“You’re not getting past me, Mayze, so just dribble this way and give me the ball,” Jesse smiles at me and spreads her arms out to prevent me from passing. “It’ll be easier on both of us.”
“I’m not willing to make it easier on you, Coop.” I dribble forward and then back, hoping she’ll be thrown off just a bit. When she doesn’t seem to be affected, I change tactics with a lower voice, “Besides, we both know you like it hard..not easy.” I advance and she caves. As I go in for the easy layup, she doesn’t even turn around to see my victory shake. I run past her to the other end, “What’s wrong, Jess? You getting distracted?”
Darcy inbounds the ball to her and she shakes her head. Once she catches up to me on the other end, she replies, “That was low, Mayze. Low.”
“Ah, you liked it,” I smile.
She passes the ball between her legs and laughs at me, “Yeah, I guess I did.” She dribbles right in front of me, and I know she’s about to press, so I plant my feet, “But Sara, you forget that I can give just as good as I get. And I got some of you…but I want more.” That sends a chill down my spine and she pulls up with a beautiful jump shot right over my head.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
Her lips are close to my ear when she whispers, “Yes, please,” before running to the opposite end.
Ashley elbows me gently, “What the hell is going on?” Her smile belies the sharpness of the question and when I don’t answer right away, she stops running and gasps, “You didn’t!”
I reach back and grab her hand urgently, but with a blush on my face, “Shut up!”
She matches my pace as I dribble down the court, “You’re gonna give me details, damn you.” After a beat, “I’m so fucking proud.”
Our eyes lock and we share a laugh before we get back to business. I face my defender and pass off to my right before cutting left. I spin around the center and Jesse catches up with no problem. She wildly waves her hands and makes faces at me. I break away from her and catch the pass. I spin under the basket and Jesse’s hand looms over my head for a split second and then it’s gone. I put the shot up and turn to find Jesse flat on the court.
She screams as Megan helps her up, “Fucking hell, Sam!”
Coach blows the whistle and breaks up the impending altercation, “Alright, break it up. Sam, that was a flagrant foul and you know it. Don’t let that happen again or I’ll bench you.”
Her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes, Sam nods, “Yes sir.”
Jesse wipes her face off and I can tell she’s livid. We make eye contact briefly before she turns away from me to walk to the free throw line.
Ashley mumbles to me, “I can’t believe she did that.”
We wait for Jesse to take her shots and I ask, “What happened?”
“Sam just shoved her. Not trying to block or defend, just pushed her to the ground.”
Megan makes a big deal over Jesse’s first shot, which swishes through the net, “Yeah! Good job, Jesse!” She even claps, making my eyes roll.
I shake my head, “Reckon what that’s all about, Sam and Jesse?”
I’ve seen this look often from Ashley. It’s the “gimme a break” look, “Are you kidding me? It’s about you. You and Jesse have been banging on each other all scrimmage and passing verbal secrets. It’s clear Sam wants you bad. And it’s clear she doesn’t like Jesse because you don’t look at anyone but her.”
The thought crosses my mind to dispute the idea Sam might want me but Jesse’s second shot drops and Ashley grabs the ball to pass it to me. With the ball in my hand I turn to see Jesse right on me. She runs backwards as I press forward, “You okay, Cooper? You took a little tumble there.”
She bends a little lower as we approach the top of the key, “Oh yeah, she ain’t nothin’ for me to worry about.”
I raise an eyebrow, “You don’t think so?” I pass to off and break to the right.
Jesse’s right on my ass, “I don’t think so, Mayze. I ain’t lettin’ you past me that easily.”
“I didn’t think you would, Cooper,” I catch the pass and turn to face her, “but I’m not exactly asking for permission, either.” I fake left and go right, not believing she fell for it. As the ball swishes through, I run down the court laughing, “But thanks for not being too hard on me, darlin’.”
Jesse shakes her head as she brings the ball back down the court, “You’re welcome, Mayze, but I’ll get you back.”
I get into position with a smile, watching her approach, “Yeah?” When she nods I ask, “How so?”
She smirks and before I know it, she’s around me. She laughs as the shot goes in and I hang my head, “Just like that, baby.”
My shoulders fall in disgust, “Damn.”
Ashley trots past Jesse and, with a grin, picks on me, “Come on, Mayze, get your head outta her ass and let’s hand it to her on a plate with a weave.”
I perk up, “A weave! She needs a weave!”
Confused, Jesse shrugs, “A weave?”
With a bit of a bounce in my step, I nod to Ashley, “You start, I’ll finish.” I race around Jesse’s left as Ashley crosses on the other side of her. She looks left at me then right at Ashley and I reach in, popping the ball with my hand mid-dribble.
Ashley grabs the ball as Jesse looks quickly my way. I shrug, without the ball, and turn on my heel to run after Ashley, who says, “Thanks, Coop!” Ash sees me on her right, and bounces the ball to me at half-court as we cross each other.
I dribble and weave around Jesse, who caught up to us quickly, and pull up for a beautiful three-point shot. When the ball swishes through, Ashley laughs, hands raised high, “That’s a weave, baby! What now? Huh? What now?” She runs towards me and we chest bump as the other members of our team celebrate around us when coach whistles our scrimmage to an end.
Ashley and I do our little shuffle-step celebration dance in the middle of the court and I flash my best smile at Jesse, “Maybe next time, Cooper.” I blow her a kiss before running to the sidelines and grabbing a towel.
Sam, who watched our little dance standing just to the side of Jesse, remarks before walking away, “God damn, she’s fine. And she just showed you how to play basketball.”
Jesse’s chin rises a bit and her face softens. She walks past Sam and bumps her shoulder, “Yeah, she did. And I bet it’s killing you to know what else she might have shown me, ain’t it?”
Sam has a lot of anger lol.