Page 69 of On Merit Alone
“Kiv, you’re aggressive and powerful like always and since Rogers and I are coaching, you won’t have anyone out there to send you down. You’re power forward. Evans you’ll be small forward and the big guy in the center like always. Martha you’re perfect at shooting guard, steady. Consistent. And Mer, you’ll be point guard. Every time you’re up, you’re sinking it in.” Looking over my notes, I zipped my eyes across my screen a few extra times to make sure I got it all right before clicking my phone shut. WhenI looked up, they were all staring at me. “What? Did I get something wrong?”
“No…Coach,” one of my guys said.
I narrowed my eyes. “I just want to win. Those guys were kind of the worst.”
More grumbling agreements.
“We should call them the Asshats,” Stephens said as he brought his knee up for an uncoordinated stretch.
Kivvey snorted. “Yeah, then what are we?”
“TheNot-Asshats?” he said and was welcomed by a chorus of unimpressed groans.
I slipped my hands into my pockets as I shook my head and the girl leading the stretches beside me giggled. I realized then that this was the first time I’d seen her around other people casually where she wasn’t disappearing right away. I wondered then why she needed this point of entry to feel comfortable with others. Why she still seemed guarded as she smiled politely but not openly.
I decided to save that discovery for another time, though. It was getting late, and I had to babysit tonight. It was time to wrap it up.
“Alright,Not-Asshats. We ready to do this thing, or you guys wanna stay all night?” I asked, gravitating toward them.
“No coach!” Stephens and Kivvey said in unison, already synching up with each other’s bullshit.
I shook my head but swallowed my smile. “Get up here, you idiots.”
Together, everyone righted themselves and sauntered over to our little makeshift group. Once huddled, we all looked at each other like deer in headlights. We had our own team huddles and separate routines, but this was brand new.
Taking a leap, I lifted a fist up toward the middle of the circle. Mer picked right up on it, adding hers beside mine and soon everyone followed suit as they all raised their hands to meet us in the middle.
“Good practice. Let’s try not to kill each other next time. See you guys in three weeks,” I said. Not sure what else there was to say. Everyone seemed to agree as they nodded and looked to me to go on. “For… charity.”
“For charity,” they chanted behind me and broke apart.
I watched from the same spot as our little group of players filed out of the gym. That was fun. Calling plays. Joking around on a court instead of being so stressed from pressure my head felt like it was going to pop.Being near her.
“Feeling better, coach?”
“You’re going to have to stop that, Six, before you give me some kind of complex.”
“I knew you’d like it.”
“What? You calling me coach with that little attitude?”
She flipped me a look that had every bit of the attitude I was talking about but shook her head. “No. Calling the shots.”
I gazed down at her curiously, wondering who gave her permission to see me so clearly? Who gave her permission to spring out of nowhere and be so much of what I didn’t know I needed? I had no idea, but I was going to need her to slow down, or else I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from coming on too strong. Which I got the feeling would scare her.
“I do like it.”
“Mmm,” she hummed in agreement like she already knew.
“Calling the shots,” I clarified for no reason.
She continued to hum and nod her agreement absently. Dipping my head into her line of vision, I caught her eyes, making sure she saw me.
“But I don’t mind adjusting my pace, Six. Not when it matters,” I said, coming or strong or not, I wanted her to know. To see that I would adjust for her. I would call the shots or let her call them, so long as we were in the same game.
Her eyes touched mine, intent and questioning. “Are we talking about basketball anymore?”
“What do you think?” I asked.
