Taking a Shot at Love

by KC Richardson

  “I do too as long as they don’t get intimidated.”

  They walked a little longer in silence, and before they reached the home they shared, Lisa stopped Athena. “I really am sorry for telling you to mind your business. You’re my best friend and you know I love you, right? You’re my sister from another mister.”

  “I know, buddy. We’re cool. And I promise not to try to push you and Celeste together anymore.”

  Lisa knew Athena well enough to know she probably had her fingers crossed behind her back.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Listen up, ladies. Today’s game is going to be a real test. We’re having a great season so far with only one loss, but our opponents have a bit higher caliber of player than what we’ve faced so far. But I believe in you.” Lisa looked around the room and was sure to meet every single one of her players’ eyes to make sure they were hearing her. “I. Believe. In. You. We’ll win this game if you give one hundred percent from opening tip to final buzzer. No letting up at all. Leave it all out on the floor and you’ll win this game.”

  The team cheered and lined up to run out on to the court for warm-ups. The coaches followed and walked to the bench, then huddled together to talk once more about the game plan. Nobody would ever accuse Lisa of having her team unprepared. She looked up into the stands and saw Celeste and Olivia about six rows up from the bench. Lisa had been assaulted by the memory of Celeste kissing her cheek the night before and how her soft lips lingered just a smidge. She waved to both of them, then Athena looked up and waved a little more animatedly than Lisa did.

  Okay, Lisa needed to focus which meant she couldn’t continue to look at Celeste like she was the only woman in the gym. She called Logan over to give her some last-minute instructions. Emily had looked a little confused since Lisa had already given her that information, but Lisa needed to feel a little more game-minded.

  The buzzer rang, and the team jogged over to the bench to get ready for introductions. Lisa took one more glance into the crowded stands to find Celeste looking—not looking—studying her, and she quickly turned away. Damn it. She needed to stop looking at her. There was something about Celeste that made Lisa forget about everything but her. Oh, good. The national anthem was beginning. Lisa placed her right hand over her heart and softly sang the words. She got so involved in the game from the opening tip, she didn’t even glance into the stands for the duration of the game. She was happy she was able to regain her focus on her priorities.

  Halftime came and GU was trailing the other team by fifteen points. Lisa got pretty colorful during her halftime speech. She criticized her players for being timid and letting their opponent do whatever they wanted. “I thought you ladies were better than this. The coaches and I have given you all the tools and knowledge to win this game. We can’t go out and play it for you so you need to decide if you’re ready to finally start playing like you’re capable or just call it quits and hit the showers. Personally, I didn’t think I was coaching a bunch of quitters, but hell, I’ve been wrong before. If you all don’t start giving your all, and you keep playing like a bunch of scared little girls, you won’t even see a basketball at the next practice. I’ll toughen you up by running sprints. Is that what you want?” By that time, Lisa was yelling, and she was sure her face was red and her blood pressure was elevated. “Now, get your asses out there and stop embarrassing this team and this school.” Lisa hated talking that way to her team, and she hardly ever did, but she only did it for shock value. Sometimes, a team needed tough love to get the fire started.

  The way the girls hung their heads, Lisa was sure they were going to go out there and get their asses handed to them. They hadn’t had much challenge with the teams they’d played so far, and in Lisa’s opinion, her team was much better than the team they were playing. When Lisa and her assistants entered the gym, she saw her team huddled at midcourt and she could see Emily gesturing with her hands and pointing at different players. She was angry, Lisa could see it in her eyes, along with determination. At that moment, Lisa knew they were going to win.

  For the remainder of the game, the Panthers were diving for loose balls, hitting three-point shots, blocking out on rebounds, taking care of the ball so as not to turn it over. This was the team she knew. She never did find out what Logan said to her teammates in the middle of the court before the second half started, but Lisa didn’t need to know. Emily stepped up and took over the game. That’s what Lisa had done when she was a player and captain of her team.

  The game was tied with eighteen seconds, and GU had the ball. Lisa called a timeout and devised a play to get off the last shot. Logan had been making most of the shots in the second half, and Lisa knew the other team would be double-teaming her, but they’d be ready for it. The whistle blew and the ball was thrown to Emily. She stood facing the defender and the basket. When the clock got down to eight seconds, Emily faked a shot and dribbled closer to the basket. When another defender came out to help, Emily passed the ball to Novac and she made the short jump shot as time expired. Lisa tried to play it cool, like this was just another game, but she really wanted to jump in the air, pump her fist, scream out, and run up into the stands and hug Celeste. Wait. Back up. She’d revisit that later. She had basketball obligations first, and she led her team to congratulate the other team.

  The opposing coach, a woman Lisa had known for over ten years in the coaching ranks, stopped Lisa and spoke softly into her ear.

  “Great job tonight, Coach. If you’re ever looking to get back to the big schools, let me know. I might have some leads for you by the end of the season.”

  “Thanks, Julie. I appreciate it. Good game.” Lisa continued down the line until she’d shaken the last player’s hand. She waved to some parents and other supporters in the stands on her way to the team’s meeting room. The players and coaches celebrated what would now be the school’s historic win. Never in Glassell University’s women’s basketball history had they beaten a Division I school.

