Sex, Love, and Basketball *Books 1 and 2* (Slowly Editing)

19. Needing Space

"Damn. You act like she can't speak for herself." Malaya said laughing and exposing her dimples. She and Nadia favored a lot now that I'm actually paying attention to her. The dimples, the honey brown eyes. The only difference was that Malaya's hair is sandy brown and a lot curlier than Nadia's. She's also a little darker than her niece. She's so pretty and it makes me angry because she's so mean. I usually find things like that attractive, but Malaya is just a level of bitch that I can't handle. I can't believe she's Nadia's choice for my girlfriend.

I wonder if the deal is even still on since Nadia isn't talking to me at the moment. Maybe I can still try having a little fun with Malaya even if the deal isn't on. At least that way I can get her to act right. If you catch my drift.

"And you act like I've actually done something to make you dislike me. I barely even speak to you, yet you always find a reason to say something slick to me."

"There she is." The girl said looking amused now that I was entertaining her crap.

"What's your problem with me? Whatever it is we need to settle it now because we actually have to play together now. I'm not just some recruit anymore." I said looking at the girl and almost getting lost in those stupid honey eyes.

"You're right, you're not just some recruit anymore. You're just some freshman. And I don't have a problem with you." The girl said getting in my face and I smirked.

"Is there sexual tension between us or is it just me?" I said getting a little closer to the girl's face just to mess with her.

"What the fuck?" The girl said creating space between our faces and looking confused and slightly disgusted. "It's definitely just you."

"Wait." I said grabbing the girl's arm before she could walk away from me. A couple of our teammates were watching us, including Raquel, so I pulled the girl into the showers. Don't worry, everyone was done showering already.

"What do you want?" The girl said pulling her arm out of mine.

"Have you spoken to Nadia?" I asked the girl and she looked even more confused.

"Not today. Why?" The girl asked going from confused to concerned.

"I don't really know how to say this because I'm not really sure what's wrong, but we were talking last week and we got on the topic of her parents. I asked about meeting her mom because she met mine and-"

"She broke down." The girl finished for me.

"Yeah. Yeah that's exactly what happened. Is this normal? Because she hasn't spoken to me since that day and I don't know what to do. I tried texting and calling. I even went by her room, but her roommate said she wasn't there, which I know was a lie because all Nadia does is sleep all day." I said and the girl laughed nodding her head.

"Yeah. That's nothing new. All Nadi's lazy ass does is sleep and whine about being hungry." The girl said and I laughed too.

"But on a serious note, should I be worried? I miss her and I'm scared that she doesn't want to be my friend anymore. I sort of need her in my life." I said playing with my fingers and Malaya wasn't speaking so I looked up only to see her smiling at me.

"Aw, does little Dani have a crush on my niece?" The girl asked and my eyes got wide.

"No! I-I mean. No." I said lowering my voice to a level that wasn't obnoxiously loud. "She's my best friend and I miss her. I really miss her, so if you know of anything I can do to fix this-"