Dating: One on One: Eastridge Heights Basketball Book 1 Read online

  Dating:

  One on One

  By Stephanie Street

  Text Copyright  2018 Stephanie Street

  All Rights Reserved

  For my family.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  A brief ending

  Chapter 1

  Piper

  “Piper! Go find your brother. He’s not getting out of piano today.”

  Ugh.

  “Mom, I’m busy.” I lifted my head from the arm of the couch to call back.

  Mom appeared in the entryway between our tv room and the kitchen, hands on her hips, an I-mean-business expression on her face. “Netflix does not count as busy, Piper. Now get going. Luke isn’t answering his phone.”

  Yeah, I wonder why. Covering my eyes with my forearm, I snuggled deeper into the couch cushions.

  “Piper!”

  “Okay!”

  Stupid Luke. Groaning, I threw off my blanket and wondered why I always had to be the responsible one. Luke was older than me, okay it was only by ten minutes, but still. Would it hurt him to be the mature one for once?

  Dragging myself off the couch, I slipped my feet into my well-worn tennis shoes and made sure to slam the door as hard as I could on my way outside.

  “Piper!”

  Ha! She had to yell that pretty loud to be heard from inside our house which was closed up like a tomb to ward off Indiana’s late summer humidity. Thank goodness for air conditioning that I was leaving to chase down my twin! The thin fabric of my tank top stuck to my skin just seconds after walking outside. How in the world could anyone play basketball in this heat? I didn’t need the GPS family app on my phone to tell me that’s where Luke was. He lived and breathed basketball. Too bad it didn’t make him any better at it.

  Luke was one of those few exceptions to the old adage ‘practice makes perfect’. He was good, a starter on our high school’s junior varsity team last year. But I started varsity. And while he’d probably start varsity this year, I never let him forget I got there first.

  It didn’t take long to reach the basketball court at our neighborhood park where Luke and I had been playing since we were old enough to hold a basketball. It was one of the few things we really enjoyed doing together.

  Wait a second-

  Oooh, what do we have here?

  I slowed my long stride. The basketball court was filled with a full complement of players. Five on five. Shirts vs. Skins. Full court. Luke, his best friend Jared Castle, and all the guys from the team. Will, Adam, Grayson, Zeke, A.J., Mateo, Noah. I’ve known each and every one of them since grade school. And some even before that. They were all Luke’s friends and we’d been playing basketball against them since we could dribble the ball.

  And smack in the middle of the boys I’d known all my life- was someone new and he was tall. Easily the tallest player on the court. Six-five. Maybe even six-six. And man, was he cute. Even from this distance, his sweat-drenched hair curled in loose waves over his forehead, just asking for my hand to brush it back. My eyes drank in his tall body which was thickly muscled like he knew his way around the weight room. It only took me the three minutes walking across the grassy field to the blacktop for me to see he was cleaning up the court with our soon-to-be varsity basketball team.

  When I reached the edge of the court, I stood, hands on my hips, waiting for Luke to realize I was there. Too bad Jared beat him to it.

  “Luke, your Neander-tall sister is here,” a shirtless Jared called out, missing a pass from Mateo. I stuck my tongue out at Jared. He always teased me about my height. It was all fun and games until last year when he plateaued at six feet straight up while I was fast approaching five-ten, then he started getting pissy. I finally stopped growing at five-eleven and a half and Jared has never been able to forgive me for being at eye level. The boy teased me about being tall like it was his job.

  “Dude, pay attention,” Mateo yelled as Adam, a shirt, ran down the ball before it went out of bounds and ran it to the opposite goal.

  Luke glanced in my direction with an irritated expression. I decided to ignore Jared’s taunt and just deliver the message from my mom and get out of there. I was so not in the mood to deal with the boys today. Hot, new eye candy notwithstanding.

  “Luke, Mom wants you to come home and practice.”

  A collective groan erupted on the basketball court as everyone skidded to a halt, each wearing the same dejected expression- except the newbie who just looked confused.

  I took a second to rake my eyes over him. He was even more gorgeous than I thought from the other side of the park. Beautiful blue eyes and dirty blonde hair that was almost brown. He seemed older than I’d first thought. He had this bad boy vibe I hadn’t noticed from a distance, either. Tattoos creeped up his arms from his elbows to his biceps giving him an edgy look that was surprisingly beyond attractive.

  “Piper, what the hell.” Luke took a step toward me. It required some effort, but I finally dragged my eyes away from Mr. Easy-on-the-Eyes bare chest. Which was probably a good thing since a puddle of drool was already forming in my mouth threatening to dribble out the corner of my lips.

  Shaking my head to clear my scrambled brain, I focused on my brother and blushed. The knowing smirk on his face told me he’d caught me checking the dude out. I widened my eyes threateningly. One good thing about having a twin brother- the ability to convey death threats with a look. Luke just grinned.

  “Why don’t you answer your phone, jerk. Mom said no skipping piano today. She wants you home now.” Take that, Pukey Lukey.

