Every Which Way (Sloan Brothers)

by Calia Read

  “What do you think I should do?”

  “Don’t ask me. I’m not a Magic 8 ball. I have no answers for you.”

  Severine tried to envision a boring night without seeing Thayer. It wasn’t going to happen, at least not tonight. “I’m seeing him,” Severine said with a quick nod of the head.

  “My opinion wouldn’t have mattered, would it?”

  Severine smiled. “Probably not.”

  * * * * *

  “Ugh,” Severine groaned out. “The noise. I’m already getting a headache.”

  “Pipe down, will you?” Lily squeezed her body through their row, toward their seats, carrying a pile of candy and popcorn. She tossed the candy at Severine. “I got you some DOTS. I figured that’d shut you up.”

  Severine caught them with one hand and grinned. “Thanks.”

  “But I swear, if you complain once, or tell me you wanna go, I’ll take them away.”

  Severine ripped open the box and looked around the building. It was massive. Around them sat thousands of people. And when Severine said thousands, she meant thousands. “Why are there so many people here? There are way too many people on the Earth. And is this seriously a gym where they play basketball all the time?”

  Lily made a funny face at Severine. “This isn’t a gym, genius. It’s an effin Arena. Did the banner above our heads that says, ‘Welcome to Rosen Arena,’ not tip you off? Also, stop being such a freak. If you keep making odd comments about the world’s population, people are going to start thinking you’re a Unabomber.”

  “I’m not weird! This is just so many people. It’s too much.”

  “The game hasn’t even started, and you’re already complaining.”

  “Leave me to my DOTS, then.”

  Lily threw a piece of popcorn in the air to catch with her mouth. It hit the old man in front of them. Lily ignored his glare and ate her food like a normal human. “I’m just familiar with your work. We’ll be here for an hour, and you’ll be all, ‘Oh, my butt hurts, let’s go.’ Or, ‘Why is this so long?’ I’m staying for Ben, and that’s that.”

  “No, I’ve only complained when it came to football. The movie Titanic is quicker to watch than that sport.”

  Lily nodded her head to the music blaring from the speakers. “So true. Cut an hour off the game and I might watch it.”

  Severine held her fist out for Lily to hit back. “This is why I love you.”

  “So does Thayer know you’re here?”

  “Nope.”

  “Are you trying to be incognito?”

  “Kind of.”

  “Then you should’ve thought of that before you chose to sit next to me. We’re in the fourth row, my friend. He’s gonna notice you.”

  “He might be one of those really intense players.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe...shh!” Lily whacked Severine’s thigh like she was the one talking. “Warm up time. This deserves my full concentration.”

  A sarcastic retort was ready to pass through Severine’s lips, but she turned her attention to the court and stared along with Lily. On the right side of the court stood Thayer, next to his teammates.

  Severine’s smile was faint as she watched him stand in line. He moved toward the basket to catch the rebound. He jumped higher than Severine ever could, and firmly held the ball in his hands before passing it off and running to the opposite line. Everything around him was invisible, as his eyes were focused and completely in the zone. With his hands on his hips, Severine took in the long sleeve shirt that had their University on the front and his number, fifty-five. Above it was the name Sloan.

  Part of her smile died off when she saw that she wasn’t the only one noticing him. A few of the cheerleaders on the side pointed at him. She didn’t have to wonder what they were saying. She had probably said it herself. The possessive side of her wanted to stand and point out that she knew more of him than they ever would. She kept still and bounced her legs up and down with anger.

  “What’s up with them?”

  Lily leaned on Severine’s shoulder and kept her face on the court. “Who?”

  “Those.” Severine flung her hand towards the cheerleaders. “It’s like slut-a-palooza over there.”

  “Oh.” Lily rolled her eyes. “Yeah, they’re always at games. I say we get some male cheerleaders that rah-rah around shirtless with baby oil on their chest.”

  A random girl in front of them leaned back. “I’d agree to that.”

  “I’m such a genius,” Lily muttered.

