Page 10 of Fast Break
It's another warm day and I find myself shedding my blazer and rolling up my sleeves as lunchtime approaches. I pick up a salad roll from the cafeteria and head straight outside into the sunshine.
My gaze snags on the boys playing on the outdoor basketball court—a place that has never caught my attention before. I scan the faces until I land on JT. His shirt is half untucked, sleeves rolled up and he looks adorably scruffy as he ducks and weaves the ball down the court, Trey hot on his tail. He gets around the tall defenders with ease and makes a simple layup which he makes sure his cousin knows all about. Considering how shy he is with me the guy is pure swag on court.
I’ve never given sports much notice before, but I can see the pure enjoyment on JT’s face as his cousin smack talks him and the two tussle with each other. I am also conscious of the large grouping of girls watching the game with similar interest. Nor do I fail to note the enthusiastic cheers when either of the Sterling boys score or do anything mildly impressive.
I am about to walk away and find a quieter place for lunch when JT looks up. His gaze snags on me and he mistimes his next step. Trey immediately takes advantage of his cousin’s faltering attention, and the ball is gone from his grasp in an instant. I bite my lip to stop from smiling as JT huffs out a sigh before flashing me a wry grin. Yep, I did that. I caused him to mess up his game and I don’t know how I feel about that. Only that I find myself moving to a shady spot nearby in viewing distance of the game and taking a seat on the grass.
Jace and Eddie find me a minute later, throwing their bags on the ground before sitting beside me, Jace knocking me with his elbow.
“Why, pray tell, are we sitting right beside the basketball court?” Jace asks, knowing eyes glancing between me and where JT has picked up his game again on court.
“I thought this was a nice tree,” I comment.
“Sure,” Jace mumbles, stretching out beside me. He immediately grabs for my salad roll, taking an obnoxiously large bite before batting his lashes at me. “Thanks, baby.”
“Give that here,” I grumble, swiping it back from him. I feel eyes on me, and I glance over to the court. Even from this distance I can see the v between JT’s eyes as he looks between me and where Jace sits admittedly quite close. Hmm, is my little basketballer concerned about my friendship with Jace?
I don’t see why he would be. JT probably doesn’t even know I’m into guys and there is definitely no reason he would know Jace is. There’s no reason for him to be jealous but I can’t think why else he would have looked at us like that.
Jace leans his head on my shoulder, and I don’t even stop him as he gives me his puppy dog eyes and asks for another bite of my roll. I steal another glance at the court, and sure enough, JT is definitely frowning in my direction—right before he barely dodges the ball flying straight for his face. Yeah, I didn’t imagine that reaction.
I feel so pleased that I give Jace the rest of my salad roll and don’t even stop him when he leans his elbow on me, using me as a resting pole. Hey, if it makes a certain sweet little basketballer feel a pang of what I sincerely hope is jealousy, well, I don’t mind that one bit at all.
CHAPTER 5
jt
It’s Friday night and the Dukes are celebrating another big win over our cross-town rivals. It’s a home game for us so the stadium is full of navy and silver and a whole lot of happy faces. My grandparents, aunt and uncle and my younger cousins are in the stands, just as they are most weeks, but I am aware of the empty spaces beside them where my parents sit on the odd occasion they’ve bothered to show for my games.
Chanel is in the front row with her large group of friends wearing a tiny white halter top and a little black skirt. I feel her gaze on me as we huddle around Coach for our post-game wrap. I’m exhausted but feeling happy with my top score of twenty-two points for the game. Trey put up his own twenty points and I kind of love how the crowd have started calling us the Sterling Double Trouble.
I know it was stupid but I’d scanned the crowd earlier as the game started, just in case Quinn had somehow decided to come out to watch. Like he’d done a couple of times at lunchbreak on the outside courts this week.
But no, there is no sign of Quinn anywhere and I can only assume he is out with that far too pretty friend of his. I can’t stop thinking about Quinn and Jace, about whether they’re together like that. I mean, they certainly look like they’re together given how Jace is constantly all over Quinn, right up in his space. Sharing food and drinks with him. Always touching.
But that doesn’t explain why Quinn watches me when I play streetball with the boys at lunch. It doesn’t explain why he suddenly started sitting by the courts instead of where he and his friends usually sit by the lake.
I really like it even if it means I have to watch Jace play all cutesy with him all lunchtime.
“Special shoutout to the Sterlings for another game of total chaos,” Coach Vizard is saying, and I pull my head back into the huddle as Vince tussles my hair and the guys cheer for us. I love playing on this team and this group of guys are the absolute best. “Now hit the showers and don’t do anything too stupid tonight.”
We all laugh at that, knowing those famous last words will fall on deaf ears. These boys can get up to some pretty crazy stuff. I know I’ve lived a very sheltered upbringing, but my mouth still drops at some of the things they do, Vince particularly. But we do as Coach says, hitting the showers and I feel good once the sweat of the game is washed away.
“You coming out tonight, JT?” Trey asks, pulling me into a headlock as I try to button my jeans.
“I’ll think about it if you let me finish getting dressed,” I huff, trying to push him away from me.
He loosens his grip as he leans in closer. “Did you see Chanel in the front row for you tonight? Looks like you might not need to worry about getting dressed.” Vince overhears and whoops loudly in my ear while Marco chuckles and Kye grins at me. All the while I feel my face paling under the attention. I shove Trey aside to finish buttoning my jeans, trying to ignore the boys as they continue to tease me about Chanel.
I have no idea what to expect tonight but it doesn’t stop the stirring of unease I feel in my gut. I am certain I have not given any mixed signals to Chanel but maybe that doesn’t actually matter. It’s almost like if the girl is willing then the guy’s opinion is irrelevant. At least, that’s the impression I’m getting as the boys continue to rib me.
I suddenly feel like heading home but, thanks to my parents, I have no way of doing that. I am at Trey’s mercy and there’s no way he’s letting me out of this. So I trudge out of the locker room after my cousin, spying the group of girls waiting outside for us. I busy myself with the zip on my sports bag as we all pair off in the carpark and I squeeze into Trey’s Silvia.
Trey is in a good mood as we hit the road to Marco’s house and I’m pretty sure that’s because Millie Bourke was at the game and will be at the afterparty too. Sometimes I love being in the high school jock crowd but sometimes, like tonight, I kind of wish I could crawl into obscurity and be quiet for a bit. At the same time, I don’t want to make my parents too proud of my teenage choices, so I buckle in and enjoy the drive.
There’s always a lot of alcohol at these events and I am a little surprised at how far advanced the party seems by the time Trey and I rock up. We stopped at a service station on the way for some drinks and snacks but there’s already empty beer bottles on the bench and the music is up loud.
I spot Chanel with her large group of friends, and it's impossible not to notice them all watching me and my cousin as we step into the room. I grab a beer from the stash Trey brought in, but I know I will stop at one. Maybe I was just born with a sensible head. Or maybe I have a loud conscience in my brain that sounds suspiciously like my dad’s voice. I shudder at the thought.
