Page 31 of Nobody But You

“Aye, Shay, you better get your kid,” he yelled across the field. Shay, who I now knew to be Canon’s mother, smiled back as if she’d won a damn prize.

“Hmph.” While I watched nearly all the kids try to help their downed teammate off the ground, Justin finally spoke.

“We meet again, Ms. Washington,” he said, lifting my hand to kiss. Kids flew as Steph lifted off the ground, running over to smack Justin’s hand as he’d done Canon’s.

“I see both you and Canon trying to get dropped today.”

“I’m just fuc..messing with you, man,” Justin said, catching his slip of the tongue in front of the kids. I found a seat as Steph and Justin quickly started their practice. I’d been so busy focusing on Steph and how he interacted with the kids that I hadn’t even seen him come in.

JoJo, you weren’t worried about whether he was good with kids the other day.

Across the field, on another set of bleachers, I could see a group of the kids' mothers huddled around, watching Steph and Justin more than they watched their kids. Hell, I didn’t blame them. They were moving with as much agility and speed as the kids. At this point, I was sure that Steph was putting on a show to impressme because they were going so hard. Evidence of how in shape they were, neither of them had broken a sweat.

Before the next play, Steph took a phone from his pocket and frowned at whatever appeared on the screen before responding. It was a different phone than the one they used to handle business. It also wasn’t his primary phone. My brother carried three, but I knew one of his was for the hospital. As the lioness, I was keen on things that felt out of place. That phone was raising my haunches.

While his attention was on the phone, Justin split the kids into two groups of ten, leaving him and Justin as the eleventh man. He was running the defensive side while Steph ran the offense. Steph huddled up with the quarterback, giving him the play they would run. The ball was hiked, and Steph took off from his starting point, heading to his designated spot on the field as a receiver. Before he reached his place, I saw his stride stutter, but he recovered. He reached his spot and caught the ball. He was hiding it well, but I could see the slight limp that appeared; he was favoring his left knee.

Whatever was on that phone distracted Steph enough to throw him off his game. He’d been sure of all his movements before then. The kids ran the play that Steph had demonstrated while he stood off to the side. I stood, heading in his direction to see if he was ok. Secondly, I wanted to know what was on that phone. Before I could move, I was stopped by a hand placed on my arm. I looked down at the hand of the man who was touching me without permission. I’d seen him come in with the other group of kidswho were to practice after. Shouts from the kids filtered back in, reminding me I should play along for now.

Hmm, one of my favorite games.

I smiled at the man, giving him my consideration to see why he’d thought to be so bold. Once I gave him my full attention, he began to speak.

“My apologies. I’ve never seen you here before. One of your kids plays for this team?” The stranger asked.

“Nah, our kid is playing hide and seek right now, but they both play for Team Steph,” he said in a deadly tone, causing the man to snatch his hand away quickly. It was like he had teleported to where we were because he appeared so fast.

“So, do you want to end up in Jeopardy or the Wheel of Misfortune? Since you want to play games by asking all these damn questions,” Steph said with his head cocked to the side and standing in a wide stance with his hands low in front of his groin. The guy held his hands palms forward, backing away. It was almost as if he were trying to decide if the conflict was worth it or if I was worth it. However, Steph didn’t back down; his presence seemed to magnify. We both watched as the guy turned and walked away.

Damn, I didn’t even get to play.

“Ok, now I’m wet,” I said, eliciting a loud laugh from Steph.

“I bet you are. Baby, fuck these kids. If a nigga puts his hand on you break that shit,” he said before pecking me on the lips.

“Coach Steph, come dance with us.” One of the kids asked, breaking up the intensity.

“They do this at the end of every practice. Let me get back over here,” Steph said, kissing me again.

“Can we dance to that 21 Savage bonnet song?” Canon asked.

“No!” Both Steph and Justin shouted out immediately. I laughed because he was among the youngest in the group. That boy was going to be something else.

“Boy, what your lil’ ass know about that song? You know what? Don’t answer that. I need to speak to your mother. You’re too fresh today for me,” Steph said as he left my side to go over with the kids and fell in line with the crowd of dancing boys.

Speak with his mother over my dead body.Why am I all of a sudden so damn territorial?

I uncomfortably lifted my hand to swipe down my ponytail. I couldn’t believe that I’d only had the dick once, and his ass had turned me into Jackie Christie from Basketball Wives. She’d once said that if her man needed CPR to survive and a woman was the only one who was capable, then she’d let him die.

It's a good thing I know CPR.

After stewing in my revelation, I tuned back into the kids. They were laughing, jumping around, and performing their best moves. They were also laser-focused, teaching Steph and Justin the latest dance moves they’d learned online. They’d chosen another popular song to dance to that wasn’t as raunchy. They were currently tipping out and doing the sturdy.

I should have known that he could dance, especially after the moves he put on me.

Focus Jourdan!

I couldn’t stop the warmth that spread over me before the goosebumps appeared. I didn’t understand the magnetic pull that Stephon and I had on each other. It was like we were meant to be. My visceral reaction was to run from it, but I wouldn’t this time. This man was going to ruin me.

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