  A buzzer loudly went off, and the teams went to their side of the court, opposite of each other. Thayer took off his warm up shirt and tossed it on the chair behind him. His back was to her as he listened to his coach speak.

  Everyone rose around her. Cheering and shouts rang around the room as the announcer’s voice came through the speakers to announce the starting players. Thayer sat in his seat, waiting for his name to be called. Severine wanted to shout out that she was behind him, here to watch him. Instead, she squelched her anxiousness and listened to his name being called.

  “And now, our very own starting center forward.” The crowd surged with more cheers, and the student body sections jumped up and down. Severine clapped her hands in front of her, slowly getting into the spirit. “At six-foot-nine, Thayer Sloan!”

  He ran through the line of his teammates and met the rest of the starting four on the court.

  Everyone started shouting and chanting as the refs walked onto the court. Thayer rubbed the bottom of his shoes and solemnly kept his focus on the court.

  Severine watched alongside everyone else as the referee threw the ball in the air, between the two players. Thayer caught it with his palm and aimed in the direction of his teammates. Severine stood, without even knowing, for the first time at any game.

  * * * * *

  “Ohhh.” Lily bounced back and forth on her legs.

  Severine looked over the shoulder of the person in front of her, to look at the court. She spoke distractedly. “What are you doing, Lily?”

  “I have to pee like a freakin’ race horse.”

  “Go to the bathroom.”

  A teammate of Thayer’s made a shot. Applause and whistles rang everywhere.

  Lily groaned and squeezed her thighs tightly together. “I can’t do that. The line to most ladies rooms is ridic. The line at an Arena? It’s nuckin’ futs. I’d rather squat down and pee in my cup.”

  “That’s what you get for buying a drink the size of a Big Gulp. You also go pee a lot. Are you sure you don’t have a bladder the size of a Skittle?”

  “This game can’t end fast enough.”

  “I’m staying for Ben, and that’s that,” Severine announced in a nasally voice. “Do you remember saying that?”

  “That was before my bladder was being crushed like a freakin’ pancake.”

  “Well, there’s a minute left. Hang tight, and in the meantime, think of a waterfall streaming down toward a large ocean.”

  “Can it!” Lily snarled.

  Severine smiled and looked at the basketball court. The whole game she was able to sit back and watch Thayer unaware. It gave her a thrill to see Thayer on the court, to watch him do something with such talent.

  A player from the opposite team passed the ball to his teammate. Thayer snatched the ball in mid-air and took off dribbling toward the other basket. When he moved closer, he jumped, turned slightly, and his hands hung onto the rim as the ball went through the net.

  Severine stared with wide eyes as he jumped back down. The crowd screamed, and Severine smirked with pride. He turned and pointed his finger straight at her.

  Her blood felt frozen, and she felt like she had just been caught.

  A smile was on his face as he ran back down the court. Not once did his eyes leave her face. “Uh...is he pointing at you?” Lily asked. Her bladder issue was forgotten as Thayer drew attention away from the game and toward a spectator.

  She knew she was the spectator, but the people rows
up and across the floor didn’t know. Her heart beat wildly, as a woman in front of her smiled up at Severine with a look that said, ‘Well, aren’t you two just the cutest.’ Severine wanted to kill him, but it was a fleeting feeling, not with the happiness rushing through her.

  Chapter Forty-two

  Severine leaned her body against the pole light, and watched Thayer’s tall frame exit the Arena. Dressed in a pair of black track pants and a sweatshirt, he should’ve looked sloppy. All Severine could picture was him on the court. Grabbing a gray snowcap from the pocket of his hoodie, he put it on and quickly jogged toward her with a wide grin on his face.

  People walked around them and to the warmth of their cars. That was where Severine should be, but instead she was looking up at a guy that had earlier made a declaration to her that he couldn’t take back. Branding in the bedroom —completely alone—was for their pleasure. They’d know the marks on each other and how they got there. But something so simple as a point...it was more than that. Thayer had just told everyone she belonged to him.

