soul ties-a paige bueckers story

FOUR

BRYCE

The next morning, I instantly went for my phone.

paigebueckers: bryce i'm so sorry

i didn't know what to do when they came in

plz know that aint me im not like that

I sighed, setting it down on my chest as I thought of what to possibly say next.

it's okay. i freaked too. so i'm sorry.

i want to see u again, she wrote back.

redo somewhere a lil easier?

i'm down. don't u have prac? What was I doing? Why was I giving her an out?

Instantly, a reply. She'd sent me a screenshot of my own Instagram bio. nah, not til late.

u like coffee? i know a lil place real nice w it off campus.

when u done w classes?

10:30. i can drive u, I wrote back. my car is right off main.

Ding. She was quick today. bet, meet u there 10:30.

---

After my lone class of the day, I ignored the chill lingering in the Connecticut air and headed straight to my car. I saw her before she saw me, decked out in her navy blue tracksuit gear from the school (I had a soccer version of them), looking like a lost puppy on her way to the parking lot. At any other school, her 6'0 frame would've stuck out like a sore thumb among the masses of students, but in the basketball capital of the world, no one batted an eye. Well, not everyone. There were some girls laughing and taking pictures of her as she walked, and I felt a pang in my chest as I realized she was trying to avoid the crowd. I sped up so I could get next to her. "Hey! PB5!" It came out of my mouth so naturally that I almost stopped dead in my tracks, and it caught her so off guard that she did too. When she turned, I almost expected her to tell me off, to tell me I couldn't call her that, or to pretend she didn't know me at all.

"That's what you call me?" Her mischievous smirk told me that everything between us was normal. Whatever normal meant for us. "Thank God you're here. I was finna have to go up each row and look at all them parking passes if not." I grinned at her delivery. "That's why you're happy to see me. Right."

She looked at me, almost surprised by my boldness. I had been careful though, making sure no one was around to hear me say that. Not that they'd have any context to what it actually meant. To distract her from her worry, I put my hand on her arm, trying to offer some comfort. "Hey," I said softly, trying to connect with her eyes, just to let her know everything was okay. "I'm not stupid. I got you. I'm not gonna get you twisted." She relaxed at my touch instantly, nodding and breaking out a shakily long exhale. "So where are we going?" I asked her, as we neared my car. She couldn't help but smile as we stopped at my beaten-up Jeep Cherokee, and I slid in the driver's seat to pop the door open for her on the passenger side. "It's called Beans," she said. "The first time I went it was just for the name."

"Then you'll love this," I laughed, clicking my seatbelt in. "You're currently sitting in Willis."

"WILLIS?" She let out a belly laugh. "Where the hell you get a name like that?"

"It just came to me," I deadpanned, which only made her laugh harder. "Careful, you don't wanna make him mad." As if on cue, Willis' annoying seatbelt cue came on, to which Paige only dissolved into further laughter (after clicking her seatbelt obediently). "It's just two rights outta the lot," she gasped, trying to regain her breath. "Willis will know the way."