Page 20 of Home Town Advantage
Layton turns his head and looks down the row of seats toward Kam. “You were the last to arrive.”
The guys on the Cougars play a game of whoever is last to arrive has to share a random, fun fact with the group. They seem to get off on it. It’s kind of annoying, albeit slightly amusing at times.
Kam rolls her eyes. “I’ve got a good one for you. The first testicular cup was used in hockey in 1874. The first helmet was used in hockey in 1974. It took men a hundred years to value their brains as much as they value their dicks.”
Daylen lets out the loudest laugh I’ve ever heard in my life. I swear, ten thousand people stare at him.He’s wildly amused by Kamryn. Though he’d never admit it out loud, I think he secretly wishes he’d met Kam before Cheetah did.
I look across the court and nod my head at Coach Jeffries. He’s sitting with his son and ex-wife. I imagine they’re here to cheer for Kennedy. He nods in return.
I then notice Tanner’s eight-year-old daughter, Harper, walking onto the court with his ex-wife, Fallon. Harper sprintstoward Bailey and leaps into her waiting arms. I guess she loves her nanny.
Kam and Cheetah slide down, allowing Harper and Fallon to sit next to Bailey. Fallon and Bailey seem friendly. I wonder if Fallon knows Tanner is banging the nanny. Not my business.
Harper bounces from person to person until she gets to Daylen, sitting next to me, and climbs onto his giant lap. Her blue eyes look up at him. “Uncle Daylen, who’s your favorite Beaver?”
I narrow my eyes at him to ensure he keeps it clean. He winks at me, aware of my thoughts. “Hmm. I think Layla Ladrón. I’ve known her the longest.” He points to Presley. “This is her husband. That’s what he’s most famous for. No one would even know his name if he wasn’t married to a superstar like Layla.”
Harper’s face lights up. “Oh, cool. Do you want to know who my favorite player is?”
Daylen pretends to think about it. “Well…if I had to guess, and it’s only a guess, I’d say Sulley O’Shea.”
Harper gasps. “How did you know?”
He tugs on her O’Shea jersey and gives her his goofy grin. “Just a wild guess.”
Harper looks down at her jersey, which is now a bestseller, and giggles. “Oh right. Daddy says I can meet her after the game. That she’s super nice.”
I see the number twenty-two on her jersey. I know why she wears that number. It was Finn’s. I noticed on her senior night in high school that she was number nineteen. I wondered if it had anything to do with me. But she’s been twenty-two ever since. I have no doubt Finn would love that. I’m happy she made the change.
Daylen nods. “She’s very nice, but Kennedy Jeffries is a meanie. Stay away from her.” He makes a look of disgust. I swear I’ve never seen a woman get under his skin like Kennedy has.
The players are all introduced. I can’t help the tears that sting my eyes when Sulley is announced to a huge standing ovation, and she points up at the sky. I know who she’s thinking of in her big moment. It’s the same person I think of during my big moments.
Finn is looking down with so much pride right now. Knowing I had a small hand in making this happen fills me with happiness, even if Sulley doesn’t realize it.
I can’t help that my hand finds the spot on my body under my left arm, close to my chest. My small testament to Finn.
The game gets underway. Their starting lineup includes all four girls from the other night, plus Shay Walker, a veteran power forward. It’s cool that Sulley is a starter right away. She’s that good.
The cameras find us during the first timeout, where we all happily engage in a beer chugging contest. It’s not even close. A beer is like a shot to a man like Beau Fudd. He can down an entire can of beer in under two seconds. It provides entertainment for the crowd though. They seem to get a kick out of famous athletes chugging beer.
The other team is pushing the envelope on physicality with Sulley. It’s pissing me off. We’ve been yelling at the refs all night, but the other team is barely ever called for the blatant fouls taking place.
Kennedy, on the other hand, has been pushing and shoving anyone who does anything underhanded to Sulley. Kennedy is undoubtedly the enforcer and protector. Despite her slightly off-putting personality, I find that endearing.
As the muscle of the group, Kennedy boxes out the other team and grabs rebound after rebound, feeding Sulley. I can see Coach Jeffries beaming with pride as he watches her tough, selfless play.
Palmer is getting manhandled a bit. She’s the biggest player on the Beavers, and I imagine she’s usually one of the biggest players in any given game, but their opponents have afew girls who have been overpowering her all night. It’s flustering her.
Sulley, on the other hand, is cool as a cucumber, hitting logo three after logo three. She’s unstoppable. I think every person here knows we’re in the presence of true greatness. That we’re witnessing the beginning of what we all know will be a historic career.
The capacity crowd is going nuts. All the Beavers’ games are being nationally televised, something nearly unheard of in women’s basketball. The Sulley effect, as it’s being called in the media, is real. She’s a bona fide superstar.
The Beavers are down two points in the final seconds. Kennedy is inbounding the ball right in front of me. She stomps on my foot. It’s not the first time she’s done that tonight. What’s her problem?
She passes the ball to Sulley and then immediately sets a pick for her. Sulley dribbles around the pick, pulls up at least ten feet behind the three-point line, and shoots the ball. The opposing player practically tackles her when she does. It’s overly violent. It’s the same player who has been elbowing and pushing Sulley all night.
The shot goes in. At the same time, the crowd goes wild, but Kennedy comes barreling toward the player who fouled Sulley. The head coach runs to pull Kennedy away from the girl before she can do anything too drastic. Damn, Kennedy has a temper.
