Small Town Girl, Big City Dreams • Kate Martin

Chapter 24: Is this Healing?

Inspiration Song: Linger-SiriusXM Session by Royel Otis

I groggily shifted in my bed and opened my eyes with a huge sigh. It was still pitch black in my room. Being back in practice was wearing me down, which had been helping me sleep better—or so I thought. Apparently, tonight was different.

I pulled my childhood blanket back into my face and tried to settle back into sleep, when I saw my phone light up right before it started vibrating. I saw Jade's contact photo pop up, a selfie she sent me in my jersey before one of my games. I stretched my hand out to grab the phone and swipe to answer.

"Jade? What's going on?" I immediately hear loud music on her end of the phone.

"Kaaate," she drawls out my name. "Are you sleeping?"

"Well, not anymore," I say, mildly irritated. I did tell her she could call me at any time, but if she just wanted to chat while she was drunk, I definitely might've preferred the sleep as of late. I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the time. 3:30AM. "What's up?"

"Do you...could you pick me up? I drank too much to drive home," she admitted.

"Sure," I agreed. At least she was being smart about it. "Where are you at?"

"The shop," she replied. I heard Jade giggle. Was someone still there with her? While Sinsations had been keeping steady business, Jade told me she was usually able to cut everyone but herself by midnight.

"Is your car there?"

"Yep," she popped the p.

"I can Uber there and drive your car home for you if you want? That way you have it for tomorrow. You're still coming to the game, right?"

"Duh," she replied without missing a beat. "Can't wait to see my favorite basketball player play."

"Don't tell KP or A'ja that," I chuckled and tried to ignore the flutter in my stomach from the compliment.

"Let's be real, they know."

"Yeah, you're probably right," I agreed. "Let me just get my stuff together here and I'll get an Uber. Can I rely on you to make me a coffee when I get there? I'll be up for the rest of the day at this point."

"Always," she said confidently. By the time I got to Sinsations, it would likely be around 4AM. By the time I got Jade back to her place and got an Uber back home, I'd likely be back in enough time to get ready for shootaround and be to the gym by 7AM. We were going to have a longer shootaround today since we were playing the New York Liberty. It was going to be a tough game, and though I was usually confident in my team, I'm not sure we were up for the task. Our vets were tired from their Olympic stints and the Liberty were such a strong team as it was. Plus, the added rivalry from the Aces victory in the finals really amped up this match.

"Sounds good. See you in a bit."

I hung up the phone, sighed and stretched before sitting up in bed. It was going to be a long day. I put my glasses on, opting to let my eyes breathe for a bit before jamming my contacts in. I threw on some Nike sweatpants and a Hawkeyes sweatshirt. I ordered my Uber and began packing my stuff for my game today. Once I had my bag ready, I made sure I had my snacks and Gatorade ready in the fridge as well.

I couldn't get Jade's giggle out of my head as it felt like she was laughing at or with someone. I'm sure I was overthinking it, but it gave me a pit in my stomach. Truthfully, it wasn't my business to have any type of feelings about it anyway as we were just supposed to be friends. I felt I had been doing a pretty good job at playing my part well the last few days, but that's all it was—acting. I couldn't look at the beautiful brunette without imagining how we used to be together. I missed the cuddles, the hugs, and her lips on mine. I missed the playful banter—some of which we had gotten back—and the shameless flirting. I missed us as we used to be, and while having her in my life was significantly better than not, it was still difficult.