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Senior year is supposed to be simple for Paige Bueckers.
Lead UConn to another championship. Finish her college career on top. Ignore the constant attention from fans, media, and scouts waiting for her next move.
Then she meets Isabella "Bella" Auriemma.
At twenty-two, Bella is nothing like the college students Paige is used to being around. Fiercely independent, sharp-witted, and impossible to intimidate, Bella is balancing graduate studies in forensic psychology while raising her three-year-old son, Leo. Becoming a mother at nineteen forced her to grow up faster than everyone around her, and she's spent years proving that she doesn't need anyone's help-especially not a star basketball player.
As Geno Auriemma's niece, Bella has been around basketball her entire life. She knows exactly who Paige is, which makes her one of the few people completely unimpressed by the superstar treatment everyone else gives her.
And that might be what draws Paige in the most.
What starts as casual run-ins at family dinners, practices, and campus events quickly turns into late-night conversations, coffee runs, and afternoons spent with a curious little boy who somehow steals Paige's heart before she even realizes what's happening.
Leo adores Paige from the start.
Bella tries not to.
Because falling for someone like Paige Bueckers comes with risks. The spotlight. The uncertainty. The fact that Paige's future could take her anywhere after graduation.
But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to ignore the way Paige fits into their lives-or the way Leo starts saving a seat for her at the dinner table.
For the first time in her life, Paige finds herself wanting something bigger than basketball.
And for the first time in years, Bella finds herself wondering if she can trust someone enough to let them become part of her little family.
Between championship dreams, family expectations, and a love neither of them saw coming, Paige and Bella will have to decide i