I wake up to the sound of the door opening. Reid steps inside and closes the door quietly behind him. I blink, trying to orient myself. I don’t know what time it is or even what day it is. “Why don’t you have a shirt on?” Why that question popped out when there are so many more important questions to ask, I’ll never know.
Reid faces me. “Morning. I was just coming to wake you up.”
I eye his sweaty chest. “Did you run without me?”
“Yes.”
I sit up and throw the covers off. “Reid!”
He puts both hands up. “In my defense, I did try waking you up. Twice.” He shrugs. “After that, I figured you needed the sleep.”
I frown. I always wake up easily, always have. “Huh.” I stand up and stretch. “What time is it now?”
“It’s still early. It’s just before six. There’s time to practice if you want.”
I remember his offer from last night to practice with me and help me get ready for this afternoon’s practice. “You don’t mind?”
He gives me a look. “No. Come on.”
“Let me go throw clothes on, and I’ll meet you outside.” I hurry to my room and throw on exercise clothes. I'm outside five minutes later. One of the reasons the guys chose this house their freshman year was because of the huge backyard to play sports. The second reason was the nice basketball court on the side ofthe house. I head there now. Reid is waiting for me, and so is Zane.
“Zane’s going to help us,” Reid says when I get close.
Zane walks over to me with a frown on his face. “I’m sorry your coach is such a jerk.”
I shake my head. “She’s not a jerk, and you can’t say that about her.”
“Pretty sure I just did. Reid told me all about how she treated you. That’s not right.”
“Well, right or wrong; she’s my coach. I have to deal with her. Well, if I make it onto the team, that is.”
“You’re going to make the team, Riley,” Zane says. “Let’s go.”
“Okay, Riley,” Reid says. “Right here.”
I go stand in front of him. “You’re my defense?” I ask him.
“Yep.” I scowl but don’t say anything. If I can get it past him, I can get past anybody.
“Okay. Post up.” I stand in front of him and put my hand out for the ball. Zane throws it, and I fake left before turning right and shooting. Reid blocks it, and I scowl at him. “You’re too far away. Get closer.” He puts his hands on my hips and pulls me closer. Zane passes me the ball again. “You have to feel your defender right behind you. Push me back to gain some space. Use your butt, Riley. Push into me to get me to back up and give you space.” I do as he says. “Harder. Push into me. Okay. Now fake and turn and shoot.” I do as he says and make the jump shot.
“Okay, that was painful to watch,” Zane says, and I scowl at him.
“It went in.”
“Yeah, because Reid’s your mate and doesn’t want to hurt you. Let’s go.” He walks over to me.
“What?” I ask in confusion.
“Reid, you pass. Riley, you post up to me because you better believe I’m not going to let you push all over me like Reid did.”
At first I don’t think Reid’s going to let Zane trade places with him, but he finally does. He doesn’t look happy about it, though. I scowl at Zane. “Do you even remember how to do this?”
He smirks. “I played basketball for a long time before I focused solely on football. Don’t you worry about me, Little Sis.” His smirk fades, and he’s all business. “Let’s go.”
I turn and face Reid. “Give me a target,” Reid says. I put my hand high to the right. He passes there, and I dribble and back into Zane. He pushes right back against me. I push harder, but he’s like a brick wall. I fake to the left and spin, but he’s right there.
He raises an eyebrow. “Were you trying to do something there?” He takes the ball out of my hands. “Come on. Stop playing like a girl.”