  Luke was a brilliant pianist, but he hated it, or claimed to anyway. Mom’s stipulation to even out all the basketball we both played was to force us to pursue something artistic. Who knew where all the athletic ability came from, not Mom’s gene pool for sure, but in spite of her lack of ability or enthusiasm, she’d raised two kids who just couldn’t get enough basketball.

  She was more artsy and outdoorsy and was always trying to convert us. We resisted for the most part, but she’d put her foot down about developing other talents. Therefore, Luke had chosen piano when he was five. I was pretty sure now he wishes he’d picked something cool like drums or guitar, which he also dabbled in, but once mom discovered how good he was at piano, she was determined he wasn’t going to give it up.

  I, on the other hand, chose pottery. I’d been taking classes for years and even taught a beginner’s class through Parks and Rec over the summer. It was fun and I loved doing it. Thank goodness, I didn’t choose an instrument that required daily practice.

  “Piper!” Luke’s eyes narrowed.

  I’d be hearing about this for the next week. Luke didn’t like word getting around that he played piano. Something about threatening his street cred. Whatever, like he
had any to threaten.

  I rolled my eyes. Emasculating my brother was one of my favorite pastimes. “Whatever, Luke. Mom said now.”

  Luke growled and marched over to his shirt. “I guess, I’ll see you guys later,” he said, throwing his shirt over his shoulder and making his way off the court.

  “Way to go, String Bean, now we can’t play,” Jared popped the ball in my direction with a hard chest pass.

  Jared was such a douche sometimes. I caught the ball easily and began dribbling. “Is this practice, Jared? Hoping to make varsity this year?”

  Jared scowled. Giving Jared crap was almost as fun as taking Luke down a peg. They were best friends and Jared liked to think making fun of me as if I was his little sister was his prerogative, too. I paid them both back by reminding them of my varsity status.

  “Hey, you wanna play, Pipe,” Will Atkins called out. “Since it’s your fault we’re down a guy.”

  “Yeah, Piper, you can play skins,” Adam Whitaker snickered. The other guys joined in.

  “Doh!” A.J. coughed into his hand.

  “You guys are so funny.” I rolled my eyes, trying not to look at the hot guy’s reaction to their teasing. It was almost impossible- he drew me like a magnet. It was hard to gauge since I didn’t know him, but there was a definite frown on his face as he glanced around at the guys laughing behind their fists, jostling each other with their shoulders.

  “Well, as fun as this has been,” I said, dribbling toward the three-point line, “I have better things to do than show you guys up on the court.” And with that, I shot the ball and turned away from them, not even watching to see of it went in. I knew it would and their groans and catcalls only confirmed it.

  “Show-off!” Jared called after me.

  Drew

  The tall girl who’d broken up our game and just sunk a sweet three-pointer walked away to the sounds of the guys on the court taunting her with words that would have earned them a black eye if she was my sister. I had to laugh and nod with grudging respect as she continued on her way without flinching. Shoulders back, head high, her middle finger raised in farewell.

  We all watched for a moment as she walked away, her long legs carrying her quickly across the grassy field separating the basketball court from the neighboring houses. Before long she had disappeared and I was left wondering if I was going to have to go in search of another pickup game.

  “Damn, Piper,” the guy, Jared, said, shaking his head.

  “Forget Hines, man, let’s just play,” said another dude, maybe Will.

  “In case you didn’t notice, Atkins, we’re down a man.” Jared glared at Atkins. Or Will? Was Will Atkins? I couldn’t keep them all straight.

  “We can rotate in. Come on, let’s play.” This time it was Mateo who spoke up. He was easy to remember because he was the only black guy in the group.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time, ignoring the notifications letting me know I had four missed calls from my dad and twice as many text messages. I didn’t give a shit. He could wait. I’d been jonesing for a game for the last two weeks. It was his fault we moved, anyway. He could deal with the consequences. If my leaving the house all day to play basketball was the worst to come of it, well so be it.

  Still wondering if I was going to have to look for another game, I slipped my phone into my pocket. I’d been stoked to happen upon this game not too far from my house. The guys had been glad to have me since one of their regulars was out of town on vacation. When they stuck me on the skins team, I was happy to add my shirt to the pile on the edge of the court. Indiana was damn hot and I still wasn’t used to the humidity.

  “Drew, you still in,” Jared asked. His eyes were a little hesitant. I’d only met these guys today, but they’d been fun to play ball with and fair. I liked the structure that wasn’t always there when you played street ball. It wasn’t hard to figure out these guys made up most of the nearby high school’s basketball team.

  “Yeah, man,” I said, walking over to the edge of the court to pick up my water bottle. I chugged half of it.

  “Zeke, you sit out first-” Jared was cut off when someone’s phone went off.

  “Shit, I have to go, too. I’ll see you guys later.” Will jogged off the court toward an older looking Ford four-door, his phone still to his ear.

  “Well, that solves that problem.” And just like that, the game was back on.

