Basketball is Not Life

Chapter Twenty-Four

"What is going on with you two?" Daisy asked when she had found time to scrunch in a study session with me. She had been whining that since basketball started, she had barely seen me. And she was right. I didn't know how Parker did it. I just sat at the practices, but basketball was eating up all of my time. He had to be exhausted. We had gotten in after one from the Louisville game, and then he stayed up with me until almost five in the morning. He then woke at seven a.m. to get his back adjusted before his first class of the day. He thought I was sleeping this morning when he brushed my hair back and kissed me on the forehead. I was twirling my pencil around, wondering the exact thing that Daisy wanted to know about. 

"I don't know."

"You're smiling like a little girl who just met Justin Bieber."

"How about since I'm drowning with being a basketball manager and doing homework, can we just focus on that."

She laughed at me as she pulled out the notecards I was going to quiz her on. "Whatever you say."

"Hey, it's a basketball legend," Larry said, pulling up to our table. I glared up at Daisy to say, "really, you invited your boyfriend?" Larry kept talking. "I saw your dad's team got pummeled last night."

"I still can't believe you didn't tell us who your dad was," Daisy said.

I rolled my eyes at them. "This," I said, pointing at both of their faces, "is exactly why I kept it under wraps."

"So what was yours and Parker's fight about the other night on the plane?" Larry asked casually as if he had just brought it up out of the air.

"That is none of your business. And it was not a fight."

"He seemed pretty upset, Renner." Larry gives me a pointed look. "He punched a locker door shut at halftime. He's lucky his hand didn't swell up over it."

Daisy's eyes went big. "Is that why he fouled out?" She was shooting daggers at me, her voice a whisper as if she did not want people to know what I did. "Oh my gosh!" Her voice raised some.

"The guys were talking and..."

Parker walked up to our table, he looked tired, and I knew practice would start in a short hour for them. "What were the guys talking about?" Parker asked, sitting down next to me. His hand brushing my knee under the table.

Larry pivoted, and whatever he was actually going to tell me was long gone. "We were just talking about Renner's dad being a legend, that's all. Being from basketball royalty." "Yeah, it's pretty crazy she ended up being my roommate." He looks over at me and smiles. I want to brush his hair back out of his eyes, and I wonder if he will get it cut before his next game.

"He's a human just like the rest of us. So if you guys would like to talk about my father, let me find a different table." I smile at them all as I pull out my pre-calc book and try to finish out the last few problems I had. Finales were just around the corner, and if I wanted to pull off a decent GPA, I needed to focus.

It was a miracle I was still passing my classes. Still, I knew if this fast-paced lifestyle continued, I would need to lighten up my class load for the next semester. Or default to most online classes.

We had three days until our next away game which was another game we had to fly to. By the end of the season, I was going to be on more plane rides ever. If this was what my father and mother did every week, I understood all those nights he came home looking exhausted, or the following day I would see him down at the breakfast nook. The plane rides became my saving grace when it came to homework. If anyone talked about if I was a distraction with Parker and my fight before Lousiville, those rumors were put to bed when we went on a four-game winning streak.

Parker and I were still sharing a bed every night, but the only thing that occurred was cuddling. I had yet to broach the subject with him on why he had not made a move yet.

"You seem cheery today." He said, rolling over. It helped that classes had just wrapped up a couple days earlier. And for a couple of weeks, besides basketball games, I had not a single care in the whole World.

I swatted his arm. "You forgot, didn't you?"

I could tell by the look on his face he had.

"Is it your birthday?" He looked mortified.

"I am a summer birthday, Parker. No, my mom is coming and staying for a couple nights."

He sits up in bed. "But my dad and sisters are spending the night; it is a home game."

"I know, she's staying in my room with me."

There is something that crosses over his face. "Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"In your own bed like a good normal college boy." He lunges at me and grabs me, rolling me over his body. "Ren, there is nothing good about me."

And then I am the one to lunge. My mouth fell onto Parker's. Parker pauses, and then he rolls, putting me on the bottom, him caging me in. He stares down at me; he has my hands tucked up above my head, locking me in. His lips clash with mine at; first, it is forceful and fast as if he cannot get enough of me, and then he slows. His lips roaming over mine. He groans and lets his head fall against mine, his breathing labored.

"Why did you do that?"

I giggle. But then I look up and can tell he is serious. I get out of his hold and sit up, moving over to the left. I could tell by the kiss that he wanted it as bad as me.

"I need to get ready." And I dash to my bathroom, locking it. Not sure what had overcome me and why Parker looked that way. I was giddy with happiness as he kissed me, his hands roaming my face, my waist, my stomach, I wanted him to devour me, and then he pulled back too soon. I brush my fingers over my lips, still feeling them on me. Parker was the second boy I kissed, but it was one of those Earth Shattering kisses, and now I was going to have to pretend that it didn't affect me as much as it did.

I take a ridiculously long shower; I know Parker will be gone; he has his morning check-up with the sports physical therapist on staff. He had been experiencing a tightness in his lower back. I knew this not from Parker but because the sports therapist talked to Coach Rizzo when I had just finished up helping him outline some things for practice on his computer. Trent was still upset that Coach Rizzo went to me anytime he needed help. I walk out to my bedroom with a towel wrapped around me, my hair drenched and laying across my shoulders.

Parker is sitting dead center of my bed. He groans and then mumbles when he sees me.

"Why do you have to make this so hard.." He is interrupted by the doorbell and Spartan barking on the lower level before he can keep going. 

Wanting to avoid this conversation and what I knew he would say to me, I make a break for it down to the foyer. I throw the door open, and there standing is my mom.