Swish

.28

The night spent wrapped in Eli's arms, his strong corded muscles cocooning me in our own little world that protected us from everything we were bound to face come morning light, I awoke to a budding pit that stretched out in my stomach. 

Gnawing and ugly, the nervous anxiety peeled back the calm and serene peacefulness that came with the memories the night before had created. 

Laughing, kissing, chasing after each other to see who could make it to his car first, our worlds collided and met together in a blaze that we chased to his dorm room which was thankfully empty (I was starting to wonder if Eli had bought his roommates a hotel room so we'd have privacy) and his kisses melted the rest of the world around of me until the line we hadn't crossed became blurred and we decided to stop yet again, his heated ministrations with his hands on my body slowing until turning me around to tug me against his chest. 

But still, the cold morning light bathed in grey hues by the gauzy swath of curtains covering Eli's windows washed the euphoric tint to the night, the curl and dip of anticipation that his skin upon mine brought forth in my mind.  

Because it was game day, Eli was forced to wake at dawn and do a kind of ritualistic pre game custom of spending the entire day with the team, which meant that I also had to wake up with him and gather my wits about me before facing my roommates and try to explain why my phone was off, my car reported stolen, and why my family had come in guns blazing the day before. 

There was very little room or time to explain when my dad had hijacked my day not even twenty four hours prior. 

Oh yeah, and the fact that I hadn't slept in my own bed for two nights in a row.  I couldn't wait for that grilling. 

"Are you going to be okay today?  Will you have Bea and Hazel with you?"

"I'll be fine.  They said they were going to the game a few days ago anyway, so it's not like I'll have to convince them.  Will I get to see you before you go into game mode?"

I knew enough about my father's damn near religious pre game ritual before the accident than to mess with Eli's, I definitely didn't want to throw him off his game when they were playing against their rival, something Maddie couldn't shut up about when we had actually been working together at the same time before the big blow up. 

"I'll probably be able to see you in the box right before we dress out, your dad wanted to introduce me to some higher ups..." he trailed off, a pained expression clouding his face as realized what kind of position that would put me in. 

"You're not going to be sitting in his box, are you?  The entire game?"

"I don't think I'll be able to handle five minutes of him in that box, I just hope the press aren't camped outside of it like they used to be when I was younger and would go to his games, but this isn't NBA level, so I doubt they would be.  Right?"

Guilt flashed across his face as he pulled a t-shirt over his head, muscles flexing in his stomach as he did so and I had to momentarily remind myself to focus on the conversation and not his physique. 

"Well, your dad did say he was inviting some of his old teammates, some that are still active in the pros.  He even said something about Johnson Price..."

"Johnson fucking Price?!  Might as well announce that Michael Jordan will be attending with a big red flashing sign!  The media will be there the second he gets there!"

"I know.  But it will be fine," he started, walking towards me, arms on my shoulders as if that would reassure me that it would actually be fine, when all I felt was the weight of the world coming to crash down on top of me.