Jay
"You ain't never been to a game?" Nique rolled her eyes.
"Nope. Never had no one to come for. Shouldn't you be getting ready?"
She was right, but I had to get her settled in first. "Well people who come to games know they need to bring a blanket because it will get cold," I handed her mine along with some money in case she wanted to go to the concession stand.
"Yeah, yeah. Meet me back here before the game starts." I nodded and hurried off to the locker room.
Jones told me where my jersey was and I grabbed it, putting on all of my gear, including my thigh and knee pads, tights, shoulder pads. Everyone huddled around Coach as he went over plays and hyped us up with his encouragement. We didn't need all that, as long as he trusted we could do it then we'd do it.
The team headed out to the field where our tunnel was. The game started with us running through it and meeting in the middle, jumping and shit, getting energized. After all that we stood on the sidelines until it was really time to get started.
I used the time to go to the last row of bleachers where D was at. "I'm back, what you got for me?" She slowly removed her jacket and did a little spin. "You like it?" I bit my lip and smiled. Shit was mad cute, it was thoughtful that she did that for me.
"Ain't nobody getting past me," we laughed for a little bit. Despite the cold I felt warm that someone would do something so nice for me. Especially her.
"No seriously, you'll do great out there. Give me your hands." I reached up and she wrapped her hands around mine.
Nique kissed each hand and was silent for a moment, possibly praying. I never had someone to show up at my games, celebrate a win with, comfort me when I lose, any of that. The fact that she took time out of her day to come watch me made the desire to win even stronger. Coach blew the whistle, calling everyone over. She lifted her head and looked at me with a smile.
"Get they ass, Jaylen." I smirked and hustled back to the sidelines.
"I could have sworn you niggas were going to lose," D hit the back of my head as we walked to the car. My blanket was still wrapped around her.
"Yeah but we didn't, no thanks to Trey though." He caused the other team to intercept and from then until the last quarter they went on a 15 point run. Luckily in the fourth I got the ball back to end zone twice with some good passes.
"We should celebrate though. Ice cream?" I wasn't thinking about it until she said it and now I was craving some ice cream. It was too late for any creameries to be open so I went to Walmart.
"You coming?" She nodded and we got out of the car. "You'll have to push me," Nique hopped in the cart with the blanket still wrapped around her.
"I really am proud of you, Jaylen. You showed out today," she smiled sleepily. I wheeled us to the frozen goods section. "What kind you want?" I chose a pint of chocolate for me and she opted for cookie dough. I didn't need anything else so I took us to the check out. Nique was still in the cart with the same look on her face. When she got sleepy she always looked high.
I paid for the ice cream and by the time we were out of the store she was asleep. To scare her I pushed the cart downhill and let go. In five seconds she snapped out of her daze and looked around for me. I stood at the top waving at her and her eyes filled with fury.
"You think you all big and bad since you won a game tonight- boy come stop this cart!" I saw that there was a tree and sprinted to stop her before she hit it.
"See look, I could've lost my life. Give me that ice cream," I helped her out of the cart and we walked to my parking spot. I remembered her face from a couple seconds ago and started laughing.
"I should've took a damn picture," she hit my shoulder as I crouched down, still laughing.
"And that's why I'm finna beat you to the car," she took off running and I jogged after her, not trying to race.
Domonique obviously had some type of training in competitive running because of her form. Just watching her you would think she ran track and plus her muscular thighs gave it away. I met her back at the car and unlocked it.
"Okay athlete, you can run fast. But don't think you faster than me." She kissed her teeth and buckled up, smirking. "Who said I was a runner?" She gave herself away.
"I never said you was a runner, you said it. Now tell me all about it, secretive ass." I drive back to my place and listen to her speak.
"I started running when I was ten. I did the junior olympics and state track meets and all of that. I was fast and got faster until I was like fifteen. Hurt myself, my brothers moved away after I got better, and I stopped running. Tearing a ligament in your leg ain't no damn joke, Jaylen." She chuckled.
So this meant if we raced she probably had a chance of beating me. I knew girls said that to flirt but she might be seriously faster than me. "You think about running again?" D really didn't have anything extra going on. I wanted to support her like she supported me today. That was something else I missed out on: being there for someone else.
She shrugged her shoulders as we got out of the car. "It's been on my mind a little, but I don't know how imma get back into it." I opened the door for her to enter and locked it behind me. I rested against the arm of the couch while she went in the kitchen and got us some spoons. Flipping through channels I settled on a movie. She walked back out and sat in between my legs, resting her head on my chest.
"You should try out for track. It will look good on your college applications." I put a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth and let it melt there.
"Yeah and you should give me some chocolate," she dug her spoon into my tub. "Besides, I ain't ran in a lil minute." Nique focused back on her own.
"Speaking of which, where are you trying to go?" She asked. I shrugged not really knowing. The plan was to wait for a scout to approach me and then see what would happen. She told me I needed a plan.
I put my spoon down and started massaging her scalp. Her sleepy smile returned. "You've come a long way Jay," her eyes fluttered shut. I took the things from her hand and set them down. I made sure she was fully asleep before taking her upstairs to Nila's old room. I unlaced and took off her boots then put her in the covers. She stirred a little bit then found the perfect position.
My feet hit the ground ever so lightly when walking downstairs. I shut off the tv and the lights and put the ice cream in the freezer. A phone vibrated but it wasn't mine. Her bag had a light showing through it, so it must've been hers. By the time I got it out the call ended. It was an unsaved number that left a couple of missed calls and texts.
I warned yo ass to get back here.
That's a bet, don't answer the phone then
I didn't know her passcode, nor did I want to go through her phone. I know I'd be pissed if anyone touched my things. I put the phone back and left her things alone.
It was 3 am when I snapped out of sleep. I already had a hard time sleeping so anything could wake me up. Something was going on upstairs that piqued my curiosity. I treaded up the stairs lightly. Domo was in the sheets laying down on her back. I walked up closer to find her sobbing. She didn't notice me so I assumed she was crying in her sleep. Tears poured out of her eyes and onto the bed. I was about to shake her out of it when she sat up and gasped for air.
She was hyperventilating and looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings. "Domonique look at me, look at me."
I put my hand on her face and her eyes stopped roaming. "You good?" Her hand snaked around mine as her breathing regulated. I hugged her and she rested her head on my shoulder. I ain't never seen D cry. As far as I could tell she was never even mad.
It was hard to read her emotions and sometimes I couldn't even tell if she had any, other than being happy. Tonight was the first instance I'd ever seen her anywhere near vulnerable. She rose out of the bed and I took her downstairs and led her to my room.
Nique used the back of her hand to wipe away the wetness on her face. "I'm straight, my bad. I should go."
"Best get your ass up in here, you ain't going no damn where." She didn't like me taking her home and I hope she didn't think she was going to walk in the middle of the night. I pulled her to my room without hearing any objections. I let her get in first and then entered on the opposite side. I wrapped my arm around her and she scooted closer to me getting comfortable.
"I ain't gon' make you talk about it right now, but you got some explaining to do."