The Lover Boy Within

CHAPTER FOUR

Warriors home court was beginning to get filled for the final game but there was predicted to be at least a ten minute delay due to the traffic in town. Uber fares had surged five times because almost everyone was headed there proving to be a good day for the drivers.

Nora was dressed in blue fitted jeans and a white Balmain shirt. She put on just the perfect amount of makeup since she knew she would be in the cameras way but especially because she wanted Giannis to see her. For heavens sake his teammates would also see her. Most of them knew Nora even though Giannis always mentioned she was a friend but they had initially figured she was probably just a fling and seeing her at the game would mean something different. He let it slip once that if he was serious with her, he would invite her to their home games which he obviously never did and she was more than embarrassed that day but masked her hurt by laughing about it. This was an opportunity for her to gain some props for herself after three years of being on the side with him and she wasn't going to miss.

Nora was lucky, she constantly escaped being found out by Devin that she had been sleeping with one of the most popular players in the league for more than three years. She had met some of them because of her job but kept it professional between them. There were periods Giannis would be scheduled for interviews and when presented with the names of journalists for his personal interview which was one of the perks of being up there in the league, he intentionally didn't pick her name from the list so she never got the chance to write any article about him. So today she just wanted to move on and move on in his face. Her hair was parted at the center with her Chanel bag hanging from her left hand while the VIP access pass was on her neck as she reached security.

"This way please miss..!!!", said one of the stewards pointing in the direction for Nora to follow him to her seat. The music was bumping loud as the arena got filled and she got seated while spotting celebrities courtside. It was an electric feeling but she managed to keep her cool without giving off any cue on her pretty face. Both teams had began to warm up just when she was properly seated and watching the warriors without sparing one look at the Bucks. Before you know it the camera caught her and she had to wave causing her to cool off and fully relax into everything.

Giannis and his teammates were done warming up but he spotted Nora just before leaving the court, he took one more direct look at her while she was on her phone and wondered how she got that seat until he remembered she worked at Fox. He was more than stunned because he had called her thrice the previous night and she didn't pick nor return his call, even his text was left unreplied. She looked very pretty and calm where she was seated even with her light make up and could catch any man's eye which made him feel kind of annoyed.

"Why didn't she reply my message?", he thought to himself without noticing he had zoned out as his coach Mike was now talking in the dressing room

"Giannis? Giannis??, Mike called out before he snapped out of his mild trance.

"Sorry coach I'm here", he replied with a worried look on his face causing his coach to call him aside. "You've seemed off for the past five minutes, are you sure you're okay?", he asked but Giannis gave him a positive response as he composed himself before the team headed out for the start of the game.

Halftime and the Warriors were tied 49-49 with the Bucks and the half time show from the cheerleaders was on while players remained in their dressing rooms running through different plays for the next quarter. Giannis had shot 6 from 10 in the first half with three turnovers, one more than Curry making the commentators discuss their performance in detail. They were both the star players of their team but underperformed in the first half. Giannis, Brook, Holiday, Grayson and Khris were going to start the third quarter but had been told to execute different plays at the beginning.

Gianni's briefly checked his phone and saw messages from Lebron. "Focus bro, you seem a bit disturbed, I have watched you all evening and you keep looking to Nora's direction, whatever you're feeling now just put it aside and FOCUS, the ring is yours I promise",

Giannis wanted to deny but knew deep down he would be deceiving himself and sent a reply "Thank you Bro", just before the entire team headed out for the third.

Third quarter had both teams driving to the paint more often with Curry and Thompson hitting all five threes they shot likewise Bucks. Giannis and his teammates were also on fire and the game was close with the Milwaukee guys leading by 3 points at some point. It was anyone's game at this moment because the highest lead in all quarters had been three. The noise from the Chase center was deafening as fans for both teams cheered them continuously increasing the tension on the court but by the end of the third quarter and several timeouts from the teams the Warriors were in the lead by one point.

The fourth had been physical with both teams scoring points and their lead players making almost every of their effort count. Jrue had called their second play dribbling the ball while Grayson set a screen for him for an easy pass to Giannis but just as Giannis was about to take the shot for the three point, Green from the Warriors came in contact with him pushing him over the side line right where he ended up landing awkwardly on Nora. She immediately helped him get up but he felt pain on his ankle and went down immediately while the medics rushed to him. The referee called a flagrant 1 for the warriors and Green's fourth personal foul for the night.

Giannis was still in front of Nora with the medics while being attended to and was in great pain. She could see first hand what he was going through and saw Green come to check on him if he was okay. Nora wiped a tear from her face before she put on her sunglasses to avoid unnecessary attention since she was in the line of the cameras. The Greek native was advised to sit out the rest of the game while an ice pack was placed on his swollen left ankle. He knew the game was out of his hands as he continued to weep but with a towel covering his face. Now he needed to rely on his teammates to solidify a win against the home team and was hopeful his thoughts will materialize. Eventually he was helped up and taken to the Bucks seat side and sat down as the game progressed with a minute and ten seconds to go. The two teams were tied again at 103-103 with Bucks in possession but Warriors called the timeout.

Everyone was tense, the players, coaches, team staff and the fans. No one wanted their team to lose. Giannis could only wish as he couldn't have any physical input from the bench and his palms were sweaty. The game resumed again with Grayson from the sideline attempting to pass the ball to Khris who sought out Giannis replacement Jae but the ball was stolen before it got to him. That turnover proved costly at the end of the day. Klay got the ball and did a drop pass to Curry who took a three point shot from outside the perimeter before the buzzer went off and it sank.

Warriors had won 103-106..!!!!

Majority of the crowd were Warriors fans and the stadium went agog erupting in loud cheers for the home team. Bucks players were around briefly with long faces while some couldn't hide their tears. Giannis had limped back into the dressing room as he balled his eyes out because of the loss. He was so close but yet so far. It was painful but he felt the sting stronger than the others. He was not only feeling the pain from the loss, he was also feeling the pain from his ankle and more especially Nora. It was everything at the same time. Eventually he was taken to the hospital to access the extent of injury on his ankle which turned out positive. It was only a sprain and after a while he was taken back to his hotel room to wallow in sorrow.

Thanks for reading this Chapter ❤️