hyped ✧ devin booker

t h r e e

HOTEL IN PHILLY

Devin lay on his bed. Contemplating wether or not he should actually set up a date for Ben and Avery. He was in too deep, he didn't want another guy being her man. He wanted to be her man.  He decided to call up D'angelo and ask him for advice. He had been there for him, and Devin knew he could definitely count on D'angelo.  

"Wassup book. How's everything?" He greeted. Devin sat up on his bed as he was nervous to ask him for some reason.

"Yeah. Man, I need advice cause I fucked up. I'm so dumb at being in love with someone." He admitted. It was clear to both of them that Devin was straight up confused as he should. Devin was attracted to women, but never on this level.

"Oh boy. What'd you do. Ima get the popcorn ready." D'angelo joked which caused Devin to laugh.

"I saw her lurking at Ben Simmons Instagram, and I don't know how but I told her I could set them up if she wanted to. It only felt good for a second seeing her smile and all."  

He heard D'angelo laugh. "You fucked your own self," he continued to laugh, "Really Devin? Funniest shit I've heard all day."

Devin rubbed his hands over his hair. "Okay now that you got your laughs out of the way.. what should I do?"

D'angelo sighed. "Like any man would. Lie. Tell her you asked Ben and he said he was too busy with practices and weightlifting."

"Isn't that gonna ruin her confidence?" Devin raised an eyebrow.

"I'd like to think it wouldn't. If she is though, be there for her. Compliment her and throw some hints and a couple of gestures." He explained.

"How do you know all this?" Devin asked.

"I live in LA. Lots of beautiful woman here man. Once or twice one of them is bound to catch my eye. Gotta go man. Have an early flight to catch. " He hung up, and Devin knew he had too get up early too. He wanted to get extra shots up for tomorrow's game. It wasn't highly anticipated around the league, but he wanted to show out for Avery.

NEXT DAY
SIXERS PRACTICE  FACILITY

"How ya feeling today Book?" One of the trainers asked him. Devin gave him a thumbs up. "Physically I feel great, and mentally probably even better. I'm excited and prepared"

"Awesome. I hope we can get a win tonight. It would really give the rest of the squad some confidence and hopefully build on this win." I agreed with everything he said. The confidence was lacking..

The media wasn't allowed until the players had completed their drills, so his attention was completely focused on perfecting his craft instead of the one thing that's been on his mind.

"Devin. Slow down man. You're not gonna have anymore energy for the game." Brandon muttered as he saw how hard Devin was pushing himself.

"No," Devin mumbled. "I wanna be better. A better player so as a team we can all be better. I wanna lead."

"I understand. You're already one of our top players. You've proved yourself. Don't push so hard though you've been in here since 5 AM. Shit all I do at 5 AM is light jogging. You were already running miles."  

"I understand." Devin nodded his head as he let go of the heavy piece of equipment. "Be ready though. I want this win bad"

Brandon furrowed his eyebrows. He had noticed been had been a gym rat these past couple of games.. like all of a sudden. Devin was always going to the gym, but he never saw this sort of dedication from him. 

Meanwhile, Tyler was barely getting in from the hotel and beginning his practice.. 

Suns VS Sixers

The ball was tipped and it fell toward' s Devin's hand. He ran the ball up the court and passed it out to his teammates. Tyler was fouled and was going to shoot two free throws. Ben tapped Devin's jersey and Devin instantly greeted him. "Welcome to the league. My squad taking this one though."  Devin said confidently.

"We'll see. Goodluck, you're gonna need it" Ben replied as he went up for the rebound, but it was pointless for Tyler swished both of his free throws.  

The game was close for three quarters, but then Devin decided to take over and  he led all scorers with 33 points. It was almost guaranteed that he wanted the walk off interview. It was crazy how a little bit of time spent with her meant so much to him, and he hoped someday she would feel the same.

She came over to him, and as usual the camera was in their faces. Devin couldn't help but stare, but had to remind himself not to be obvious for it was on TV.  

"I'm here with tonight's MVP of the game who led all scorers with 33 points. How'd you get it done in the fourth, Devin?" She asked politely.

"We wanted this one bad. I think towards the end the team got stops when we needed to and our offense never let up from the opening tip." He responded flashing a smile.

"Next game is against the Knicks. What do you expect from the team going into that arena?"

"Obviously the fans there are very dedicated. We just gotta play hard, and play some defense and we should be fine."  He responded as he hoped she had one more question left for him.

"Thank you.." Avery turned her attention to Devin briefly and Devin nodded getting out of the camera frame.

As he was heading towards the tunnel. A group of children yelled his name and he couldn't help but sign for them. He remembered going to them as a child, and getting one of his items signed. It meant everything to him.  

Avery was walking by and noticed what he was doing. "You're a good guy.." she whispered.