  I was the tallest guy on the court, but I refused the center position, preferring to play outside the paint. I stayed close enough to handle my share of rebounds, but far enough out to challenge my jump shot. I was better than just shooting under the basket.

  Racing down the court, I moved into my sweet spot, just to the side of the top of the key. Jared dribbled down the court, passing the mid-court line. I side-stepped my defender. Jared bounce passed the ball to me. Dribbling once, I lowered my shoulder and drove down the center of the lane. Leaping, I rolled the ball off my fingertips. It was an easy shot. One I’d made a thousand times and more.

  “Dude, you’re going to Eastridge Heights this year, right,” Mateo asked.

  “Yeah,” I answered. My family just moved to Indiana from Colorado. In a few weeks, I’d be starting at a new school. I’d already been enrolled and even had a tour.

  “Sweet,” Mateo whistled and gave Jared a high five as we made our way to the other end of the court. “We could sure use a big guy like you on the team.”

  “Yeah, you’re way better than Zeke or A.J.” Noah grunted as he made a jump shot. Noah was good, a little too structured for a pick-up game, but he ran an offense like a pro.

  “Whatever, Mr. Perfect.” A.J. body checked Noah as he made his way to the basket.

  “And 1!” Noah made his way to the three-point arc and checked the ball to Jared who bounced it right back. ‘And 1’ was another way of saying ‘foul’ but in street ball there were no free throws, just another possession.

  “Yeah, Drew here is gonna give you guys a run for your starting positions this year.” Mateo ran defense on Noah, his long arms high. Noah bent low and spun under Mateo’s wings dribbling once before throwing up a beauty of a jump shot.

  “Nothing but net!” Noah pounded his fist on his chest as he side-stepped down the court.

  “I’m not playing for the team,” I announced.

  Everyone stopped. Grayson, who had the ball, held it against his hip, mouth gaping.

  “What do you mean you aren’t playing?” Jared’s voice cracked like he was still in middle school.

  I shook my head. It was all the same. Everywhere I went. Everyone thought they knew what was better for me than I did. “I’m not playing for the team.” Ever. Again.

  “You have to play. You’re the best player we’ve got.” Grayson hugged the ball to his stomach, a pained expression on his face.

  I scoffed. “You’ve seen me play one time.”

  “And you’ve wiped the court with us,” Zeke proclaimed.

  It was true I would be a better center than either Zeke or A.J. They weren’t terrible, but neither of them had figured out how to manage their own height. They were all arms and legs and no coordination. Jared and Luke were good outside shooters and Noah was a better point guard than any of the guys at my old school.

  “I’m not playing,” I said again, my voice firm.

  Silence reigned on the court while I suffered their scrutiny. It was alright. I was used to it. This wasn’t the first time I’d had to deal with this kind of reaction. I gave them a minute to resign themselves.

  “Are we gonna do this or what?”

  It was another few seconds before anyone responded, then Mateo held out his fist.

  “Yeah, man. Let’s play.”

  I jabbed his knuckles with my own before teaming up against Grayson.

  Let’s play.

  Chapter 2

  Piper

  My favorite time to play ball in the summer was at night. It was still hot and still humid, but it was bea
rable. Luke had gone over to Jared’s to play video games and flirt with Jared’s sister, Delaney. Mom was snuggled on the couch with her Kindle and I’d just exhausted another season of Gilmore Girls. The court was calling me.

  Maybe it was stupid to sneak out of the house at ten o’clock on a summer night but this was my neighborhood and I knew practically everyone who lived in it. I wasn’t in any danger here. I waited to dribble the ball until I was good and away from my house. Mom could hear a basketball hitting the pavement in a dead sleep from a quarter mile away, especially if it was Luke or I dribbling it.

  I bounced the ball one last time before reaching the grassy field. Walking across the long grass that tickled my ankles, I spun the ball on my finger, a trick Luke and I had worked all summer after sixth grade to perfect.

  A newly familiar figure dribbled a ball at the free throw line. He held the ball in front of his chin and his shoulders moved up and down as he let out his breath. Never taking his eyes off the basket, he released the ball. It fell through the hoop with a quiet swish. Wedging my ball between my elbow and my side, I clapped my hands.

  A pair of wonderfully beautiful blue eyes looked up in surprise.

  “Nice shot,” I praised him.

  He didn’t respond but leaned over to pick up the basketball he’d just shot. He was dressed in the same pair of red gym shorts from earlier. He’d put on a shirt since then, much to my dismay, and I wondered if he’d been there all day or if he’d gone home and come back. It seemed a long time to be at the ball court.

  “I’m Piper. I don’t remember if I introduced myself earlier.”

  He acknowledged me with a quick bob of his head before he shot the ball again, this time from the far corner between the three-point line and the out of bounds.

  Dropping the ball from under my arm, I dribbled further onto the court. He was either mute or ignoring me. It shouldn’t bother me so much, but it did. It wasn’t unusual for Luke’s stupid friends to be annoying jerks, but I had high hopes for anybody new I encountered.