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“I know,” Layne said. “I just choked. I’ll be better in the next one. I think I just needed to get back on the court.”
“I don’t want you thinking about me out there.”
“You thought about me sitting on the bench when you were out there.”
“Fair,” Shay said with a nod. “If I get noticed and have a chance at the draft, that’s amazing. But I’ve accepted it, Layne. I still want it, and I’m still going to drive for it, but I’ve accepted that it’s probably not going to happen. I don’t want it to impact your play.”
“I was nervous tonight.”
“And that’s what Coach wanted to talk to you about?”
“She noticed I was slow and needed to work on my fitness.”
“Did you tell her?”
“No,” she said, knowing what Shay was talking about.
“Babe…”
“I should have; I know. I had a moment where I almost told her, but I didn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I do want to play. Shay, I didn’t want to come back to school. I pretty much hate my classes and the amount of work it takes to keep up. I have you, and I have basketball, but right now, I can’t see you in person unless we’re playing basketball. If I tell her that it’s still affecting me, and she tells me that it’s not worth keeping me on the team, that’s it. I won’t get to see you at all, probably.”
“She wouldn’t do that, babe. She might keep you on the bench, but she wouldn’t take away your scholarship or kick you off the team. You haven’t done anything wrong. And it’s not like she can find someone else to fill out the roster. She’s not going to go back to the walk-ons who tried out and didn’t make it and just ask one of them to join the team mid-season. I get why you don’t want to tell her. I just want you to be okay. That’s all I care about.”
“I know,” Layne replied. Then, she looked around and added, “Hey, this is the bench.”
“What?”
“The bench.”
“Wait. The bench? Where Sabrina asked you out?”
“Yeah. I used to run down the sidewalk here and through the shortcut between those buildings.” Layne pointed down and across the street. “And over to the block with the Meredith Residence Hall. It’s a mile, if you run it all the way around, so I used to do that sometimes when I needed to get out of my head a little.”
Shay didn’t move from her spot on the bench, but she did move her hand into the middle of the bench and set it there.
“We both tested negative before the game,” she said. “And we’ll take another test tomorrow before practice.”
Layne wasn’t sure what she was getting at, but she looked down and saw Shay’s upturned hand.
“I need to hold your hand right now, babe.”
Layne looked around and said, “What if someone on the team sees?”
“Let them. I’ll tell them we’re together; I don’t care anymore. Things are hard right now, and unless we’re on a court, we can’t touch anyone. We need this. I won’t ask for more. I just…”
Layne moved her hand on top of Shay’s and entwined their fingers.
“This is the first time we’ve done this,” Layne noted, realizing it at the same time.
She watched Shay’s shoulders lower as she took a deep breath, and Layne felt the same way.
“We can’t stay out here long. Coach will probably be driving by soon, and she usually takes this road to get off campus,” Layne said.
“I know. Just give me this, though. I need one minute of hand-holding with my girlfriend on a bench where Sabrina Stephenson asked her out. I’m taking back the bench.”
