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“I see you, Yani!” I yelled excitedly, the little smirk she shot my way as she moved to celebrate with her teammates making it hard for me not to grin too as Gerald leaned in and asked, “Man, you sure they ain’t playin’ for your heart?”
Since I knew they were both just competitive as fuck, it was easy for me to play off his question when I shook my head and responded, “Nah, man. They just really wanna win.” And my claims were backed up almost immediately once Racquel’s team was back on offense and she made some sick ass catch to tie the score, the rest of the game fueled by that same back and forth brawl energy until it got down to the final few minutes with Yani’s team up one touchdown.
The shit was way more intense than I could’ve ever imagined as I watched Racquel’s team set up the play they hoped would get them closer to tying the game. But with a handoff to their running back came Yani’s ass rushing to get to her, easily catching up to the woman and giving her flag a hard yank that made Gerald yell, “Okay, Lady Hawk!”
“Bro,chill,” I groaned, laughing along with Gerald as he insisted, “You can’t say she ain’t look like you rushing the ball like that!”
Her making a big play wasn’t what I was referring to, and he knew it. But instead of arguing about what he’d called her, I chose to focus on the field as Racquel’s team failed to make much of anything of their second and third down, bringing us to what was possibly the final play of the game.
You would’ve thought I was out there competing the way my heart started pounding as I watched the two teams line up, Yani choosing to guard Racquel since we all knew the ball was going her way and Yani had proven to be one of the few who could actually keep up with her. But with experience considered, Racquel was still at a bit of an advantage as she busted her ass to get down field the second the ball was snapped, Yani hanging with her every step of the way until the quarterback launched the ball and things seemingly started playing out in slow motion.
Racquel and Yani’s matching strides towards the end zone.
The ball spiraling through the air.
Yani stopping a little short when she realized the ball wasn’t going as far as Racquel thought, and then jumping to intercept the ball.
The momentum of the catch causing her to land flat on her back with the back of her head smacking the ground loud enough for me to hear on the sideline.
“Oh shit,”I hissed as Gerald shouted,“Let’s go!” the fact that Yani wasn’t really moving sending me into a panic as I rushed out onto the field to see if she was okay. But thankfully, by the time I actually made it to her, she was slowly starting to sit up, a lazy grin on her lips when she groggily asked, “I guess going up for an interception to win the game really was Lady Hawk of me, huh?”
Honestly, I hadn’t even thought she’d heard Gerald’s silly ass comment earlier. But the fact that she remembered him saying that was a good sign as I squatted down in front of her and cupped her face so that I could check her pupils to see if she was really concussed while also scolding, “Next time, I’ma need you to protect your fuckin’ head, girl. Almost gave a nigga a heart attack.”
The smirk she responded with made it hard for me to actually be mad at her, especially after the crazy ass play she’d made to seal her team’s victory. And then there was also the whole sweaty and sexy thing she had going in her favor, the fact that she’d played her ass off and still looked good as hell temporarily distracting me from my impromptu concussion test until she frowned and responded, “According to the look on Racquel’s face right now, I don’t think there will be a next time.”
Turning to peek over my shoulder, I was met with a death stare as Racquel shook her head at me before storming off the field. And she was already snatching up her belongings to head to her car by the time I caught up to her and asked, “Rocki? Rocki, what’s up?”
Rolling her eyes, she sarcastically replied, “Oh, sonowyou remember I’m here.Great.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, truly not understanding where her hostile energy was coming from until she came back at me with a whole list.
“The friend from high school, her being at your house, you inviting her to my field,you… nursing her injuries. It all makes sense now.”
So this was about Yani.
Checking on my friend’s well-being wasn’t something I’d ever feel bad about. But the way she’d somehow managed to connect that to all the other shit had me frowning hard when I asked, “What are you even talking about?”
With a heavy sigh, Racquel finally stopped at her car door and said, “Look, Hawk. I don’t doubt that you like me, you’ll entertain me, you’ll invite me to your games, and obviously you’ll fuck me. But youclearlyhave some real ass feelings for that girl you claimed was just a friend, and I don’t appreciate you playing in my fuckin’ face about it.”
Did I have feelings for Yani?
Honestly, I was still trying to figure all that out.
But the way Racquel had framed it as me playing in her face about it like I’d somehow wronged her when we weren’t even in a place of owing each other full-blown explanations only brought me back to the conclusion I’d drawn earlier, realizing that I was a little late with the whole setting boundaries thing as I watched her climb into her whip and speed out of the parking lot.
Once the smoke cleared, I could only shake my head as I turned to make my way back to the field and found an audience of people trying to pretend like they hadn’t tuned in to whatever the fuck had just happened. And honestly, that only made the whole thing even more annoying as I went to rejoin Gerald who commented, “Well… if you need a new trainer, I know a guy.”
With an unamused laugh, I dapped him up and thanked him for coming before I sent him on his way. And then I stood around waiting for Yani who was busy chatting it up with both her teammates and Racquel’s who were all either showing her love for her incredible performance and just happy to see her upright after her fall, seeing her be met with good energy making me temporarily forget about the drama of before even though I was lowkey bracing myself for Yani to have some questions during the drive home.
Surprisingly, she didn’t. And I suppose that made sense once I peeked her way about halfway into the ride and saw her dozing off against the window, the fact that I still wasn’t completely convinced she didn’t have a concussion making it mandatory for me to wake her up even if that whole concept was allegedly more myth than truth.
I wasn’t about to take any chances either way, pinching Yani’s thigh as I told her, “Wake up, Lady Hawk.”
Grinning with her eyes still closed, she groggily responded, “You ain’t real if you don’t have that on a t-shirt by my next game.”
Her being able to engage in a conversation was another good sign. But hearing her speak about playing again had my eyebrow piqued curiously when I asked, “I thought you said there wasn’t gonna be a next time?”
“Racquel’s homegirls made it abundantly clear that they’d love to have me as a regular,” she explained. “And I’d love to be halfed.Halved?No, that’s like a magician cutting someone…”
