Page 74 of Skylar

“It sure is,” Aiden agreed as they walked down the wide hallway, Skylar in the middle. “Not much has changed.”

Their footsteps echoed in the hallway as they headed toward the gym. As they neared the door, Aiden could hear the thump of several basketballs as well as the squeak of rubber shoes.

Jay was standing just inside the wide doorway of the gym, hands on his hips as he watched several people on the floor.

“Hey there,” Jay said as he turned toward them. He gave quick hugs to Aiden and Cole, and a more careful one to Skylar. “Come to cheer us on?”

“As long as all I have to do is yell,” she said, motioning to her boot.

“If you weren’t in that boot, could you still do all the cartwheels and stuff?”

“Yep. Once a month, I try all of them. If I can’t do it well, I practice it more.”

“Too bad you can’t show us,” Cole said.

“Next time.”

The action on the court had stopped, and Aiden glanced over to see that the young men who’d been practicing now stood clumped together, looking over at them. He had a feeling that they’d recognized Cole.

Jay turned back to the group and asked, “What’s going on?”

“That’s Cole Halverson, right?” one teen called out.

“Sure is,” Jay agreed. “And you’re going to be playing against him this afternoon.”

“Againsthim?”

“Yep. So keep warming up.”

The teens quickly began to dribble and shoot.

“Are you two ready to go?” Jay asked. “Or do you need to get changed?”

“Just got to swap my shoes,” Aiden told him.

Cole nodded. “Me too.”

Skylar pointed to the bleachers. “I’m going to sit over there.”

“You’re not going to be on your own,” Jay told her. “I think there are a couple wives and maybe some kids showing up, too.”

Cole followed Skylar, then sat down on the lowest bleacher, putting his bag on the foot row behind him. Aiden sat next to him, while Skylar settled on the row above them.

As he was tying his second shoe, Wilder and Lexi arrived, and not long after that, Will showed up with his oldest son, Liam. Wilder joined them on the bench to swap his shoes as well, and Lexi climbed up to sit next to Skylar.

Once he was done, Aiden stretched out his feet and leaned forward, stretching out the muscles in his calves. He was looking forward to playing, but he hoped he didn’t regret it when he woke up the next day.

After some stretching, he and Cole got to their feet.

“Let’s see if we still have that old high school magic,” Cole said as he easily caught the ball that Jay slung at him.

For the next little while, he and Cole passed the ball between them, then jumped for baskets. Cole made every shot he took, but Aiden only made about one out of three. He was so out of practice.

When Wilder and Will joined them, Cole said, “Are you playing these days, Will?”

“Yeah. I decided that now I have age as an excuse for why I’m not great at the sport. When I was younger, I had no excuse except that I sucked.”

“Okay, guys,” Jay called out as his son, Peyton, walked into the gym, dressed to play. “Gather round and let’s figure out how we’re going to do this.”

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