Page 57 of Love & Streetball

“I don’t see any other names on you, though. Your parents?” she whispered.

I shrugged. “They not on me.”

Slim stilled, her hand resting on my side she was now in a sports bra and ball shorts that stopped mid-thigh. Slim didn’t look up at me, just kept her eyes fixed on the ink on my skin.

“Dang, I mean a lot to you, huh?”

I heard the humor in her tone, but she did. She did mean a lot to me. Slim never saw me as the rich boy she could milk money out of. She genuinely became a friend. She looked out for me even when I didn’t think I needed it.

“You do,” I said, my tone serious. “You mean a lot to me, Slim. You’re the reason I’m still playing ball.”

Her eyes narrowed a little when she finally looked up at me. There was a mixture of shock, confusion, and something else on her face.

“Kane…” she started, but didn’t know how to finish.

I didn’t give her a chance to. Leaning down, my eyes locked on hers, I gave Slim a split second to pull away. She didn’t. Not this time. Not even a push or a slap across the face. She just stood there, her breath hitching and her lips slightly apart.

I kissed her.

It was a peck at first. It was soft and slow, a gentle press of my lips on hers. It was like I was sealing a silent promise I’d been waiting to make for a long time.

Slim froze. She didn’t poke her lips out. Then, something inside of her seemed to break. Slim melted against me, her body softening. She kissed me back.

Pressing my luck, I slipped my tongue inside her mouth to explore. It was a deep, hungry, desperate kiss.

Wrapping my arms around Slim, I pulled her flush against me, my hands roaming her back, then down to her ass. Then she pulled away, breaking the kiss. Her hand went to her mouth, a finger running along her lips.

“Um…”

“You don’t have to say nothin’ right now, Slim. My eyes heavy as fuck. Let’s go to sleep,” I told her, moving from her and climbing in the bed. Her air was blowing.

She rounded the bed and sat on the other side. Lying on my back, I held my arms out.

“Come on,” I told her. “I ain’t finna rub on that booty or nothin’. I’m tired for real.” I smirked.

Slim scooted toward me and laid her head on my chest, her body facing mine, and we went to sleep.

Two weeks later…

I passed the ball to Slim, and she easily sunk the ball in with a jump shot. We slapped hands and quickly kissed. That was now her favorite thing to do. Who would have known?

After that kiss in her bedroom, when we woke up from the coma Olive Garden put us end, we had the talk. It was more me pouring my heart out to Slim—again, but this time, she listened and told me that she would try to be a girlfriend. She ain’t even held a nigga’s hand before. If we were being real, I ain’t been in a relationship before either. Kayla didn’t count. Me and Slim were both learning as we went. It was more of us kissing and holding hands. We haven’t went past that.

“I kneeeew y’all were gon’ get together. If Vani were alive, he owed me ‘cause we had a bet. He said y’all weren’t ‘cause he’d fuck you up first,” Jalen laughed. “That nigga owe me a band! I should dig his ass up and let him know he lost. He’d be pissed!”

Slim shook her head. We were spending our time together during the summer before we headed to our separate colleges. Slim was nervous, but I kept telling her that she’d make friends. College was way different than high school.

I laughed as Jalen went on his tangent. Vani would’ve been pissed. I remember the day he walked me out of the projects and made sure I got in my Ride Share. He said You can be cool wit’ Slim, but that’s it. Don’t get on no weird shit.

Slim was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. I could see the nerves swirling in there, even as she tried to play it cool. She was leaning against the chain-link fence, her water bottle in hand, watching us. College was looming over us like a storm cloud, and we were both trying to pretend it wasn’t there.

“Aight, last game, winner’s ball,” Jalen called out, grabbing the ball and checking it to me.

We played hard, like we always did, but there was a new energy to it. Every time I scored, I’d look over at Slim, and she’d give me this little smirk that made my chest feel tight. Every time she made a good play, I’d be the first one to hype her up. We were a team on and off the court now, and it felt right. It felt like how it was supposed to be.

We won, of course. I hit the game-winning shot, a fadeaway jumper that was all net. Slim ran over and jumped into my arms, her legs wrapping around my waist. I spun her around, her laughter mixing with the sound of Jalen’s fake gagging noises.

“Aight, aight, y’all nasty,” Jalen groaned, grabbing his stuff. “I’m out. Y’all got that new couple energy, it’s making my stomach hurt. I’ll see y’all later.”