Page 66 of Full Court Crush

“At the Durham game when you had to share a double bed?” Evie asked innocently.

“How did you—” Amelia blurted.

The guilt on Evie’s face gave her all the answer she needed. Of course she’d engineered that. She sighed.

“It doesn’t matter. But, after the game on the weekend, she made it clear that…whatever was happening between us, was done.”

“Why?”

“Because neither of us wants to date a teammate.”

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be so cut up about it,” Evie surmised. Amelia shrugged.

“It would mess with the team dynamic, plus I’m the captain…”

“So?” TJ asked, getting plates from one of the cupboards.

“So, it’s complicated.”

“Not really, if — ” Evie’s glare silenced TJ, who rolled his eyes and went back to serving dinner.

“I’m sorry you’re hurting,” Evie said, and she gave Amelia’s hand a squeeze before leaning back in her chair. “I’m guessing Keira is hurting too…” Evie let the statement hang in the air. Amelia sighed. She imagined she was. Her stomach turned acrid at the memory of how she'd acted at the market. Maybe if she'd handled things differently then, this wouldn't be happening.

But it had to happen. Keira just saw it first.

“Maybe you should text her, check in on her,” Evie continued when neither of them spoke.

“She made it clear we’re done,” Amelia stated.

“Done being friends? Or just done…doing things?” Evie said. Amelia glared at her smirk, but conceded her best friend did have a point. Nothing about what had happened meant they couldn’t be friends. Plus, it might make it easier in the long run, being part of the same team, if they were friends. It might help them get over the awkwardness, maintain team dynamics.Plus, I miss her.It’s been days and I miss her.

“Dinner is served!” TJ said proudly, as he put a bowl containing fajita filling and three plates down on the table, quickly followed by a stack of shop-bought wraps.

“Cheers,” Evie said and held up her glass. Amelia and TJ obligingly clinked theirs together with it before taking a sip. Amelia had never wanted it to be alcoholic wine as badly as she did now.

She placed a wrap on her plate, then served herself some of the fajita filling. She rolled it up and took a large bite, groaning as the flavours hit her mouth.

“That’s so good,” she said around a mouthful of food. TJ grinned.

The trio chatted over their meal, mainly about basketball, with Amelia keen to catch up on how TJ’s team was doing this season. She kept abreast of the scores and attended the home games when she could, but her own training and work schedules meant she rarely got to watch them, which she regretted. TJ got so animated when discussing basketball and was so supportive and compassionate towards other players. He was becoming a fantastic coach.

Throughout the meal, TJ and Evie kept grinning at each other, making Amelia feel like she was on the outside of a joke. She shrugged it off as a married couple thing and tried to ignore the little green blob of envy that had settled in her chest. Once they had all cleared their plates, Evie took TJ’s hand.

“Now?” she said to TJ, apparently having communicated the rest of the question telepathically.

“As good a time as any.” TJ grinned at her, then turned to face Amelia.

“We, err, we’re glad you asked to come over. We wanted you to be one of the first to know,” TJ said cryptically. Her gaze darted between the two of them.

“I’m pregnant,” Evie said, beaming.

Amelia all but catapulted herself out of her chair to hug her friends.

“Oh my gosh! You’re not? I can’t believe it! Oh, I’m so happy for you two,” her voice almost squeaked, she was so excited. “Wait, the shoulder injury was fake?” Amelia realised.

Evie just grinned.

“How has it been? How far along are you? Any weird cravings?”