Small Town Girl, Big City Dreams • Kate Martin

Chapter 25: The Intervention

Inspiration Song: Awkward by SZA

After two days of games in a row, the girls—mostly A'ja and Kelsey—begged us to all go out. After being away from each other for almost an entire month while a decent amount of the team was in Paris for the Olympics, it was nice to catch up.

To make a long story short, the Liberty got the best of us. It was a tough pill to swallow, especially for my teammates who had beat them in the finals last year. Breanna Stewart had made a point to say hi to me and ask how I was fitting in and liking the W. It felt pretty special to have her take time out of her warmup to talk to little old me.

Sunday's game went much better. We beat the Sparks by sixteen. Becky hadn't really played me much—just three minutes a game. It was to be expected now that we were getting close to playoffs. We were sitting 4th overall in the league despite our "struggle" of a season as many commentators liked to call it. Of course, it came with the territory since my teammates were back-to-back champions. As much as I knew A'ja loved the job, I could tell the constant media—both good and bad—were getting to her. She already had such high expectations of herself, but the media set impossible standards. If she didn't score twenty points or more in a game, they criticized her and said she was going cold. It was ridiculous. So, of course, when her and Kelsey suggested we get some drinks, I couldn't say no. They both needed to relax a little and deserved to do so.

Of course, Jade, having been at both games, suggested that we all go to Sinsations. I couldn't lie, it was kind of nice to have a best friend that owned a bar. I wasn't a fan of going to clubs all the time. They were too overwhelming. Plus, I knew what to expect at Jade's shop. So, with some R&B over the stereo, Kelsey, A'ja, Syd, Chelsea and I talked about Paris and what Syd had been up to over break. We were all sat on the barstools up at the counter. As it was Sunday, Sinsations was pretty much dead, so Jade closed the shop early so we could have some privacy.

Did I already mention having a best friend that owned a bar was nice?

"You guys are going to clean me out of tequila," Jade joked, pouring all six of us another round.

"It's your fault, you know," Kelsey explained with a laugh. "You 100% started this, kid."

"Yeah, yeah," Jade agreed and rolled her eyes.

It made my heart happy to have some of my people in the same place, enjoying each other's company. I'm glad Jade and I had sorta kinda maybe figured things out somewhat. Yikes. Maybe it was as messy as it sounded—or my feelings were that messy, at least. I still was having trouble viewing her as a friend. I wanted more, and after Saturday morning in her apartment, I was left wondering if she did still have feelings for me. I tried my best to keep my mind off of it because I knew it would just drive me nuts, but I couldn't get it out my head. I was craving her lips on mine. I was dying to call her cute pet names again and be affectionate with her. I was craving her in the simplest and most sincere way.

However, seeing her in my jersey, knocking back a shot of tequila without making a face, I was also craving her in other ways.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Jade leaned in towards me and winked, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"No thanks," I quipped. "I don't want your head to get any bigger."

She gasped, "Take that back right now."

"Never," I joked back.

"God damn that tequila is something," Chelsea said, and A'ja hummed in agreement. They were learning all about the tequila this go around since they weren't at opening night.

"It's the best, right?" Jade asked, tapping her empty shot glass on the bar. We had just polished off a bottle with the last round of shots, each of us three in at this point. "I'll go grab another bottle."