Swish

Overtime - 2

~Eli~

My sister was a fucking natural.

Her form, talent and instincts were all on par with the greats, and the fact that my sadistic stepfather had kept her from pursuing her dreams made me want to punch him (again) until he wouldn't get back up.

Sadly, the first time I'd punched him (when we found out about Elodie's bruises) he was able to walk it off, but if I found him in a dark alley, he wouldn't be walking away after that, and that was a damn promise.

My attention fell from the court where the girl's team was taking a time out to my beautiful girlfriend beside me, who I'd thoroughly fucked not twenty minutes earlier, the evidence of said fuck still clinging to her skin the form of a slight sheen of sweat making her glow even more than she usually did, and the effect only made me want to rip that goddamn dress off her all over again.

It hadn't been easy, living together so quickly after getting back together. There were fights about dirty socks on the floor, and toilet seat lids left up, and dirty dishes in the sink.

There were also lots of instances for makeup sex, and sometimes I'd even pick a fight just for that makeup, although lately there'd been more arguments than usual, which I just attributed to her time of the month than anything serious.

I captured her hand in mine as the buzzer sounded to end the timeout, and I couldn't help the anxiety that pitched inside my stomach, unease swirling in my gut. Was this what V felt like watching me play?

My eyes tracked Elodie's teammates run back and forth across the court and the swell of pride that surged inside me as she sunk the ball in the hoop was enough to make me stand up and pull V along with me yelling and cheering on my little sister. I didn't even care that we were the only two people up on our feet yelling, at least she knew we were there. We supported her.

We'd never keep her from following her dreams like her biological father. We'd help her with her homework at the dinner table, take her to all the games she could attend with school, be the cringe chaperones for her proms and homecomings, threaten her dates to make sure they stayed in line.

We'd see her off to college and one day I'd even hope that she'd let me walk her down the aisle.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a familiar, but not friendly, face.

Dressed in a white and red striped uniform with a matching hat, Maddie carried a popcorn contraption around her shoulders and served the game watchers while alternately hiding her face from anyone who tried to look too close.

I nudged V and pointed to her.

"Looks like what goes around, comes around, huh?"

"Hah. Guess so. Bea and Hazel moved out to L.A. with Leo but he ended up cheating on Haz with Bea and now they all moved back and one is working at a chik-fa-le, one at an insurance agency, and I think Leo's actually homeless now."

"Wow. I've never believed so much in karma than I do right now."

The fact that we could joke about our past was made even more evident when, in a rare stroke of comedic genius from the universe, the announcer from the booth spotted me and V in the audience much later than the rest of those around us, though they had kept their whispering stares, pointing, and silent camera skills to themselves, for the time being.

"You think they'll make this a big thing?"

The words weren't even out of my mouth for a second before a voice came over the loud speaker to announce our presence. I cringed, wishing that the day could've been all about Elodie, but she seemed to enjoy it, cheering and milking it just like everyone else.