? The Deal ?
Written by Idara Kingsley
? Chapter 20 ?
? Charlotte ?
I watched with keen interest as he bounced. Threw. Ran around. Shot. Jumped up.
It fascinated me. Everything about him fascinated me. Was it how he played? How he threw or bounced the ball away from the other guys or the way he threw the ball into the basket, effortlessly.
He turned back, as if knowing I was staring at him. He flashed me a smile. It was more like a grin. He was still staring when one of his teammates snatched the ball out of his hands and was bouncing it towards the basket in full speed.
His bestfriend, Ashton, blocked the guy, hanging his hands up to shield the guy from moving any further. He was going closer to the guy, watching him intensely, squinted his eyes, watching his closely. The guy tried to fake him, but Ashton was quick to get the ball away from the guy hands. He did a skill and before I knew it, he was the one bouncing the ball, bouncing it towards the basket.
Brian got the basketball from his bestfriend and threw it right into the basket.
I smiled to myself. For a second, I thought the other guys would win. Brian and his bestfriend were leading.
Both guys; Ashton and Brian, shook hands with a wide smile on their faces.
On cue, I stood up and began to clap loudly. I didn’t give a care about what his other teammates thought of me. The guys did a good job, and they deserved to be applauded.
They all turned to look at me. Some had their eyes wide in shock. I still clapped, ignoring the stares that I got.
Twenty minutes after they went for more rounds, Brian walked up to me. He was full of smiles.
“I saw what you did back there.” He pinched my cheeks before taking his seat beside me. He pulled open a bottle water and drank from it, almost emptying all the content into his mouth.
I giggled. It was my clap. The way I had appreciated him and his friend. I saw the surprised faces everyone wore, including the middle-aged man who I a-ssumed was his coach.
“Mmhmm…. I was encouraging you.” I giggled. I sipped on my coke before facing him.
He was taking off his sweaty und-erwear, revealing his b-are ch-est. I wanted to run my hands throu-ghhis sweaty body, feeling everywhere. I was tempted to do it, so tempted.
I peeled my eyes off him before he caught me staring. Heat had already spread to my core. Oh Lord.
“Thank you.” He smiled at me. He threw his singlet around his ne-ck. “It’s almost dark, do you want to go out for dinner?”
That would be a great idea, but I really wanted to sit with him tonight and watch the moon, together.
There was something about the moon that fascinated me. Each time I would look at it, studying it, making a wish.
“Um… Later.” I cleared my throat and looked back to the court. The guys where packing up, obviously ready to leave.
Ashton, Brian’s bestfriend was still bouncing the ball continuously without throwing it into the basket. The way he was going with the ball, the flow, his movement, they looked professional. Wow.
The middle-aged man was already dressed up in a brown hoodie that hug-ged his body. And a black joggers.
If it wasn’t for his white hair, I would have sworn the man was still in his early thirties. He looked too young for his age.
“There’s a pool here, would you love to swim?” Brian asked, taking me out of my reverie. I blinked.
“I’m not much of a swimmer.” I replied with a smile on my face. Why was I smiling? I was sure I looked like an overripe tomato right now. Why?
“Okay. Dinner it is then.”
I nodded, agreeing to his request.
A sound like a slap on somebody’s skin made me whip my head towards Brian.
There he was, playing the slapping game with his bestfriend, Ashton. A smile tugged at the corner of my li-ps. They looked so happy. They looked like children who were enjoying every bit of the play.
I never knew this playfully side of Brian, until this bestfriend showed up.
How I used to look down on him before. I hated him, despised him so, so much. No, he did nothing wrong to me. Absolutely nothing. The hate just grew.
Every post he made irked me, brou-ght out every hate I had for him.
Why? Because I thought he would never look at me. I wanted his attention. I wanted the famous basketball player, attention. I got it now, but it was fake.
A part of me wanted what Brian and I, had to be real. I wanted our dating to be real and not fake like we were doing.
“You and your boyfriend seemed to be sli-pping into your own world today.” A voice snapped me out of my reverie, again. It was Ashton. He was standing right in front of me, with his hands shoved into his pocket.
I cleared my throat before bracing myself up. A small smile lingered on my face. “You think?”
“Yeah. I think he was worried for you. Right Brian?” He threw the question at his bestfriend who was only smiling. It looked like he was teasing him.
Brian only smiled, ignoring his bestfriend questions.
“Brian said you’ll be joining us for dinner at his house.”
His house?
I had never been to his house, ever. Plus, I rou-ghly thought we would be going to an eatery to get some food.
His house, how would it look like? Was it how I pictured it to be all these years? A part of me couldn’t wait to explore.
“Y…yes.” I looked over at Brian, his eyes were focused on me, with his signature smile plastered on his face.
“Cool. I’ll go get ready.” He made to move but stopped. His hands were shoved into pocket, kind of giving him that bad boy look. He effortlessly just gave his best, no struggles or whatsoever. “You’re actually nice than I thought you would be. I’m sorry for misjudging you, all these years.” He breathed. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.” He hurriedly left the place before I could say a word.
Hands wrapped around me, bringing me closer. I knew who it was already. He placed my head on his shoulder and drew circles on my back.
I closed my eyes, loving the feeling. The touch. The closeness. Everything. I loved everything.
“Let’s get going. I have to change up at the locker room.”
*****
We got to his house. Sorry, his mansion.
His house was situated at a lonely area that has just two houses. Just two. I was pretty sure they belonged to famous people like, Brian.
The house was huge. So huge. It wasn’t anything compared to ours. Dad’s new house was larger, but Brian’s house was so f.ucking beautiful.
“Wow.” It escaped my li-ps before I could stop myself.
Ashton and Brian turned to me immediately. A smile spread on my face immediately.
Brian came forward and leaned in to ki-ss me. He ki-ssed the corner of my li-ps and pulled me to him. “Let’s go in.”
The inside was magnificent. So attra-ctive, so lovely. The chairs looked like gold, the was were all white, the tiles showed my reflection as I walked on them. How rich was this guy.
An expensive chandelier was hanging on the ceiling, shining it’s light in the house.
Two young girls came out from what looked like the kitchen. They were dressed up in a lovely maid gown. One had blue hair that looked like she dyed it, the other girl had black shiny hair.
“Welcome, Miss Charlotte Hudson.” They greeted in unison.
I smiled at them. Where was my nonchalant attitude? A part of me loved the he’s smiling me, but it was only for a while.
“Serve us, please.” Brian told them. They nooded and scurried away.
“I’ll go shower now.” Ashton winked at us before running up the stairs.
“I love your house. It’s so…. Beautiful.” I was looking around, admiring the beautiful house that seemed to catch my eyes so soon.
Brian chuckled. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Soon, the maids rolled some foods on a cart and placed it on the dinning table.
Ginger and garlic hung in the air as they rolled to the food.
I was already salivating from the sweet smell of the food.
An old lady came along with them. She held a jug filled with what looked like lemon juice. I lic-ked my li-ps.
“I think I’ll go freshen up now. Make yourself comfortable.” Brian pecked my li-ps and ran up the stairs.
We were becoming closer that it scared me. It was looking like we weren’t acting a script anymore. It felt real. So real that it was scaring the life out of me.
Could this be real?
Could it be that Brian was slowly falling for me like I was?
Could it be?