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But as GJ eyed the girls from across the room, I felt weirdly possessive over the brunette I’d made eye contact with.

She was mesmerizing. After looking at her once, I’d already committed every feature of her face to memory—the slope of her nose, the roundness of her eyes, the way her full lips pulled into a smile.

I wanted to run my fingers through her hair, see up close if her eyes were really that deep of a brown or if it was the lighting.

Her lips stayed turned up, her cheeks flushed, even after we’d stopped making eye contact.

I wasn’t in the headspace to make a move on her, but I knew I couldn’t let GJ.

But, as if knowing what I was thinking and making the active choice to be an ass, GJ got up from the couch and walked over toward them.

Before I could really think up a plan, I chugged the rest of my beer and tailed quickly behind her.

“Were you ever planning on saying something, or were you just going to keep staring at us all night?” GJ asked.

I cringed at the line, wishing I could put up a neon sign above my head that said I do not endorse this .

“Not that there’s anything wrong with the view, but we were looking for one basketball player in particular. Maybe you can help us,” the brunette said. The blonde next to her blushed.

“Maya, it’s fine—“ she said, tugging on the arm of the brunette—presumably Maya.

Maya .

Maya kept her eyes fixed on GJ while waiting for her response, but I kept my eyes on her. She was shorter than me—unsurprising—but not by much. She was pink from the heat in the house and was down to wearing only a thin shirt. For no more than three seconds, I let my eyes wander.

The grossest version of myself took over, eyeing the way her nipples pressed against her shirt and the thin slice of toned stomach I could see. Something in me stirred alive that hadn’t in a long time.

One second .

I’d never thought of myself as someone who was into collarbones or necks, but like someone out of the Jane Austen era, I was completely enamored by the sight.

Two seconds .

Her legs were long, almost as long as mine, even though she was only just tall enough to reach my shoulder. Her loose fitting jeans hung off of her in a way that made it easy to imagine putting my hands on her waist. I was surprised by how badly I wanted to.

Three seconds .

I pulled my eyes away. GJ had completely gotten in my head, and I was going to kill her for it if given the chance. Someone like Maya storming into my life out of nowhere was the last thing I needed right now.

“Maya.” Her friend nudged her again, offering me and GJ a polite smile in the process even though she was definitely looking for an out.

I blinked, bringing myself back to reality and shaking off the daze Maya had just yanked me into. I’d managed to go from completely uninterested in dating to fantasizing about someone in literal seconds.

“We can help,” I said, unable to let it go. I was an athlete on track to go pro—competition was my middle name. If I saw something or someone I liked, I was going to fight for it .

GJ turned to me, amused and surprised all at once. With a massive and corny grin on her face, she looked between me and the two girls in front of us. I could see her putting the pieces together and I was definitely going to get teased for it later.

“Yeah, I guess we’re helping,” GJ said. “Who are you looking for? Hopefully, one of us. I’m GJ and this is—“

“We know who you are,” the blonde one said. “Both of you.” She was so soft-spoken that it didn’t come off as dismissive.

“Well, she does,” Maya clarified. “I don’t watch basketball.”

“You know enough to know we’re basketball players,” I said.

“The height gave it away,” she teased back without missing a beat.

“You should come see us play,” GJ said. “Theo’s our star—absolutely nasty on the court.”

Maya redirected her attention toward me, her lips turned up in an intrigued smile. I could tell from the slight squint of her eyes that she was evaluating me. I was disappointed that she seemed to be sizing me up more than checking me out. “You’re the star player?”

“Yeah, she’s got a mouth on her, too, if you can believe it. Court-exclusive, though. You gotta see it in person.”

Even as GJ was talking, Maya kept her eyes on me. “Is this true?” Maya asked me.

“I guess you’ll have to see it for yourself,” I said. “Hope your girlfriend doesn’t get jealous.” Maya’s eyes sparkled, her mouth twisting to hide her smile. “I don’t date,” she said. “Maybe you can make me a fan. ”

I tried not to let her comment about dating faze me, but I was a little disappointed to hear it. The upside was that she was definitely single. “I have no doubt I will.”

“Theo can convert any nonbeliever,” GJ said.

“Yeah, honestly. I agree,” the blonde said with a small shrug.

GJ turned her attention to the blonde. She was always down for competition and always down for the attention of a woman, but she knew better than to go where someone else was clearly trying to go.

I didn’t exactly consider her respectful —she was the worst playboy of the bunch—but she understood our team code.

I appreciated that she was intuitive enough to know I was trying my hand with Maya.

But I was only trying for a few minutes. That was it. That was all I could afford to give Maya, all I wanted to risk giving her.

“You’re a fan?” GJ asked.

“Lifelong,” she said with a small smile. “My dad went here, so I grew up watching the games. Professional basketball, too, but I’ve always preferred college.”

“And you’re sure you weren’t looking for me?” GJ asked.

“She doesn’t bat for our team, unfortunately, which is a huge loss,” Maya said. The mention of our team didn’t get past me. “We’re looking for a basketball player from the men’s team.”

“Well, our loss is his gain,” GJ said. “I don’t know if I’ve seen any of the guys tonight.”

“Shit,” Maya said, sighing.

“Some of them come to our games when they can, especially the guys who swing by here. We’re not close with a lot of them, but we know a handful of them. They’ll probably be around for the first game,” I offered.

“Sounds like you just want me to come to see you play,” Maya said.

“I might have an ulterior motive,” I said. My flirting was usually not so explicit but it was easy with her. Even though I was genuinely flirting with her, it didn’t feel like anything serious. It was like it was a game to her, so it felt like a game to me, too.

Maya was quiet for a beat. “Okay. Maybe I’ll see you there, then.”

“I’ll be looking for you.”

“You better,” she said. She then turned to her friend. “You wouldn’t happen to know any tall, muscular, hot men here for my friend Iris, would you? To make up for her handsome but MIA basketball player?”

“We are not the audience, but we’ll keep an eye out,” GJ said lightly.

“Appreciated,” Maya said.

“Thanks,” her friend said to us genuinely, but definitely with an overtone of wanting to end the conversation. She turned to Maya. “Home?”

Maya nodded in agreement. “Home.”

They headed off toward the front door together and disappeared into the crowd.

I kept my eyes on the back of Maya’s head the entire way until they opened the front door.

Before Maya exited the house, she turned back and gave me one last look over her shoulder.

I stared after her, logging the memory of her in that exact moment as if I was looking at a photograph.

I was disappointed she was gone already; she was the kind of girl I would’ve spent the whole night looking for at the party, always aware of where she was and hoping we’d find each other when the night ended to go home together.

I already knew I’d inevitably look for her in the crowd of every game this season.

“Dude, that was crazy,” GJ said and laughed as soon as the girls were gone. She punched me in the shoulder. “You fucking dog . I had no idea you had game like that.”

I fought off a smile. “Alright, alright—“

“Damn. I mean, it could use some work, but—“

I shook my head. “It’s not happening. She’s never actually going to come to a game.”

GJ shrugged, raising her eyebrows with it. “You never know. She just might.”