Three hours later, we pulled up to the brown two-story we hadn’t seen in a year. Dad’s car was in the driveway, the hose sprinkler spinning on the front lawn. “You guys ready for this?” I asked.
Walker sighed.
Kyler nodded. “Can’t wait to get my old room back.”
We stepped inside the door, Mom the first one to greet us with open arms, crying uncontrollably. “I’m sorry, boys. I’m so, so sorry.”
I held her tight, tearing up a little, but I needed to be strong for her. For all of them. Dad stood off to the side until Mom waved him over.
He came too, sealing us in between the two of them. “God’s bigger than all of this,” he said, squeezing tight. “I’m sorry, too, boys.”
THIRTY-TWO
-Emery-
The Point Loma girls were the real deal. Each one of them had the arms and legs to prove it. Coach wasn’t lying when he said they could run. But, we weren’t weak, and we had a better inside game.
We went head-to-head the whole time. We kept one-upping each other in the third quarter. And, the fourth quarter was insane.
We were up by two with two minutes left when the ball went out of bounds on their side, making it our possession. Our point guard, Bella, dribbled the ball down to our side of the court, slowly, trying to burn some time. We only needed to bank one three, and we’d have the lead. I tried to get open.
“One!” she yelled. “One!” She gunned it to her left on the other side of the court.
One meant the ball was coming my way, and Waverlee was about to set me a screen to block my girl. I darted to the bottom of the key, acting like I was about to get the ball and sprinted back to toward the top of the key, brushing my shoulder against Waverlee’s as Bella passed me the ball. My girl got caught in the screen and I turned around, targeting the basket.
My adrenaline rushed so fast, I could barely breathe.
Glimpses of the court crossed my vision in nanoseconds. But, it was like I was seeing everything in slow-motion.
Bella on my left, arm extended for a pass, but a defender was right on her tail. Waverlee, pivoting low, keeping my girl behind her backside. Neveah’s girl was too close to her to pass down low, but right now, I had a clear shot at the three-point line.
“Take it!” Coach bellowed, and I squared up, time regaining its momentum as three Point Loma girls hustled toward me, leaving everyone else behind.
“Foul! Foul! Foul!” their coach shouted, but I was already in motion, the ball leaving my fingertips as Bella’s girl yanked my arm, and the basketball sunk straight through the net.
The whistle blew and the whole crowd erupted. The ref called a foul and both teams went to the key to line it up.
My heartbeat pounded in my ears as Waverlee came over to offer me a pat on the arm, a look of death in her eyes.
“You’ve got this, Emery. Sink this last one and it’s over.”
I swallowed, dragging my arm across my sweaty brow as I took my place at the free-throw line. I rolled my head and swept my palms over the souls of my shoes to get a better grip. Bella came over to give me a low five. “Bank ‘em.”
Yeah. No pressure.
My brothers were going crazy in the background. I didn’t have to turn around to know my mom would be shushing them, covering her heart, Dad standing, gnawing on his fist.
The ref passed me the ball, and everything went back to slow motion. I bounced the ball once, bending my knees as I bounced it again, and set my sights on the basket, envisioning it going through.
Tucker’s face flashed in front of me, one of the days we played pick up reeling back through my mind as I bounced it again:
“Mal’s right. You are an animal, Emery. Why aren’t you playing on a team somewhere?”
“I’ve played my whole high school career. I just wanted a break for one summer.”
“Take your time, Emery,” Coach shouted, snapping me out of it.
I swallowed, perching the ball in my palm as I set up the shot. This one was for the summer I left behind.
This one was for Tucker.
I extended and released, savoring how good it felt leaving my grip, praying I wasn’t wrong.
-Tucker-
“She banked it!” Walker shouted, throwing one of Mom’s couch pillows to the ground as he stood and yelled like a barbarian.
He didn’t have to announce it, I was pretty positive the whole world saw her bank it. The camera panned in on her face, her addicting smile spreading wide across that perfect mouth as her teammates rushed in around her. My heart sank lower.
What I wouldn’t give to be there with her celebrating. Man, I wanted to see that smile in person.
“She banked it, man!” Walker said, jumping in my lap and shaking my shoulders.
Mom’s dog barked and Dad laughed from his recliner. “That’s the girl you let get away?”
Walker told them everything about us the second he turned the TV on.
I sighed. “She needs to be doing that.” I stretched my hand toward the TV, but he just stared at me. “She doesn’t need to be worrying about me. You all need to just let it go, all right?”
“I’m not in the place to say anything, Mijo,” Mom said, setting a hand on her hip as she studied me from the entrance to the kitchen. “But you sound a little like you don’t know what a brain is. You know, you’ve brought a lot of girls home, but none of them was a girl like that.” She dusted her flour-coated hands on her apron, and shrugged. “Just saying.” She said it all sing-songy and Kyler busted up laughing.
Dad laughed too.
Walker didn’t.
He got on his phone, and started tapping away. “Time to take things into my own hands.”
I frowned. “What’s that mean?”
He sighed. “You’re not going after her and she’s . . .” He squinted, dipping his head. “Wifey material. If you’re not going after her, I am.”