  “You guys had me going there for a while. Logan, I’m not sure what you said to the team before the second half started, and I don’t need to know, but I am so damn proud of this team for not giving up, working harder than you’ve ever had to work on the court. The fact that you kept your cool and clawed back from fifteen points down says a lot about your character. You get tomorrow off from practice. You earned it.”

  Logan looked confused and raised her hand. “Um, Coach, tomorrow’s Sunday. We don’t normally practice on Sundays.”

  Lisa pointed at Logan and winked. “Exactly!”

  The players laughed and groaned. “Not cool, Coach.”

  Lisa laughed and gave Angela Novac, who was standing next to her, a one-armed hug. “Get some rest tomorrow, ladies. It’s back to work on Monday. You have finals next week so if any of you have conflicting schedules with practice, let me know. Conference games start in early January, just a few weeks from now, so we need to keep working hard and be ready. See you Monday.”

  Lisa walked back into the gym to greet some of the team’s supporters. Not only were they there to physically and emotionally support the team, but they also financially helped out. Part of Lisa’s job was soliciting donations to help pay for uniforms, travel funds, and the end of the season’s awards ceremony. Some of the players’ parents donated, but mostly they came from alumni, some former players, and some from alumni who just wanted to support GU athletics. Even though Lisa would like nothing more than to go grab a beer with Athena at the neighborhood pub, it was her job to talk with the people who’d been waiting around after the game.

  The first two people she ran into when she came back into the gym were Celeste and Olivia. She gave them brief hugs—she’d wanted to give Celeste a better, longer hug, but she worried that it’d look strange so she refrained to a friendly one.

  “Hey, thanks for coming, ladies. Olivia, I know this was the first game of ours you’ve seen. What did you think?”

  “It was exciting. You must be
so thrilled.”

  “I am. I’m so proud of my kids. Hey, I have to schmooze a bit, but would you two like to meet Athena and me at the pub for a beer?”

  Without asking Celeste, Olivia answered for them. “That would be great. So, what? About thirty minutes?”

  “Perfect. We’ll see you soon.” Lisa let her gaze linger with Celeste for a few seconds more, and she knew she was grinning like an idiot. At that point, Lisa felt like she was floating in the clouds. It was like breaking a powerful pull to look away and leave Celeste. Lisa spent the next fifteen minutes chatting with some of the older alumni, one couple that had graduated from the school in 1959. They were truly one of the most generous with donating their money, and they were in the stands for almost every home game. Lisa appreciated that more than the money. The couple had to be in their early eighties and still managed to sit on the hardwood bleachers. Okay, so they brought cushions to sit on but still.

  Lisa moved to a group of parents that were standing together. That would be a quick greeting, just long enough to ease their minds about how well their daughters are doing, not only on the team but also in school. Besides checking in with Celeste for Emily Logan’s schoolwork, she also checked on all of her players with the help of Athena. Her players wouldn’t go on to play professional basketball, not that she’d encourage that anyway. It was a tough life to live in Europe part of the year, or some other continent playing basketball and being so far away from your family. They’d make a lot more money getting a job after graduation or post-grad studies. Lisa made sure to smile, shake hands, and look the parents in the eyes to let them know she was sincere, because she was, but she wanted to get out of there so they could go meet Celeste and Olivia.

  She shook a few more hands and told them all to have a happy holiday. Finals were the following week, Christmas break started the week after, and Christmas was soon after that. Lisa didn’t dare schedule games during finals week because she wanted her players to focus only on their schoolwork. And they had a few days off before and after Christmas so they could go home and be with their families. Come December twenty-eighth, the practices would resume, they’d have one more non-conference game shortly after New Year’s, then their conference play began. All the games leading up to that point had been in order for the team to be ready. Their collective goal was to win their conference and move on to the national tournament.

  Lisa spotted Athena talking to another set of parents so she walked over to say hello. She told Athena that she needed to speak to her privately in the office. They said good-bye to the parents and headed out.

  “What’s up?”

  “We’re meeting Olivia and Celeste at O’Hara’s for drinks. We’re due there in ten minutes.”

  “Cool.”

  They grabbed their wallets and keys then locked their office door behind them before they walked the two blocks to the pub. They walked through the door and applause erupted. Lisa and Athena were obviously surprised as they looked at each other with wide eyes.

  “Congratulations, Coaches!”

  “Thanks, Connor.” Lisa walked over to the bar to place her order. “How did you know? I didn’t see you at the game.”

  “I wasn’t there, but they were.” Connor nodded behind Lisa and Athena to Celeste and Olivia holding their glasses of wine up in salute. “First round is on the house, Coaches.”

  They had their beers poured and they went to sit with Celeste and Olivia.

  “Hey there. Thanks for meeting us.”

  “Thanks for the invite. Did you get all your schmoozing in?”

  Lisa laughed at the way Celeste said schmoozing. “We did. It’s not so bad. In fact, I love that we have so many non-parents who are big supporters, including our esteemed professors.”

  Olivia spoke up. “Like I said, it was my first game I’ve been to, but it won’t be my last. That was really exciting.”

