The bigger schools, like UNC, tend to try to play some easy games to start out the year to get the team warmed up. In reality, these are almost like an extra scrimmage, but against another team. Our first game was against the Jackson State Tigers, and it was a great time. I'd never played in front of a crowd like that, and my heart was racing with excitement as the warmups started. Skye was sitting right behind the bench because she was so tight with Coach Bates that she had her own saved seat. Leah's roommates were up in the stands with Gee, who was sitting near Imani's girlfriend, a beautiful woman named Zara with gorgeous ebony skin.
"You're going to kick ass today, just have fun out there," my lovely girlfriend whispered as she gave me a hug after the warmups. "Just save your energy, because I want to celebrate your first win tonight!"
"I like the sound of that!" I kissed her neck as her hot breath tickled my ear.
"Do you have your contacts in?" I always wore those instead of my glasses when I played, for obvious reasons. I had a pair of goggles for a backup, but I never liked the way they looked, and they stayed in my sports bag.
"Yep, they're in. I will only see one basket when I'm shooting!"
"Is that why you take them off when we're in bed? So that way you see four nipples?"
"Ha! I wish it were that easy! My eyes aren't that bad though." Now that I thought about it, that would be cool. Skye with four nipples would be delicious!
She gave my butt a little swat and pushed me back towards the court so we could do the tip off. I had to be out there, since I was starting along with the rest of the girls from the first scrimmage. We were supposed to be running our plays so we could see how people who we didn't normally play against might handle them. I was hoping to have a lot of fun with it.
And we did. Honestly, it was the most lopsided game I'd been a part of, and I felt a little bad for the smaller Jackson State team. Most times, the smaller schools are playing the game to get a payday for their athletic department, and they do their best, but usually don't have the ability to compete on the level that is needed to take on the bigger schools.
When you combine that with the fact that Imani is one of the best players in the country, Bryn and Dayana are both solid role players, and while Leah and I were high level recruits, they never had a chance. We starters only played the first half, which was two quarters that were ten minutes each. By the end of that time, we had a 58-18 lead, and we were letting the bench players get in the game.
We had a blast just watching the rest of game from the bench and cheering on the girls that were on the floor while they got their playing time in. All five of us starters had double digit points, and none of us had more than 15 points, it was a great distribution, and we'd played well together. The players in the second half kept the scoring up, though they didn't play as much defense, and the final score ended up being 92-44. It was a great first game, and a good way to kick off the season.
Oh, and I was going to celebrate all night with my girlfriend.
Right after we got our showers and then had a nice little dinner as a team of course. It wasn't much, just some burgers and chicken tenders at a local diner, but it was fun and felt like a banquet. Winning always makes you feel better!
"I need to talk to you two," Imani whispered around a French fry that she was delicately munching on. "When this wraps up, stick with me."
I nodded quickly, seeing Leah doing the same. I wasn't sure what she wanted, but she was the captain, and had rapidly become a good friend to both me and Leah. "Anything important?"
She flashed a sneaky smile at us. "I believe it is. Bring your girls if you like, Skye might be good to have there."
Well now I was intrigued! Did it perhaps have something to do with Skye being close to the team? I guess we'd have to find out! Once the dinner was done, everyone went their separate ways, most either with their partner or each other. I guess Coach Bates didn't have an issue with teammates dating as Bryn and one of the bench players named Scarlett were dating.
Once we were alone, Imani huddled us all up together. "Ladies, I know you're just getting started out here in college, but I can tell you're both going to be stars." She held up her hand as we were both about to protest. "Stop, just listen. I don't know what you're thinking about in terms of getting an agent for potential NIL deals, but you both should get one." She looked over at Skye before she continued. "Unless that is something you want to do?"
"No way," Skye replied immediately. "I hate contract law, it sucks!"
I pulled her into my side, kissing the top of her head. "I like what you're doing. It's important, and you'll help a lot of people."
Leah just shrugged. "I never really thought about it, but it makes sense. I wouldn't mind a few deals. Do you have an agent?"
Imani pulled out a pair of business cards. "This is my agent. She's been really good for me, and I have nine deals because of her. None are huge, like the top men's football players get, but they add up. If you like, give her a call, I'm sure she can set up a meeting with the two of you. Hell, maybe we could do a joint deal with someone. My point is, get the NIL deals as soon as you can. If you keep playing the way you have been, you're going to have a great chance to go pro. But you'll probably make more on the NIL deals than you do in the pros because they don't pay us women a lot. So go get the brass ring now, okay?"
I hadn't really thought about that. Imani was right, it had always been a goal of mine, playing in the WNBA, and then hopefully in the Olympics. But there wasn't a lot of money in the WNBA. A lot of women play overseas where they pay more, but I wasn't sure I wanted to do that, and with Skye in my life, I liked the idea even less. There was a good chance it was going to be tough enough just playing in the pros and travelling in the states, depending on where Skye was already. Throwing in playing overseas seemed like a relationship killer.
"I'll call her for sure," I agreed.
"Me too!" Leah chimed in.
"I'll go to the meeting as well," Skye told me. "It might not be my kind of law, but I've been around enough lawyers to know what a good one looks and sounds like."
"Awesome!" Imani said. "Now go get your social media posts updated, companies like that!"
I was in good shape with that, I realized as Skye and I headed for her Jeep. I'd had a little over 200k followers when I joined the Wolfpack, but that had plummeted when the Tegan scandal hit. For a week, I was losing people left and right as they all sent nasty messages to me. But once the video from the bar hit the airwaves, it blew up. I already had over a million followers now thanks to that publicity, and I had only played one game. Imani was over 2 million because she was a junior and a star player. If we all played well together, it would help us all.
Even as it was, Leah was up to 500k, and I knew that would grow as we played more. I'd been posting several pictures of me in my new uniform, and then some back on the court at the park in normal street wear. I might have had my lovely girlfriend take some pictures of me in a bathing suit as we relaxed in the sun too, because people were used to that from when I was back home in Florida. But we never posted any pictures of us together.
It wasn't that we were hiding our relationship. Anyone that was at the game would have seen our embrace and her smacking my ass, but we didn't want to advertise it to her father. He did follow her, and still assumed she was married to Ben, so it was easier to keep it a little less visible to him. But as soon as she passed the Bar exam, we weren't going to care about his thoughts on the matter.
Skye was even actively trying to find a buyer for the bar now, since I was contributing to the rent, and if she made enough on that she would be able to come clean about the marriage even earlier. I was just glad that we were out to our friends and teammates and whoever saw me kissing her in the arena. I had hated hiding things with Tegan, and this was so much better already.
"What do you think about the NIL deal news?" I asked Skye once we got back to her place and were walking hand in hand back to the apartment.
"I think it makes perfect sense. You're a great player, beautiful, have a striking look with that white hair now, and I bet you get a bunch of offers. It would be great for you and your future."
"Our future," I reminded her. "And you're sure you don't want to be my agent?"
"No chance. Every class I had that had a module on contract law drove me crazy. Besides, I don't want to add stress like that to our relationship. I'd rather concentrate on loving you than mixing work into the equation."
"No, I can see that being stressful. Money can do that. We'll try Imani's agent and see what we think."
We got into the apartment, and Skye quickly pivoted, and pressed her body against mine, pinning me to the wall. "Now, why don't you show me what a future star does to celebrate a win with her girlfriend?" It didn't take long before we got into a heated make out session that involved almost all our clothes flying off. Before long I was naked, and Skye was in nothing but her panties. That was a perfect start!