Page 2 of Cole

Jay turned to the group and asked, “What’s going on?”

“That’s Cole Halverson, right?” one teen called out.

“Sure is,” Jay agreed. “And you’re going to be playing against him this afternoon.”

“Againsthim?”

“Yep. So keep warming up.”

The players quickly snatched up balls and began to dribble and shoot in a pattern that was all too familiar to Cole.

“Are you two ready to go?” Jay asked. “Or do you need to get changed?”

“Just got to swap my shoes,” Aiden said.

Cole lifted one of his feet. “Me too.”

“I’m going to sit over there,” Skylar said as she pointed toward the bleachers.

“You’re not going to be on your own,” Jay told her. “I think there are a couple wives and maybe some kids showing up, too.”

Cole followed Skylar, then sat down on the lowest bleacher, putting his bag on the floor in front of him. Aiden sat next to him, while Skylar settled on the row above them.

After he toed off his sneakers, he pulled out his basketball shoes, then shoved his feet into them. As he bent to tighten andtie his laces, Cole could imagine he was back in time, preparing to play a game against a team from a nearby high school.

When he finished tying his shoes, Cole braced his forearms on his thighs, lifting his head to watch the young men on the court. There was a lightness to their movements, a lack of the intensity that Cole and his teammates played with.

The boys were there because they loved to play. There was no obligation to come out on a Saturday afternoon to play basketball. School was out for the summer. It wasn’t ball season yet. They could have chosen not to come. Jay would never have held it against them. So these kids were there because playing basketball was fun.

Beside him, Aiden stretched out his legs, and Cole followed suit, going through his usual pre-game stretches. Finally, he got to his feet and reached his hands toward the roof of the gym.

“Let’s see if we still have that old high school magic.”

Cole easily caught the ball that Jay slung at him from across the court, spinning it in his hands before he began to dribble the ball toward the basket. As he neared it, he took two long strides and jumped into the air, slam dunking the ball into the basket.

The cheers from the teens made him grin and take a bow. Jay rolled his eyes, and Cole knew that if he’d acted so cocky in high school, his brother would have made him run laps. Lots of them.

For the next little while, he and Aiden passed the ball between them, then jumped for baskets. Cole made every shot he took. Aiden only made about one out of three of his tries, which made sense since he didn’t play ball for a living the way Cole did.

Cole was standing close to the door when Jay’s son, Peyton, walked into the gym, dressed to play. After exchanging fist bumps, Cole gave his nephew a quick hug.

“Okay, guys,” Jay called out. “Gather round and let’s figure out how we’re going to do this. Since we’re short a player for the adult team, we’ll randomly choose one of you teens to join them.”

The young men shared nervous but excited glances at Jay’s pronouncement. They then decided to play to twenty, figuring that there were enough handicaps on the adult team to offset Cole’s skills.

“Are we playing shirts and skins?” Wilder, one of Cole’s many brothers, asked, then lifted his arms to flex. “I think my wife would like skins for me.”

“Well, Lexi is in for disappointment, I’m afraid,” Jay said. “We have jerseys.”

Soon, they gathered around Jay for the jump ball. Jay was going to be the ref for the game, but Cole didn’t expect any preferential treatment. If anything, questionable calls would go in favor of the teen boys’ team.

The score stayed pretty close throughout the game. Cole chose not to play with the aggressive intensity he usually did. After all, this was a game for fun, not for rankings or a championship. Cole let the excitement and joy of the teens rub off on him, and just gave himself over to having fun.

“Head’s up!” Wilder yelled.

The ball Wilder had thrown in his direction was definitely going wide. Glancing over, Cole saw it was heading toward the young woman who’d arrived with one of the teen boys a few minutes earlier.

Moving quickly to the side, he lunged and reached out to block the ball from hitting the woman. He managed to just keep his footing as he knocked the ball back onto the court.

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