Page 9 of His Starr Player

Coach called us in for her final notes before she concluded the practice. I grabbed a basketball from the rack and dribbled it around while most of the ladies said their goodbyes and went into the locker room to shower and get their things.

Most of the greats said they got to their GOAT status by going the extra mile. My father drilled the ideology into my head while I grew up. He’d say,“To be the best, Ava, you have to do more than everyone else. Not only do more but do it better too.”

I hadn’t even realized how long I’d been out on the court until Marnajah called me over. She’d showered and changed into a cute sundress.

I dribbled the basketball between my legs and behind my back as I closed the distance between us.

“What are you doing after this girl?” she asked.

“Ice bath and probably the gym.”

She whistled. “How the hell do you have so much energy to work this much?”

“Years of practice. My daddy made sure I started building my endurance at a young age. It drove my mama crazy, but it worked.”

She nodded. “I see. You’re doing amazing things. Our chemistry is out of this world. Look out 2013 clippers. We might be the new Lob City.”

“Period.” I laughed.

Marnajah had been on the team for almost two years. She had a bad injury at the start of last season and spent all year in recovery. Missing out on the season woke up the beast in her. She had locked in and was almost as hungry as me to get that championship title.

“I do want to ask you a question, though.”

“What’s up?”

“What was up with you and my brother at the club? He’s usually calm, cool, and collected. Not only was he ready to crash out, but he was ready to do it for you.”

I stopped dribbling and held the ball under my arm while I grabbed my bottle of Gatorade. “Nothing, really. He felt the need to stand up for me against a nigga who didn’t understand his time was up.”

“Right, but then the two of y’all left the section and weren’t seen again. When I checked your location, y’all was practically on top of each other.”

I choked on the sip of sports drink in my mouth.

Shit. I forgot she had my location.

“Huh?” I asked.

“If you canhuh,you can hear. Girl, did you fuck my brother?”

“I—I…”

“I knew it. That’s crazy. Y’all weren’t slick at all. I don’t need any details because ew.”

“It kind of just happened. Are you cool with that? I won’t pursue him if you don’t want me to, for real. I value our friendship too much to let some great dick?—”

“—Ava, please!”

“—ruin our friendship.”

We shared a laugh together as I sat down beside her. “I don’t want to ruin the chemistry we’re building, Najah. If it’s a problem for you, I’ll ghost him right now.”

She laughed. “I don’t care who you fuck, Ava. We’re gonna be cool, regardless. If you like my brother, explore it. It won’t affect us at all. I promise.”

“Pinky?” I held my pinky finger out to her.

“I pinky promise, fool.” She hooked her pinky with mine.

“What are y’all doing?”

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