  “I appreciate that. I think I can speak for Athena, given the finger marks she gave me from grabbing my arm,” Lisa smirked at Athena, “that we found the game really exciting too. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if we were going to have enough gas toward the end of the game to finish it off. When a team has to overcome a large deficit like we had, the players tend to expend a lot of energy, physically and mentally.”

  “Yeah,” Athena said. “All that running we made them do during preseason conditioning and now during the season gave them the stamina to continue playing hard at the end.”

  Lisa laughed at Athena’s maniacal look—wide eyes and mouth open.

  Celeste raised her eyebrow. “It almost sounds like you enjoy torturing those poor kids.”

  Lisa and Athena answered together. “We do.” They burst into laughter.

  “We went through it when we played. It builds character.” Lisa nodded her head matter-of-factly.

  “Did you two play together?” Celeste looked to Athena, and Lisa felt like she was deliberately not looking her way. Lisa saw Celeste sneak some glances here and there but nothing lingering. Lisa wondered what that was about. Since Celeste continued looking at Athena, Lisa told her to tell them their story.

  “Lisa and I played together in college, but when we graduated, Lisa went to Europe to play professionally for a few years. When she became a head coach for our alma mater, she called me up and asked me to join her. She got hired at GU a couple of years ago and asked if I wanted to come. I’d had enough of the East Coast winters, and California sounded like a good ticket.”

  The whole time Athena spoke, Lisa continued to glance over at Celeste. At one point, Celeste caught Lisa’s gaze, and Lisa could swear there was a current that was passing between them. Celeste blushed and looked away. Damn, she was beautiful. And she made Lisa feel…things. She needed to put that thought in a little box and lock it up tight. The way the season was going so far, and especially after tonight, she would suspect coaching offers would start coming in toward the end of the season. That was another thing she didn’t need to be thinking about right now. She was property of GU until the season was done, and she would continue molding her team while she was with them.

  Athena finished her story and there was a blank space of silence so Lisa tried to fill it.

  “Athena has been my best friend since college, and even though our paths went in different directions after we graduated, we always got together when I was in town in between seasons. We’ve been through a lot together, and when I became head coach, I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have by my side on the bench. We believe in the same basketball philosophy so there are rarely any coaching discrepancies between us.”

  Now Celeste’s attention was on Lisa again, and Lisa couldn’t pull her eyes away. Athena interrupted the moment.

  “I’m going to get us another round.”

  Olivia jumped off her stool. “I’ll come with you.”

  When Lisa and Celeste were alone, Lisa rolled her eyes. “I told Athena to stop trying to get us together.”

  Celeste nodded. “I told Olivia the same thing. Don’t you love how they complied with our requests?”

  Lisa shook her head. “I’m sorry, Celeste.”

  Celeste reached across the table and covered Lisa’s hand with her own. “Don’t be. They’re harmless and they mean well. As long as you and I remain on the same page, then we’ll be fine. I like you, Lisa, and I’m glad we’ve become friends. And I really like going to the games and learning about basketball.”

  “I like you too. You know, if you ever want to attend a practice, you’re more than welcome.”

  Celeste thought about it, thought about what Emily would think about her being there. Or what the other players would think. Why would she be there? “I appreciate that, but I think I’ll just let you tell me the mystique of women’s college basketball.”

  “I’d be happy to.”

  Damn, why did everything that came out of Lisa’s mouth sound like flirtation? They both were very good at flirting with one another. And why did Celeste feel the need t
o keep touching Lisa? She typically wasn’t a touchy-feely person with people she didn’t know well. True, she and Lisa were getting to know each other, as well as becoming friends, but it took Celeste a lot longer to be that way with Olivia and some of her other friends. There was something about Lisa that made Celeste want to touch her. Touch her a lot.

  “So, no more games until after the first of the year?”

  “No. With finals being next week and then Christmas, there really wasn’t any time to squeeze in another game or two. Besides, the kids played really hard tonight. The break will be good for them. We’ll continue with practices, but we’ll have practice early on December twenty-third so the girls who are from out of town can travel that afternoon to spend Christmas with their families. We’ll resume practice on the twenty-eighth.”

  “How about you, Lisa? Are you going home for Christmas?”

  “No. Athena and I usually spend it together. Her parents are back in China, and my mom will go to my brother’s to have it with his family. He has two kids under the age of ten so it’s fun for her to be there on Christmas morning. Mom and my brother know that I don’t have a lot of free time during the season so I usually take a week during spring break and two weeks toward the end of summer to go back home to Indiana and visit. How about you?”

  “My parents live in France so I’ll spend Christmas with Olivia and her husband. Is your father still alive? You only mentioned your mother and brother.”

  “No, he passed away almost ten years ago. He had a massive heart attack in his sleep.”

  Celeste reached out and grabbed Lisa’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m so sorry.” There she was, touching Lisa again, but this time it was for comfort.

  Olivia and Athena were returning from the bar with their drinks so Celeste let go of Lisa’s hand and sat back on her stool. She wanted to know more about Lisa’s life, her family, but why? They were only going to be friends. She hadn’t been this curious with Olivia. She also hadn’t been attracted to Olivia like she was to Lisa.