“Come on. Leave her alone.”
He smirked, showing me the screen as he pressed send on an insta message.
I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose, my heart pounding out of control because it had been so long since I’d seen her, and I’d been miserable trying to pretend she didn’t exist. I didn’t need Walker stirring the pot.
“Dinner’s ready!” Mom shouted, and we all gathered around the table and took our seats.
Dad looked at me. “Want to do the honors?”
Nothing checks your heart like someone asking you to pray, and right then I knew my heart wasn’t that great, but this was supposed to be our family celebration dinner, and I wasn’t going to ruin it because I let my dream girl slip through my fingers, and I was just realizing, aside from the whole love-them, set-them free thing, I’d made a stupid mistake.
“Go ahead, Tucker,” Kyler said.
“Sure.” We all bowed and I cleared my throat, trying to surrender all the madness swirling around in my head. Mom grabbed my hand beside me and squeezed. “Thank you, God, for the blessing of sitting here together as a family again,” I started. “For making all things new, like You promise in your word. For mending the broken and finding the lost. We can’t say how grateful we are right now. For Dad coming home. For Mom’s health. For Walker, and Kyler, and the summer we got to have together.” I couldn’t get Emery’s face out of my head. “And, for the girl in that black and red uniform. God, bless her where she is. Help her on the court and in her classes. Give her favor, and give her everything she needs. Keep her safe, and—”
“And, help Tucker see what an idiot he is for pushing her away,” Walker cut in.
“Amen to that,” Mom said, and Dad busted up laughing.
“Amen,” I mumbled.
It was good being back, but my family had some serious issues.
“Funny guys,” I said, as Mom broke out the flautas.
“The truth hurts, baby.” Mom dished us the rice and beans, and passed the plates around. “Do you love her?”
“What?”
She frowned. “Do you love the girl? If you love the girl, you better not just sit here and let her go find someone else. I know you, Tucker, and you need a girl like that.”
I swallowed, shaking my head. “How did we even get onto this subject in the first place?”
Dad bit into his flauta, closing his eyes as he chewed. “Perfect, Pris. Man, there’s nothing like it.”
“No there’s not, baby, and you’d better not forget it,” she said, lifting a brow at him.
The conversation shifted, and the TV changed to a sports reporter in front of a blue screen, stats flashing in a pattern behind him, and Kyler asked about who his teacher was going to be for the next year. The whole time, I stared at the screen, waiting for the highlights to come back on. Waiting to see her face again.
Maybe Mom had a point. But, it was too late for the whole run-after her thing now. Wasn’t it?
THIRTY-THREE
-Emery-
Walking out with my family after the game was as close to perfection as life could get, aside from one minor factor, but I wasn’t thinking about him anymore.
My brothers gave a play-by-play of the other coach’s face when I banked my free-throws and we won the game.
“He looked like he bit into a month-old burrito,” Ethan said, laughing. He quieted real fast, and cleared his throat. “Not that I’d know.”
“Right,” I said, grinning.
“I’d say that was about as perfect of a debut game as you’re ever going to get, baby,” Dad said, Mom still busy standing at the head of the table, snapping pictures of everyone.
“Smile,” she said, and we did.
“Where’s the next one again?” Dad asked.
“Valley Pacific.” I chewed my next bite.
“Oh, yeah? Right near your old stomping grounds.”
I shrugged. “I mean, it’s two hours up the mountain, but I guess.”
My phone pinged in my bag beneath the table. I could save it for later. Right now, I wanted to eat up every second I could get with the people I loved most. Tomorrow, it was back to the grindstone, and for some reason, the idea of it was more daunting than ever.
“Oh, yeah. Good old Bridgeport,” Ethan said, wiping his meaty hands on his napkin. “How was it up there?”
“Don’t ask,” Mom interjected.
I sighed. “It’s fine, Mom.”
“Except Nick followed her up and made it a living hell for you,” she said.
Oh my gosh, were they ever going to get over that?
“It was actually kind of amazing,” I corrected, remembering the day I kissed Tucker on the trail, and how right it felt, being in his arms. Not that that’s what made Bridgeport amazing. It was amazing on its own. But it made it hard to forget.
I averted Ethan’s eyes because at two years apart, he’d always been able to read me better than anyone.
“Huh. How amazing was it, Emery?” he asked.
I took a sip of water, hoping it would keep me from flushing as I swept the crumbs from around my plate. “You know what Bridgeport’s like.”
He cleared his throat. “Mm hm.”
Great. That wouldn’t be the end of it.
My phone pinged again. “Sorry. I should check that.” I pulled my phone out of my bag, an insta notification from Walker waiting on my screen. I tapped it and read his reply to a team post I’d been tagged in.
**My fave-Number 42-brought the house down tonight. Nothing like seeing my homegirl score for the win. Hudson was straight fire.
I grinned and clicked out of the post. So, maybe Nick wasn’t the only reason God sent me to Bridgeport. And maybe playing for Biola meant more than I thought it did. If I could be an inspiration to kids like Walker, it was definitely worth fighting through whatever funk I was in.
