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Down on the court, the opposing team—the Jaguars—got a handle on the ball first. They sprinted down the court, and the Lakeside Green boys found their positions.

They set up man-to-man, each person playing hard to stop the ball from moving.

But twelve on the Jaguars shot the ball up in the air and dropped it easily through the net.

When the ball made it into Danny’s hands, the crowd sat up straighter.

It would most likely be the Danny show all over again, mostly because it had to be.

I felt bad for him, more than anything. He was genuinely a very talented player.

But he didn’t have the infrastructure to get anywhere.

Unlike my team, which stepped up and matched my skills, his team seemed to fall back and let him take control.

Some people might like being the star in that way, but it’d only hurt Danny’s game overall.

He’d already been pretty explicit with me that he probably wasn’t even going to try for the NBA—he might try for G League, but even that was variable—so it was a bummer to know that this was how his last season ever was shaping up for him.

It was like that sometimes, though. We spent most of our lives training, practicing, pushing, ignoring that it would all eventually have to end, until one day, it was just over .

Sometimes it was in a big way—championships and the promise of a professional future in the game.

But sometimes, it was unceremoniously. The whole point of sports was that not everyone could win, which meant someone had to lose, even during their last year of college ball.

I was preparing myself for the possibility of that feeling that I would hear people talk about. Waking up and not having practice or a team. Having a normal job. Basketball would turn into a lifelong fun fact— did you know we made it to the Elite Eight one year? —and memories.

I knew that the odds of my never playing again were incredibly low.

The odds of me not being drafted at all were also incredibly low, at least based on rumors I’d heard and knowledge of my own stats.

But it wasn’t just about my own abilities—I could get injured at any time, or I could lose the mental game when I attempted to transition over to playing professionally.

A ref blew the whistle down on the court, pulling my attention back to the game. The scoring was keeping pretty even; based on what I’d seen, the defense was lacking on both teams.

“What was that for? The whistle, I mean?” Maya asked, and then her cheeks flushed. “Sorry. You totally didn’t come here to have me nag you with questions the entire time. ”

“No, I don’t mind,” I said, partially because the game was a little dull, but I was never going to say that out loud. “Blocking foul. It was a stupid move—I don’t know what he was thinking.”

The guys lined up so the Jaguars could do their free throw attempts. The first one made it in but the second one didn’t, giving the Coyotes a chance to maintain their thin lead.

The refs blew their whistles again and I shook my head. “Traveling,” I said, trying not to sound too annoyed.

The game went on like that for what felt like forever.

It would stop and start, both teams fouling for dumb reasons.

Danny was unsurprisingly the glue keeping them together—he’d scored nearly every point Lakeside Green had on the board by the end of the first half.

Maya periodically asked questions throughout the game, but it was so slow-moving that even she seemed to be getting the hang of it and no longer needed to ask. Or she’d zoned out completely.

There was no media coverage for this game; the teams ran straight back into the locker rooms, and the cheerleaders replaced them on the court for halftime.

“Are you finally going to tell me who he is?” Maya asked, turning to Iris. “Do you not want to admit it because he’s on the bench?”

“He’s not on the bench,” Iris protested and then realized her mistake.

Maya’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that is very good to know. I hope it’s the one who keeps scoring. I don’t know if I could support you pursuing a man who’s one of the worst on his college basketball team.”

“I’m ready to sign myself up for a lifetime of rec league games,” Iris said, resignation in her voice. “At least one of us won’t have to.”

Maya turned to look at Iris. I couldn’t see her face, but I knew based on Iris’s reaction that she got exactly what she wanted.

I fought off a smile, understanding exactly what Iris was implying.

A burst of hope fluttered in my chest. Maybe Maya really had been thinking of me the same way I’d been thinking about her this whole time.

The cheerleaders finished their routine and ran off the court. Mag’s twin sister—Leah—moved with the group, smiling and waving as she went back to the court end line. It was jarring to see someone with such a similar face to Mags on a completely different body.

The second half of the game picked up some momentum—I could only guess both teams had their asses handed to them by their coaches. There were occasional bursts of energy on both sides and quick-thinking plays, but it faded out quickly.

The score started to space out further and further as the other team lost their handle on blocking Danny.

Some of the other players started to catch up, too, and finally got the ball into the net, so it wasn’t just Danny.

By the end of the game, there was hardly any fight left, and the Lakeside Green boys pulled through.

The crowd cheered and celebrated, still excited about the win. We sang our school’s fight song, and the boys started gathering their things to head back into the locker room. Before they could leave, I went down to say hi—and test my theory that Danny was the guy that Iris was into.

“Danny!” I yelled, cupping my hands around my mouth so he’d hear me over the noise.

He looked up toward the student section to see where the noise was coming from. When he saw me, he waved and walked over. I waved for Iris and Maya to come down with me to meet him.

“Good game,” I said as Danny dapped me up.

“It was alright.”

“Twenty-two points is killer, dude.”

“You know how it is,” he said and I did.

Just because the stats from a game were good didn’t mean the game itself was good.

Their defense had been weak and most of the players on the team who were able to match Danny’s shooting abilities hadn’t woken up until the second half.

It’d felt a little bit like a one-man show and not in a good way.

“You guys doing anything after the game?”

“Uh, yeah. I think we’re going to Devonte’s tonight. He and James offered to host something at their house.”

I wrinkled my nose. “That place is disgusting.”

Danny shrugged and wiped sweat from his brow. “Best and final offer. ”

“Alright, I’ll let you know,” I said and glanced over at Iris and Maya. Maya looked like she was interested in going; Iris was looking at anything other than Danny. There it was . I wasn’t reckless enough to be a gambler, but I would’ve put money on Danny being her guy if I were.

“You guys are welcome to come, too, if you want,” Danny said, looking between Maya and Iris.

“That’s sweet, thank you,” Maya said. “Good game.”

“Yeah, good game,” Iris said, and Maya looked at her like she’d grown a second head.

Based on what I’d seen during the game, Iris loved basketball.

She’d had a lot to say about how the Coyotes sucked at rebounding just a few minutes ago.

Either she had a personal vendetta against Danny, or he was the guy she’d been secretly crushing on.

I fought off a smile thinking about how Maya had gotten me completely wrapped up in her roommate’s personal life.

It was so unlike me. I stayed out of drama and personal shit on every front that I could—team drama, dating drama, conference drama.

There was a reason I never had much to say about Cam Kerr when her name came up.

But this felt like a way of getting closer to Maya. And maybe a way of helping Iris out, too, if she really was that serious about the crush she had on her mysterious basketball player.

“Thanks,” Danny said. “Alright. I gotta get back but maybe see you tonight.”

“See you, D,” I said .

Danny winked at me and then nodded his head at Iris and Maya. When he walked away, Maya looked at me. “He was sweet.”

“He’s alright,” I said, clapping my hands together. “So, you guys want to go tonight?”