  The air was covered in white flakes. They fell around them, and a few clung to their faces. Severine felt one fall on her eyelashes. She still stared up at Thayer.

  “That was a good game.”

  Thayer dug his hands into pockets of his track pants as he lifted a single brow and spoke. “You told me you weren’t going to come.”

  Severine also never thought she’d be craving Thayer in her bed, but things happen that you don’t expect. Keeping her hands busy, Severine slid closer and placed them in a single pocket of his hoodie. “I wanted to see you play.”

  He enveloped her space and pressed closer. “I saw you after half-time. You were talking to Lily.”

  “So your first idea was to point at me?” Severine asked.

  “You didn’t like my acknowledgement?” Thayer asked innocently. Severine knew better. It was all planned out.

  “I didn’t say I didn’t like it...” Severine said slowly. “But now everyone will be wondering what’s between us.”

  He lifted a hand to grasp her cheek. “Maybe that’s the exact reason I did it.”

  “I still want everything kept private...I want you to myself.”

  Thayer’s jaw clenched, and he looked up at the sky. “And you think if people know it will ruin this?”

  Severine’s extracted her hands from his pocket and lay her head on his shoulder. “Exactly!”

  Like everything else in her life, Severine was afraid she’d take all this in too quickly. Thayer tended to surfeit through her. She’d probably never be satisfied with anything in her life. But with him, she was willing to toss out all her theories for the future. “I’m trying my best, Thayer.”

  He slowly nodded and walked her to his truck, with his arm tightly wrapped around her. They walked in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Severine finally broke the quiet. “What do you want to do tonight?”

  For a second, he played with his keys before he looked at her. “I wanna take you somewhere.”

  Severine narrowed her eyes as he opened her door. “Where?”

  “It’s nowhere you’d think.”

  Severine buckled herself in and looked over at Thayer’s profile. There was just enough light pooling in from the pole light outside for her to see the mischievous smile on his face. “You’re freaking me out.”

  “Are you doubting me?” Thayer asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

  Severine shook her head instantly. “No.”

  “Good. Trust me.”

  I trust you with everything.

  * * * * *

  Severine stared at the scene in front of her skeptically. “Why are we at a park?”

  Thayer wiggled his eyebrows and grabbed his gym bag for a pair of gloves. “We’re gonna play a game.”

  “You are?”

  “We both are,” Thayer corrected.

  “I’m in boots with heels, and it’s freezing. I don’t feel like getting hypothermia.”

  “You have gloves, and you have a hood on your coat,” Thayer pointed out. “When you start shooting the basketball, you won’t care.”

  Severine reluctantly placed her purse on the dashboard. Her eyes were still cautious as she watched Thayer put a pair of gloves on. “I wanna know why we’re here in the first place. You just played a game. Shouldn’t you be tired?”

  “Nope.” Thayer grinned happily. Across from her was a man that dominated on the basketball court. But right now, he looked innocent and carefree. “Let’s go.”

  Their doors slammed closed at the same time. Thayer waited for her at the hood of his truck. Tucked tight to his hip was a basketball. His right hand was held out for her to take.

  As they walked, Severine peered closer at the small basketball court placed in the middle of the park. Only two lamplights were placed around it, giving enough illumination for the hoops to be seen. A thin layer of snow hid the concrete and painted lines on the ground.

  “I’m gonna bust my ass,” Severine muttered as they trekked toward the small court. “I can feel it. My ass is already tingling from the contact.”

  “I’m not making you do full layups,” Thayer teased.

  “I kind of want to do what you did tonight.”

  Thayer threw back his head and laughed. “A slam dunk?”

  “Yeah. I have the potential.” Severine said seriously. She only lasted for a few seconds before a smile crept its way onto her face.

  He looked down at her and grinned. “You think so?”

  “I know it.” Severine couldn’t keep her face solemn any longer. She grinned widely as Thayer looked at her skeptically. “You wanna know a super nerd moment for me?”

