"Sup, Roman," Myles greets during practice meetup.

I jerk my head up in greeting. Myles was annoying at first and I think he still is, he's just been a little more tolerable these days.

"You know Roman, you're like the strong silent type. How's your game with the ladies?"

I scrunch my face in disgust. "I don't have game."

"Mhm, Mhm. Tell that to the small group of girls behind you practically drooling."

I turned around to see if what he said was true. They duck their heads giggling and start whispering to each other like it wasn't the most obvious thing in the world. There is nothing more opposite of my type than girls who communicate through gossip and giggling. Jesus.

I look back to Myles and shrug a shoulder at him. "They look into you too," I observe.

Myles gives a proud smile at that. "Oh, I know. Doesn't matter though. I got eyes for one and one only, and she's not one of those girls." He shifts his gaze over to someone else.

I tell myself I don't care, but I also know that this fucker has a crush on Valentina. I don't have to look over my shoulder to see he's staring at her right now. "Don't rant to me about your little crush."

"Aw come on, Roman. This could be a real bonding moment for us."

"Fuck you and your bonding moment. Pass the ball already."

Myles laughs despite my comment and tosses the ball my way. We practice our shots together and Coach does his job as he guides us through drills.

I catch myself with my eyes wandering over to the cheerleading squad, just to see what Briar is up to. I shake my head at the thought and bring my focus back to my own practice. I don't need any distractions.

Our water break happened to have lined up with the girls as they dispersed into their little friend groups. I look over just in time as she sees me and gives me that welcoming smile of hers. Val is momentarily distracted by some other girl. I watch Briar as she makes her way over to me.

"Hi, Roman," she greets me as she sits down beside me against a wall. It had become a habit of Briar's to sit next to me wherever we were. Whether it was in class, during lunch in the library, or now during our simultaneous water breaks.

"Hey," I greet back as her shoulder brushes up against mine when she settles.

"Did you decide where you want to meet up for our project later? I'm picking up a few shifts at work this week but we can start next week." It had been two days since we last worked on it in class.

"That's fine. We can study at mine," I tell her and she nods in acknowledgment. It goes quiet for a moment and I think Briar is lost in her own thoughts. She mindlessly fiddles with the lining of her shorts.

"How long have you been playing basketball?" She asks me suddenly.

I set my bottle down beside me and answered her question. "Kindergarten. That's when Julius brought me along to his practices. I spent a lot of time watching him before he taught me how to shoot."

She smiles softly at that. "I had a brother too," she says quietly over the sounds of the people around us. "Well, I sort of had a brother. His name was Wyatt. He liked basketball too."

"How do you sort of have a brother?"

"We were in the same foster home," she admits. She frowns at her own words and then when she looks at me she looks nervous.

"You're adopted?" I ask.

She shakes her head and hesitates to answer. "I... live with my aunt." I can tell she didn't really want to talk about it. She might have been uncomfortable to admit that much.

It brought me back to the library with her when I asked how her mom wouldn't know that she didn't like tomatoes. All she did was shrug. Avoid.

"Your sort of brother ever teach you to play?" I changed the subject instead. Something about her discomfort unsettled me. This likely had a lot to do with what she's been hiding, but now wasn't the right time to dig into that.

She lets out a quick laugh at my question and her smile shifts so something a little more genuine. A little more Briar. "He tried to, but he wasn't the most patient person."

I couldn't relate to that. Julius was the most patient person I know.

I open my mouth to say something back, but I hear Val from across the gym. "Briar, let's go! We need you to demonstrate this move!"

"Yo, Roman. Time for layups!" Myles says from the other half of the court. I get up first, mindlessly reaching to help Briar up. She flashes a smile when she's up on her feet and throws a wave over her shoulder before walking back to Val and the other cheerleaders.

When I make it back to Myles all he does is stare at me.

"What?" I snap a little more harshly than I meant to.

My clipped tone has a smirk lifting on his mouth, indenting one of his dimples. "You sly motherfucker."

I shake my head at him, not understanding his meaning but not caring enough to have him elaborate. He does so anyway.

"So that's why you're not interested in the other girls, huh? You already have your eyes set on someone." He nudges an elbow in my side and I shove him away. "Just like me buddy ole pal."

"Quit acting like a dumbass, she's a friend."

He raises a brow. "Thought you didn't do friends?" Then he lets out the most ridiculous bark of laughter I ever heard. "But I bet you'd like to do this frien-"

"Myles, I swear to god if you don't shut the fuck up I'm going to-"

"Yeah, yeah. You'll do something brooding and threatening and it'll ruin my life or my pretty face. You know, I think I'm finally understanding this whole asshole routine you got going on..." he trails off, but I stopped listening to him a while ago.

Myles continues to talk away while my attention is drawn to a feeling. The feeling is someone staring at me and when I look off to the side, I see Axel studying me. I don't know why he is but I stare back until the bastard gets the hint to fuck off.

Something forces me to look his way a while later. This time he isn't staring at me, he's watching Briar. I follow his gaze to her as she just rights herself on her feet after doing a flip. My cousin hypes her hype, the two practicing together, and Briar gives a smile that lights up her face. I bring my gaze back to Axel, still watching her.

Something was building in my chest watching him look at her. Something like an itch I couldn't scratch. It just didn't feel right, something about him didn't feel right.

I send a sharp whistle, the sound alone snapping his attention towards me. I pass the ball over, shoving it a lot harder than I intended. It slams into his chest before he catches it and he goes back to practice as if nothing happened.

I move to do the same, but not before noticing the way Myles is stuck in an all-knowing smirk that tells me he saw the whole thing. I flip him off and get back to practice.

✎ A/N: im just saying working with children is not for the sensitive. I was asked today "why do you have a big pimple on your face?" and I almost swung on a mini bitch.

Where's Valentina when you need her? ^ 😩