Promises

Chapter Seven

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1650

April 16th, 2006

"Yo!" Tyler yelled. "That was sick! Y/N, did you see that?"

You rested your finger at the end of the sentence you had just finished reading and looked up at Tyler. "No, what happened?"

"No!" he yelled dramatically, dropping his arms from their outstretched position and turning to grab the basketball. "I just made the coolest three pointer and you missed it!"

"Sorry, Ty," you said, looking back down at your book.

Tyler once again began to dribble around the basketball court, occasionally yelling as he made a particularly good, or particularly bad, shot. After awhile, he walked over so that he was standing in front of you, his basketball tucked under one arm and sweat dripping down his forehead.

"What are you reading?" he asked between breaths. You held up the book so that he could see the cover, your eyes never leaving the page. "That one again? Haven't you read it like five times?"

You stuck your bookmark in your book, figuring that this was going to be a longer conversation that warranted your full attention, "Six, actually. And yes, I'm reading it again because it's my favorite book and it never gets old."

"Why don't you shoot some hoops with me?" he asked, sticking his bottom lip out.

"Because I suck at basketball. Haven't we had this conversation a million times before, Ty?"

"Yes, but I'm having it again because it's my favorite conversation and it never gets old," he mimicked you. You rolled your eyes and set your book down in the grass next to you.

"Is it ok if I just watch you play basketball?" you asked.

"Come on, Y/N. One free throw?"

You sighed, knowing you wouldn't be able to resist his pleas. Tyler smiled widely as you pushed yourself up from the grass and dusted your jeans off. He tossed you the basketball which you barely caught. You hesitantly walked up to the free throw line and lined up your shot; it flew through the air and unceremoniously bounced off the rim and rolled into the grass.

"You know, I expected you to do a lot worse," Tyler said.

You gave him a light shove as you walked past him to pick up the basketball. He gracefully caught it as you tossed it to him on your way back to your sunny spot in the grass.

"Y/N, watch this," Tyler said.

You looked over to where Tyler was lining up a three point shot. In the back of your mind, you knew you were supposed to be paying attention to the shot he was making, but you were too distracted by him. You couldn't help but admire the way the muscles in his arms moved as he took a shot and the way he stuck his tongue out just a little when he was really focused. Just as he was about to make a basket, you managed to shake yourself out of your thoughts and pay attention to what was going on. Tyler had been your best friend for as long as you could remember, having feelings for him wasn't really an option.

"Almost," he sighed as the ball rolled around the rim and fell to the ground.

"It was still a good shot," you reassured him.

"Thanks," he said, bouncing the ball a bit. "Hey, you want to go swing for a little bit? I think the little kids finally forked them over."

"Yeah, let's do it."

You tossed your book into your bag and pulled it over your shoulder. Tyler lifted his shirt up and wiped the sweat from his forehead, and once again you had to stop yourself from staring. You glanced away just before he dropped his shirt back down. "Gross," he grimaced.