If you're looking for an adventure in the morally grey, and a crash course of the human condition, this is the story for you! What is good and evil? Where is that line drawn, and who decides that? Packed with humor, danger, feels, and awkward relati...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Practicing with Tim and Ian, the ball almost hit Ian in the face as he looked to the side with his jaw practically down to his collar bone. Nathan retrieved the ball where it had bounced off of him and turned to see Tanner walk in the gate. Rachel abandoned whatever she was doing to run up to him with excitement. She tried to hug him, but he stopped her with a hand directly to her forehead and a frown.
Nathan laughed, and so did Ian next to him. Maybe he shouldn't have, because Tanner glared at them after the fact. The entire distance from the chain-link door to the court, Tanner look agonized, as if this were slow torture. It also appeared as if being outside wasn't doing him any favors. The man had his hair up in a tight, low ponytail, but his neck was wrapped in a scarf, and he was tucked away in coat that went to his knees.
"You won't be able to move very well in that," Nathan said to Tanner as he walked up to them, and he narrowed his eyes on him.
"How do you play in this frigid weather? Don't you know how to take the winter off?" Tanner complained at him, and Nathan smiled. It was a friendlier comment than he'd expected. Nathan had little experience interacting with Tanner.
"Some of us get fat if we sit around," Donovan said, approaching them, and Tanner stiffened. "If you actually play, you'll warm up, though most of us wear gloves to keep our fingers attached."
"I've been dragged here against my will. I will play, but I haven't done so before." Tanner sounded livid when he spoke to Donovan, but Donovan brushed it off as he played with the basketball in his hands. There had been tension between all of them and Donovan once they'd found out that he wasn't hanging by the same noose.
Twirling the basketball on his finger, Donovan eyed Tanner in thought. "Not difficult. I'm sure you know the ball goes in the basket."
Tanner rolled his eyes.
"Well, there isn't much else. Pushing people or tripping them in a foul. Contact is fine, as long as you're not intentionally trying to shove them. I'm sure you could lift half these kids with one arm and minimal effort. Don't." Donovan's tone was sharp and Tanner frowned. "Otherwise, stay in bounds," Donovan pointed to the lines around the court. "You can steal, intercept, and toss the ball wherever. You just have to dribble it whenever you move and can only hold it in your hands when you are still to pass it or shoot. Three points beyond that line and two any closer." Donovan bounced the ball to Tanner, and he caught it stiffly.
"It'll be all right, Tanner. It takes a little bit, but you'll get the hang of it," Rachel insisted, and the man sighed.
Tanner's expression darkened until Rachel laughed at his side.
"Not away from you, Tanner. Relax." She pat him on the arm, but his expression had changed none. Ian did start laughing at his side, and Nathan sighed. They were all going to kill each other before the afternoon was over.
