The starting five have been announced and now everyone is on the court. Players shuffle their feet against the court, causing traction and that god-awful squeaking sound.
The ref blows the whistle and we all watch as two players jump to their highest, battling for the ball. The Hawks easily slap the ball out of reach and the game is on.
Tonight, they’re playing one of their biggest rivals, the New York Knicks.
Just from the start of the game, you can tell this will be a nasty night. Elbows have been flying since the first quarter. The referees are turning blind eyes tonight, only calling fouls when absolutely necessary.
The ball is thrown to Cal King. He’s immediately flocked by two players from the opposite team, and he’s struggling finding a shot. He steps to pass to Landon Prince, who materializes out of nowhere, only to have the ball slapped in our direction.
Prince and a player from the Knicks are scrambling, trying to get to the ball first. Both crash into each other; the Knicks player falls to the ground, but Prince continues to stumble.
Right toward me.
Chapter Three
“Oh shit!” I hear Chrissy shout beside me as she leans away from the giant who is barreling toward me. I must look like a deer in headlights because I’m stunned until the very last second when I attempt to move. Only I’m sent backward, my chair collapsing beneath me, and a very large, very heavy, and very sweaty basketball player is laying on top of me.
My eyes open and I’m blinded by the lights hanging from the beams. His head moves, blocking the brightness.
“Shit. I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Prince’s eyes roam my face, worry within them.
His eyes are a light gray and mesmerizing. Small, sweat beads line his forehead and his hair is slick from playing for the last hour.
“I’m fine. I just can’t breathe.” I shift beneath him to get up, only to find I can’t move. At all.
Prince rises to his feet, offering me a hand. His eyes roam down my body and my face flushes at the thought of him blatantly checking me out. His lips curve in a small smirk; it’s attractive.
“Let me have someone bring you another shirt.” He glances behind him and waves over someone from the opposite side of the court, a woman. She stands, and even from here I can tell she stands at least six feet. “Meet her at the top in front of the concession stand.” I look down at my shirt and realize it’s covered in nacho cheese and beer. I’m not sure how I didn’t even notice during the fall. Oh, wait. I do know, I was covered by a giant. My mind was on other things. Yet, somehow he doesn’t have a bit of nacho cheese on him.
Suddenly, I’m completely mortified and I can feel my face heat up with embarrassment. I turn from Prince’s attention and trot up the stairs, not bothering to look behind me. I’m sure everyone is getting quite the laugh on my behalf. Chrissy and Jennifer offered to come with me but I waved them off.
I step in front of the concession stand and notice the girl immediately. She turns and smiles my way. She has long black hair and bright blue eyes; she’s wearing heels and white denim jeans with a flashy Hawks shirt.
“Hi, I’m Layla. Landon’s sister,” she says, her voice soft but firm.
“Kelsi,” I say. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Nonsense, that brother of mine can get carried away playing ball. Follow me and we can go get you cleaned up.” She moves down a hall I hadn’t noticed before, holding a door open for me to enter. When I do, I’m covered in darkness until Layla flips the light switch on.
“This is the storage room for excess stock that they don’t have room to put on the floor in the shops.” She moves toward a few of the boxes. “What size? Medium?” I nod as she begins digging through boxes and eventually tosses me a shirt. It’s similar to the one I’m currently wearing, except the name Prince is on the back, in capital letters.
“Go ahead, strip down. Just toss your old shirt in the trash bin. I’ll be waiting outside when you’re done.” The door clicks shut behind her.
I make quick work of discarding my ruined T-shirt and pulling on the new one. I do as she says and throw my old cheese-stained shirt in the bin by the door. I’m still embarrassed by this entire situation.
I mumble to myself, “Only dumb shit like this would happen to me.”
Once I step into the hallway, Layla pushes off from the wall and eyes me up and down, smiling.
“Is it okay? Anything has to be better than that nacho-smeared, beer-stench shirt.”
“Oh, honey. I think my brother will approve, all right.” She winks, causing me to glance down. The only thing different about what I’m wearing now is that the shirt is a tighter fit with Prince written on the back. I look back up to Layla; she smiles and starts back down the hall, leaving me to follow.
We say our goodbyes and I trot back down the steps toward my friends. They all see me approaching and point toward the jumbotron. The screen is doing a replay of the events of our fall. It cuts to a still image of Prince laying on me and his eyes are intense and focused on my mouth.
“That is fucking hot,” Jennifer says as I slide into the seat beside her.
“Stop, that was the most embarrassing moment of my life,” I groan and throw my hands over my face.
“He’s looking at you,” Chrissy whispers against my ear and I jerk my head up. Across the court, sitting on the bench with a towel draped around his neck, is Landon Prince, and his eyes are locked on mine. That smirk appears and I can’t help but feel a little giddy. He winks, then turns his focus back on his teammates on the court.
“Shut the fuck up, Landon Prince just winked at you.” Jennifer is nearly falling out of her chair beside me, shock written all over her face. “THE Landon Prince. Damn, girl. I told you that you were getting laid tonight.”
“No one is getting laid tonight, unless it’s you, Jen. And we all know that’s always a possibility.” I wink at her and she throws her head back and laughs.
“Miss?” We all turn to see a man in a suit squatted next to our chairs.
“Mr. Prince sent me to invite you all to the after-party at Bar 765 after the game. Here are your passes to get in, compliments of Mr. Prince. He hopes to see you there, an apology for the accident earlier.” He hands us a small envelope and turns to walk back around the court.
Jennifer grabs the envelope from my hand and thumbs out four after-party tickets.
I turn my attention back to the court, and my eyes once again land on Landon Prince.
“Looks like we’re partying tonight, ladies,” I grumble and shake my head. A party with Landon Prince is probably not a good idea.
Chapter Four
The Hawks tore apart their opponents by the fourth quarter. Half of each team had fouled out. It was a rough one, but it kept the entire arena on their feet.
The atmosphere following a win was incredible to witness. Loyal fans were still hollering as everyone filed out of the arena and onto the packed city street. Random strangers were high fiving down the parking lot rows.
“The bar is this way.” Jennifer turns and we begin to follow. We paid for overnight parking at the arena parking area and our hotel is just a block from the arena. One good thing about the location of the new arena is that it’s within walking distance of the best street in Atlanta. It’s similar to the popular Beale Street in Memphis. Rusk Row has plenty of bars and restaurants lining both sides.