Ball Or Nothing (2)

(19.)

"You wearing those?" I ask her, looking down at her LeBron's.

"You know I play in LeBron's, Melo." She shook her head at me.

"We gotta get you in some Puma's then." I shake my head now.

She ignores my comment as she ties up her sneakers. She knows I'm just fucking with her though.

"Alright, what's game?" I ask my dad.

"First to 50 wins." He says. "Full court."

"Oh we deadass?" Jordan says.

"Yes." I blink.

"You sure you wanna do this then?" She asks me.

Everybody instigates as I roll my eyes.

"He taking it personal y'all." Zo jokes.

"Go Melo!" My mom cheers.

Everyone coos at her encouragement.

"Thank you mama." I smile.

My dad bounce passes the ball to me, but I give it to Jordan.

"Good luck." I smirk.

She fakes a grin and bounce passes the ball back to me. I lean forward a bit, ready to make a drive to the basket. She sees what I'm about to do and reaches to steal the ball. I pull it away from her so she can't steal it.

"Don't reach baby." I tease.

She grunts as I move past her, driving to the basket for a layup. She sighs as she watches the ball fall through the hoop.

"2-0." I say, giving her a teasing tap on the ass as I head to the other side of the court.

I trek backwards, waiting for her to come down the court with the ball. She's on her way to half court when I notice her slowing down. Then she points to the line and I know exactly what she's about to do.

"Hell nah!" I exclaim.

She pulls up from half court and drains the shot like it's nothing. Gelo and Zo are on the side laughing at what just happened.

"She just played you bro!" Zo says.

I grab the rebound and head to the other side of the court. Jordan pokes the ball from my hand and steals it, making her way to the opposite hoop for an easy layup.

"2-5." She says on the way back.

"Damn Melo, she just dropped five on you easy." Dmo said.

"I'm letting her tire herself out." I respond.

"Yeah right." Jordan says.

It's only the start, so I'm letting her off easy.

She don't know what she signed up for though.

*****

We're now tied 25-25, so my dad offered to give us a five minute break for us to get ourselves back together.

"She looks tired." JJ said.

"That was the plan." I say, retying my sneakers.

"Hold up, she switching sneakers?" Zo says.

I look up to see Jordan putting on a pair of Kobe's.

"Yeah, it's over bro." Zo chuckled.

I stand up and walk over to where she's sitting, and I sit down next to her.

"This how you wanna play, huh?" I ask her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She smirked.

"We can end the game right here Jay. I don't wanna embarrass you." I tell her.

"No, you don't want to be embarrassed." She said. "If I lose, it wouldn't matter. But if you lose, you'll never hear the end of it."

I exhale.

"If you want me to let you win, just say that." She faked a pout, squeezing my cheeks in her hand.

"Alright, let's go." I stand up.

My dad gives Jordan the ball since I started with it earlier. She doesn't hesitate to drive past me toward the basket. While she goes to put up a layup, I slap the ball out of her hand. She turns and glares at me while I wag my finger at her.

We go at it for a few more minutes, eventually being tied at 30. She won't let up and it's frustrating me a bit. But I expected her to play hard, just like she does in an actual game.

She stands behind me, trying to stop me from advancing to the basket. I lean back, holding the ball to my chest.

"Give up Jordan." I tease.

"No." She grunts.

"Okay then."

I stick my right arm out to move around her, dribbling with my left. I put up a bank shot, leaving her in the dust.

I clap my hands enticingly, wanting her to feel the pressure I'm about to put on her.

"Come on." I say.

She walks down the court with the ball, dribbling. I stand with my arms spread out. She goes to her left and I slide to my right.

"Can't go that way." I exclaim.

She moves to her right and I slide to my left.

"Can't go that way either."

I've been watching her ball for a while now, so I know all of her moves. What I did not expect was for her to hit me with the actual Kobe shot. That off balance shot is vicious, so she must've been practicing.

"Where'd you learn that?" I ask.

"The one and only." She shrugs, making her way down to the other end.

This just got real.