The Player Next Door ✓

37 | Sportsmanship

Austin's finger swiveled to the courts but I didn't need him to point Christopher out. Christopher Hayes was the tallest guy on the opposing team and, when he moved, he dominated. He was going head to head with Luke the most.

"They're both shooting guards and they f*cking hate each other. Chris goes to Alpine High. Their coaches both think it's a good idea for them to face each other off more regularly than high school games."

"So that's why we're here?" I asked, yawning from the early wake up call.

"Yeah, for some streetball. Gets rough between the two of them sometimes, but good practice. Helps them showcase their individual skills."

"Speaking of individuals, do you know why I'm here?"

Austin shook his head, "You're going to have to ask the man himself. He's taking a break soon."

Even if he knew, Austin would never say it. Luke and Austin's friendship was so tight; Austin was practically a vault.

I didn't have to wait long before the guys came to the sideline for a water break. Luke's blue eyes scanned the small crowd and landed on me. He waved me over.

"You like my style?"

Skipping down the bleacher steps, I replied, "Wake me up any earlier and I'm throwing coffee in your face."

He smiled as I faced him. Luke was standing there, hot and sweaty.

"First off, you've got icing on your lip."

I licked my lip. Icing. From that donut. Yum.

"Secondly, I need you to get that girl a drink."

My face dropped.

"Millie," he raised his hands, recognizing my expression, "Don't freak out on me-"

Freak out? Freak OUT? Oh, he was about to get it.

"You BETTER NOT have forced me out of bed and drive forty-five minutes to help you hook up with a girl!"

"Twenty minu-"

"You are infuriating, LUKE! I'm such a zen person without you. I'm so zen I'm like a meditating lemur, but then you come along-" 

"Actually, you came along. With your car. Over my laptop."

"GAH!"

"I have a game to get back to, so we're going to have to cut your little tantrum short."

I breathed in. I breathed out. Zen. Channel the inner zen lemur (image above). The game was starting to pick up again. They called Luke back in.

He walked out on court. "Just get the girl a drink, Minnie."

"Focus on your game, Luke."

"I'm always on my game," he winked, "On and off court."

**

I tried to find a store, any store, near the courts. There were a lot of apartment blocks and very little else. A couple convenience stores but they were chained shut.

How was I going to get her a drink? This isn't a cocktail bar.

He's really going all out for this girl. Dragging me out of bed at 5.30AM to...

I came across a water fountain by a worn-down playground. An empty swing creaked in the wind. I had an idea - and it did not involve a horror movie.

I returned to the courts with the drink in hand. The sound of sneakers skidding on tarmac and occasional cheers from the tired crowd brought me back to reality. I felt like I'd just walked through a ghost town - but, then again, I'm not used to being an early riser.

The girl Luke talked about was sitting right by the court. I walked towards her. It was hot outside and all this exercise had made me sweat. I'm glad I couldn't smell my armpits.

"Excuse me," I said, "Luke wanted me to give you a drink."

Luke was holding the ball, about to shoot when he looked over at me. 

I explained to the confused girl, "I think he thinks you're thirsty. I mean, dehydrated. Not thirsty. Well, thirsty in like a liquid way but not in the looking for guys-"

"Did you bring me water from the Coffee Bean?" she asked, staring at the cup.

I'll admit it's a far place to go for water. In reality, I had just rinsed my coffee cup and filled it with water from the water fountain at the playground.

"Uhh, yes. It may have traces of coffee as a result but I think that's intentional. Coffee infused water."

Thwack. The basketball bounced across the court and hit the metal fence with a resounding sound. We all looked over. Christopher Hayes was glaring at Luke.

"Are you making moves on my sister?!" he yelled.

Luke calmly looked up, "Is that your excuse for how badly you're playing today?"

"Then why would your assistant give her a drink?!"

Oohkay... I slowly took my drink back. Maybe he wasn't trying to hit on her...

The pretty girl looked scared. The coaches ran up to intervene the boys before the argument turned into a fight. It didn't look like the first time this had happened.

The boys were going at it and their teammates had joined in. Austin was the first to jump over the crowd and throw himself into the mix. I went in too, not caring that the average height of this crew was 6'4'', and grabbed Luke by the strap of his shirt.

He was alarmed to see me, but before he could say anything, I dragged him out of there.

"Relax Mi-"

"You had me sabotage your opponent?!" I yelled.

He shrugged me off him. "I was taking care of his sister."

"Don't talk about my sister!" Christopher yelled, overhearing us. He was being restrained by his teammates.

When Austin said that these two didn't along, he wasn't joking.

"Luke, I thought we were done with your basketball tricks," I reminded him of our last catastrophe at the Surfside Shack when he'd gotten into a fight for betting on his own games.

"It's a friendly match. You should've seen what he did to me last week."

"I know I don't have many friends but if you call this situation friendly, then I think I'm good."

"Look, Millie," he sighed, "This is the way Chris and I are. Our futures in the game are tied together and we use each other to blow off steam. It's what we do."

"It's not what I do and I won't do this for you. I'm serious, Luke. I don't care about the deal we have if it means messing with other people. I'm done. I'll pay you back in actual money, even if it means taking double shifts at the store and being indebted to you until I'm sixty."

But not if it means giving up my coffee allowance.

Luke's coach interrupted us, having disentangled himself from the group, "Girl, I don't know who you are or what you're doing here but stop distracting my player. Run along."

"Gladly," I snapped, "And as a coach, you should start teaching him about the ethics of sportsmanship."

Luke and the Coach stared at me. Yes, I just went there.

"You are not impressive, Luke," I told him, "But you are right about your future. It's not only what you create now. The future you is also who you are now."

I turned away and walked back to my car.

A/N: I legit can't get over the photo on this chapter. It's my favorite thing. I feel like the meditating lemur should become a main character.

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