  “Tell me.”

  “When I was really little, my babysitter let watch Space Jam. Remember that movie?”

  Thayer nodded and laughed loudly. “Hell, yeah. I think I forced Mathias to watch that with me every day for a month. He still cringes anytime I mention Michael Jordan.”

  “Well, I loved it. That was when I used to think everything was possible.

  The two of them walked onto the snow-covered court. Thayer dusted the snow away with his shoe, making the free throw line apparent.

  He turned to the hoop and shot the ball. It connected with the hoop and slammed down to the ground. Thayer ran after it and beckoned Severine to come closer.

  “I’m not moving,” Severine warned. “I’ll just shoot from the free throw line.”

  Thayer smiled and passed the ball to her. “I’m surprised you know what that is.”

  Severine rolled her eyes. “I was actually good at basketball.”

  “How good?”

  “Good enough to kick your ass,” Severine teased. He gave her a funny expression. “I enjoyed it a lot.” She twirled the basketball with her fingers and after years, she did her best to keep the form correct. It hit the rim and veered to the right.

  “Not bad, Blake.”

  Severine laughed and ran after the ball. “Not bad? Kids on youth leagues can shoot better than me.”

  “You haven’t played in years.” Thayer pointed out. He was just being generous. They both knew she sucked.

  Severine tsked at Thayer and tossed him the ball. “It’s so easy to give advice when you’re on top.”

  With one hand, he aimed at the hoop. It was a swish. Back and forth they went. Severine mostly watched from the side.

  “You wanna call it quits?”

  “Nah.” Severine looked down at her boots that were undoubtedly ruined from the snow. She was having too much fun to leave. “My feet are past the frozen stage.”

  Thayer laughed and shot the ball and then retrieved it. The process continued for a few more minutes. Severine finally interrupted the quaint silence between them. “So why did you bring me here tonight?”

  He lifted his shoulders and shot the ball. “I wanted you to see a part of my life.”

  “Didn’t I see that tonight at the game?”

  The ball landed
on the concrete waiting to be picked up. Thayer stayed put and stared at her. “That’s just a game. Privately, when no one is around, it’s a chance for me to focus and clear my head.”

  “It’s therapeutic.” Severine said quietly as she looked at him.

  Thayer picked the ball back up and shot underneath the basket. “Exactly.”

  Severine walked up the to the free throw line. Thayer joined her and stared at the basket. “When I was I kid, all I had was a basket attached to a barn.”

  Severine peeked a look at him and let him speak.

  “It was the crappiest thing. The barn was close to falling apart. It had a caved-in roof, the red paint of the building was past chipped and faded. At one side of the barn was the basketball hoop. It was like the barn and barely hanging on. My grandpa and dad took it down, and we painted it white again. In green paint we had my last name, my jersey number fifty-five, and NBA in bold letters. After that, I didn’t care what held up the hoop. It was holding my dreams.”

  “You used it a lot?”

  Thayer nodded. “All the time. Winter was my favorite time to play. I’d get off the school bus and go straight to the place that I considered, ‘my area,’ and play until my bones felt frozen. The sun would set early and I’d watch it go down and keep shooting until the lamp light came on. I didn’t really need the light. I knew my shot by heart.”

  “Weren’t you ever told to go inside?”

  A small smile came onto Thayer’s lips. “All the time. I’m crazy, though, I loved the winter air. My lungs felt clean afterwards. Everything felt refreshed.”

  “Did it always stay that way for you?”

  Finally Thayer turned to her. A part of his soul was being shared. His gray eyes were raw and fresh with the truth. “Not always. Life got a little better, and a little worse. I don’t think I can ever close this door of my life. It will always be an outlet for me.”

  “Do you want to go pro?”

  Thayer shook his head. “No. To get to that point it’d be less of an outlet and more about the game. If I miss a shot here, it doesn’t matter. If I make one, well that just surges me further.” He turned to her and held the ball out. “You shoot.”