It was nice hearing from Walker, but when I clicked on his profile picture to thank him on his personal page, his cover image ripped a hole through my chest.
A photo of Tucker, Walker, and Kyler standing with fishing poles on the Bridgeport dock stared at me, all of them smiling. Seeing Tucker’s face brought me straight back to our days in Maintenance, when I thought he was just my senior crush . . . He could have been so much more.
“Everything okay, cupcake?” Dad asked, from across the table.
I cleared my throat and blacked out my screen. “Yeah. Fine.”
Dad shrugged and we all went back to the happy little family we’d always been, except I couldn’t shake the urge to playback the whole summer in my mind.
But now wasn’t the time.
We finished up at dinner and said our goodbyes, and Ethan drove me back to the dorms.
“So what’s the real problem, Emery?”
I swallowed, lifting a shoulder. “I thought I would love every second of this. Of living my dream.”
“But?”
A long sigh escaped my lips. “But, it’s so much, and I think . . .” What did I think? “I think I’m losing my fire.”
He flipped his blinker on and got in the right turn lane, slowing to a stop at the red light. “You were so stoked when you got the call though. What changed?”
“Bridgeport changed me.”
He scratched his cheek and the light turned green. “How?”
Tucker came to mind. I knew he wasn’t the only reason, but he was a big part of the change. I couldn’t stop thinking about Walker either. About the mess he was in when he got there, how much good it did for him to be up in the mountains. “You know how I was planning on going for kinesiology?” I asked, glancing over at him.
“Yeah. That’s what you said.”
“Well, I’m thinking about doing something with youth instead. But, I’m not sure what.”
“Whatever you do, don’t give up on basketball, Emery. Everyone goes through funks, but you’re too talented.” He pulled into the parking lot, and held my gaze. “Plus, Mom would explode.”
We laughed, and he walked me up to my room, and I thought about it the whole night after he left. Helping Walker lit a fire inside me I didn’t know existed. Was it possible to use basketball to help reach more kids dealing with tough realities?
How exactly, God?
-Tucker-
Emery’s game haunted me the whole next week. I went up to Bridgeport, seeing her everywhere up there. Except, she wasn’t. I started training for my new position, and it was awesome, taking on a different kind of role. I thought a fresh start would help me get over the summer, but it didn’t.
I had to see her.
Walker gave me the details for her next game, and I made plans to drive down there, my palms sweating the whole day as I waited for go time. I had June help me make a sign, taking her genuine belief in me and Emery as another mark that I should really do this.
Every guy at Bridgeport said what an idiot I was for letting her get away. But I still held to the fact that she needed to do this alone. For herself. Because it’s what she was made for.
Me going after her now wouldn’t change that. I wasn’t going to the game to change her mind about Biola. But, Walker had a point when he said it was simple. If I liked her, I’d find a way to make it work. I more than liked her, and if she still wanted us, there wasn’t anything that could stop me from making it work.
My palms clammed up as I pulled into the Valley Pacific parking lot later that night, my headlights reflecting off the rows of cars in front of the gym. I checked the mirror, bought my ticket, and made my way in.
I hadn’t seen her in person in over two months, but being in the same building as her did something to my heart that I couldn’t ignore. I could barely breathe. There was something different about her. Something different about us. I had to know if she still felt that way, too.
I walked into the gym and took my seat in the bleachers, my heart pounding as the music started up, the beat shaking the speakers. The home team burst through the doors, shoes squeaking as they took two laps around the court before they started their warmup.
Emery’s team b
urst through next, and as soon as she came out in that black and red uniform, my chest lit on fire. I wanted to run over and sweep her up and hold her until the lights went out, but I needed to wait for the right time, if there was a right time. Fifteen minutes before the start of a college-level game definitely wasn’t it.
June and Philly walked through the doors, spotting me in my seat close to the top. They climbed the bleachers and sat next to me, and my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, seeing a notification from Mal:
**Sorry I couldn’t make it tonight. Way to go after it Tuck. You guys are like destiny
I grinned, hoping he was right.
If it’s not you, I don’t want it, God.
For a reason I couldn’t explain, it felt like Him.
June cleared her throat, eyes glued to the court. “Uh. I think you just got caught, Tucker.”
I followed her gaze, Emery squinting in our direction from the back of the layup line.
My blood froze and I sunk a little in my seat, pulling my hat down lower as I folded my arms. “She can’t see me yet. I don’t want to throw her game off.”
It was her turn for a layup. She refocused and went for it, banking it like she was born for this.
Deep down, I knew she was. She ran to the end of the opposite line, setting a hand on her hip as she shot a look over her shoulder in our direction again.
“Think she saw me, June?”
June shrugged.
Philly cleared his throat. “I think she did.”
The buzzer sounded and her teammate moved to her side, patting her back as they hustled over to their bench.
THIRTY-FOUR
-Emery-
“You look like you saw a ghost,” Waverlee whispered, beside me in the huddle as coach went to grab his tablet.
“I thought I saw the guy I told you about in the stands.”
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