he looked at me like I was a toddler walking for the first time.

“Here, let me show you.” Adam moved to stand behind me.

His long, lean eighteen-year-old body was flush against mine. He towered over me, having just hit some incredible growth spurt that had changed him from boy to man overnight. I wasn’t the only one who had noticed. The female population of our school had been going ballistic.

Adam took his hand and placed it on my right leg, extending it out and showing me the proper form. “Bend and flex your legs with each shot. Like this.” His knees were bent behind mine as his hands guided my hips, showing me exactly how I was supposed to move.

He grabbed my arms. “Your forearm and wrist should extend in a straight line when you shoot. Now, look at the target. Never take your eyes off the target. And shoot.”

Holding the ball, I leaned up and took a shot. It went in.

“I did it!” I jumped up in the air and spun around, landing me face-to-face with Adam.

My heart began to race, my skin igniting. It was the closest we’d ever been.

Looking up, I saw his dark eyes peering down on mine. We were standing close, so close, his breath on my skin. My chest rose and brushed against his.

Adam licked his lips, leaning forward just a touch. I braced myself for contact when, suddenly, he backed away.

He grabbed the ball from the ground and started dribbling it around me. “Come on, best three out of five.”

“Three out of five what?” I stood motionless.

“You want to play basketball. Let’s play.” He dribbled up to the net and took a shot, making it in perfectly. Retrieving the ball, he bounced it again.

“I don’t want to play. I have to play. Mr. Ruggers made it my intramural requirement for gym. I have to learn the rules of the game, or I’ll fail.”

“Basketball is your gym requirement?” Adam said, shocked. Too shocked.

Clearly, he thought I wasn’t athletic enough to play a sport.

I put my hands on my hips. “For your information, I like basketball.”

“No, you don’t. You like dance. You should be taking impressionist movement with Mrs. Lauer.”

He was right. I should be.

“It was full. And, personally, I think Mr. Ruggers is just punishing me for the ruckus I caused at the basketball championship game last year.”

With a laugh, Adam leaned back. “Oh, yeah. That’s probably right. You had the entire stadium on their feet, chanting, ‘Howl at the foul.’” Shaking his head and smiling, he said, “You caused a huge brawl. They had to stop the game to clear the players from fighting.”

I looked down and shuffled my feet. “Okay, it wasn’t my finest moment. Sue said it was a ridiculous call, and I got a little carried away. I didn’t mean for anyone to fight.”

Adam dribbled the ball in between his legs and around in a circle. “You were right though. That ref missed the call. I was one of the people chanting along with you.”

“Doesn’t matter. Now, I have to do drills, learn different shots, and play in order to pass the class.”