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“What?” I turned to look at her.

“He didn’t say he wasn’t good enough to be on the team. He just said he wasn’t on it. But from what I’m seeing, it was probably because he was too good for them.”

I shook my head. Maybe that’s what he said. But I refused to believe what I’d just seen. “It was a fluke,” I said.

Adonis grabbed another ball, stepped up to the three-point line this time, and shot another perfect ball into the hoop.

I sighed.

“Damn, they’re actually going to be good this year,” Jacob said.

“What happened to one player not mattering?” I asked.

“I mean...one fantastic player can change everything.”

“He’ll probably suck when they scrimmage or something,” Axel said. “Anyone can shoot baskets unopposed.”

Scarlett laughed and shook her head. “I doubt that he’s amazing at shooting unopposed and terrible at the game. That makes no sense.”

We all watched him shoot another basket.

“I think he’s a basketball god,” she said.

And she was right. The current starters scrimmaged against their bench and the only three people that had shown up for their last minute tryouts. And the starters were losing. Terribly. To their bench plus Liam, RJ, and Adonis.

I would have said it didn’t make any sense. But Adonis was freaking amazing on the court. He dribbled right and then sidestepped left and sunk a perfect basket.

He lifted the bottom of his t-shirt to wipe the sweat off his face. Revealing his perfect six-pack abs that looked like they’d been rubbed with baby oil. My eyes fell lower, following the path of his happy trail that disappeared beneath the waistband of his athletic shorts.

Adonis started to lower his shirt, but paused when he caught me staring. He winked at me as he backpedaled back into the game. He slowly lowered his shirt back in place and turned around. Only to steal the ball from a starter and run down the other side of the court. No one was anywhere near him. He leapt up and dunked the ball. And then he dropped from the hoop and looked back up at me.

Jacob shook his head. “He’s got game, that’s for sure.”

Axel sighed. “I really thought he was gonna suck.”

“I think I’m actually a basketball fan now,” Scarlett said. “What about you, Soph?”

I shook my head. No, I wasn’t a fan of basketball. I didn’t really know what was going on down there on the court. But I couldn’t deny that I liked watching Adonis play. It was hard not to appreciate someone being amazing at something.

And my heart was doing a weird thing in my chest every time he looked up here. He was playing like all he wanted was my attention. He was playing for me.

I crossed my legs when he winked up here again.

Scarlett laughed.

I cleared my throat. “RJ and Liam are doing well too.” I tried to focus on them. But it was almost impossible. Because Adonis always had the ball.

After they completely annihilated the starting squad, the coach blew the whistle and called over RJ, Liam, and Adonis.

Probably to welcome them to the team with open arms.

RJ was smiling when he jogged up the stands toward us.

“Did you make the team?” Jacob asked.

“Hell yeah. But did you see Adonis down there? Did you guys have any idea how great he was at basketball?”

“No,” Axel deadpanned.