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I smiled a little bit, wishing there was some way of being able to get her attention from all the way over here.

But the arena was big enough for thousands of people—she wasn’t going to know where to look or how to find me.

It wasn’t like back home where Iris and I always sat in the student section.

The teams slowed down on warming up and huddled together before running off the court. I settled in, now understanding the rhythm of the game enough to know when it was about to start.

When the announcer started with Lakeside Green, I noticed that not as many people were booing the away team as they did when we were home. The student section was noisy, and some pockets of fans in the crowd, but that was about it.

When Theo ran out, however, what felt like the entire arena started cheering—which was very much like home. It seemed like most of the seats were filled by Lakeside Green fans or people who were just excited to see Theo play in person. No one was expecting an upset.

People were just as excited to see her here as they were in Colorado. Fans held up signs around the stands, sharing how much they loved her, making plays off of her name. One read, All I wanted for my birthday was to see Theo McCall . I saw more than a few signs referencing three-o .

“People really love her,” I said over the roar of the crowd.

“It’s everywhere,” Iris said in between clapping and cheering for the Lakeside players.

“Every game has been like this. She’d gotten close to selling out every home game last year, but she did it this year.

Same with her away games, too.” She turned and looked at me.

“I know you don’t know enough about basketball to know any differently, but this is big time. It doesn’t always look like this.”

I smiled a little bit, admittedly proud of Theo. I didn’t know if I knew her well enough to have any right to feel that way, but it was true.

After tipping off, the game was off to the races. I was still getting used to the plays, what was allowed and what wasn’t, what player wore what number. But I could hear Theo’s voice in my head breaking the plays down for me as I watched. It was making more sense than it had before.

Theo went for a three, and when it swished in, the cheerleaders and her teammates on the bench went wild. Iris cheered, too, along with most of the crowd in the arena. Even Theo let herself celebrate for a second, but the moment passed quickly as the game rolled on.

“What was that?” I asked. People normally got excited about her threes, but it was so early in the game that it couldn’t possibly mean that much. And it’d been an exciting shot, but nothing she hadn’t done before.

“She just broke the record for most points scored by a player in their college career,” Iris said. “ Ever . Between men’s and women’s.“ She turned and looked at me, a coy smile at her lips. “What, that never came up during your internet stalking?”

I tried to wrap my head around it but I couldn’t. I just shook my head, unable to believe it was Theo who was doing all of that. I understood it but I also didn’t. She was just the girl from a party, the girl who talked to me for hours on my couch.

But also, apparently, the women’s basketball player.

The game flew by. Despite the Uber driver’s words about the team not having finals potential in years, they were putting up a decent fight against the Coyotes. One of the players had been able to get a few successful blocks on Theo, which even Theo seemed a little impressed by.

But by the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, it was obvious the Coyotes were going to swing it.

When the final buzzer sounded off, the players lined up for handshakes and post-game interviews and Iris practically yanked me down to the barricade between us and the court.

After Theo wrapped up talking to the reporter on the court, she ran back to celebrate with her team.

Iris started waving to get Theo’s attention, and Theo glanced over.

When she realized we were standing there, she broke into a smile and jogged over.

Even from a distance, I could see that she was drenched in sweat.

But something about her was so effortlessly hot, even immediately following a game.

When she realized security was separating us from the court and the courtside seats below, she waved for us to come down, and security let us pass.

“Thank you,” Iris said, unable to hide the grin on her face at the special treatment.

Down at the court, Theo pulled me into a hug that nearly lifted me off the ground. I squealed and laughed, not at all expecting that reaction.

“Congrats on the record,” I said, still laughing. I knew right then how much I liked her because her sweaty uniform against my skin was deeply unpleasant—but I also would’ve stayed right there forever if I could’ve.

When she went to put me down, she pressed her lips to my cheek. She was so close to my lips that I couldn’t tell if it was intentional that she’d kissed my cheek or if she’d just missed.

Either way, I felt the sensation throughout my entire body. It was all so much at once—the thrill of being here, Theo wanting to celebrate with me, the privilege of coming down courtside to celebrate all because I knew her.

Even after Theo pulled away from our hug, we hovered physically near each other.

“I think that was convincing enough,” I joked, feeling an intense need to play off the interaction. “The fans will love that.” I cringed a little bit. I was definitely going to be overthinking that tonight.

“Thanks for coming,” Theo said, and I decided not to think too much into how Theo wasn’t playing along with the fake girlfriend jokes anymore. I didn’t have it in me to guess what that meant.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about the record!” I said, punching her lightly in the arm. I brushed off thoughts of how firm her muscles were and how badly I wanted to run my hands over her muscles.

“It never came up,” Theo said casually and then draped her arm over my shoulders.

“You smell so bad.” I laughed, ducking out from under her.

Theo turned and chased me, nearly picking me up in her arms again as I laughed. When we turned around, Theo suddenly stopped and stood up straight.

When I looked over, I saw a white middle-aged couple looking at the two of us curiously, an amused smile on both of their faces.

“Hi, honey,” the woman said.