maria sat on the bench, chuckling as her niece fell to the pile of ice on the ground.
they woke up with snow falling from the sky and some piled up on the floor. just like every year, they got out of bed and immediately threw on clothes suited for the snow and paddled out of their houses.
her brother and his wife was up the entire night wrapping presents so she volunteered to take the little girl out. she needed to be out in the open, anyway.
she turned 7 just last month and was just like her mother. it was like all of the joy in the world was taken and stuffed into her small little 7-year-old body.
"maria, look at what i can do!" angela laughed, shaping the ice in her hands. she swung her hand back and flung it forward, the ice landing and dispersing on her chest.
"oh, so you wanna play that way," maria challenged. she hopped off the bench and started making her own snowball as her niece started to run off. angela made her own snowball as well, throwing it at maria again but missing by a mile this time round.
the snowball fight went on for awhile, back and forth. luckily, it was still early and there weren't a lot of people out in the park yet. with that, it was also not very likely that the snowball was going to hit an unintended person.
but of course, maria got lucky.
a particular throw hits another person, having put too much strength and being too off on the shot. she squeaks, throwing her hands over her mouth. leaving angela, she ran over to this man that she hit and started to apologise profusely.
her hands frantically brushed off the crushed ice off his chest, careful not to step out of her boundaries. the guy chuckles as he looked down at her. "is this your excuse to touch me?"
her jaw dropped. she stumbles a few steps back and she shook her head. "no! i just feel really bad and- i'm really sorry. i was playing with my niece and i hit you. fuck, i'm really sorry."
the guy takes his beanie off just as angela came up next to her. she initially planned on saying something, but then had gotten too starstruck to even utter a word. he smiled down at her warmly and then back at maria.
"that's okay, you know," he laughed. "it's not like it's my first time getting hit by a snowball."
"well, yeah... but like you were just minding your own business," maria laughed slightly, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. "i didn't mean to have my actions misinterpret. i'm not a pervert, i swear."
he laughed even harder, placing both hands on her shoulders. "hey, it's okay. i'm bradley."
"beal," angela smiled, hopping on the spot. "you're bradley beal from the washington wizards!"
"and i'm maria from the kentucky wildcats?" maria raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth at her niece and the man she just met. "i'm confused. what's washington wizards?"
angela laughed. "she doesn't watch basketball," she explained to bradley. she pointed up at bradley and tugged on maria's dress. "he plays nice."
maria raised her eyebrows in shock. "oh! shit, i just felt a basketball player up!" she laughed, then turning to bradley again. "please don't file a restraining order against me. i really didn't mean to do what i did."
he waved her off. "that's okay, i told you already. do you guys want something hot to drink? i know a place around here that makes the best hot chocolate."
angela nodded immediately. "maria, let's go!"
he notices the hesitation on her face and he chuckled, replacing his beanie on his head again. "i won't bite. and don't worry, i've got both of you. it's a win-win situation. you guys get a happy ending to your trip to the park and i get to spend time with these two beautiful ladies."
maria's eyes widened, looking away to try to mask the blush creeping up her cheeks. nodding hesitantly, she let angela pull her towards where bradley was headed.
so maybe hitting someone else with a snowball wasn't that bad.
↳ kingsmaria ↲
hELLO I AM BACK. i'm so sorry i had the worst writer's block and the christmas feels just sort of faded away. so here you go for now, because i'll be updating this a lot more times today to catch up
anD GO READ MY TWO NEW BOOKS. SUMMER NIGHTS AND FEARLESS I SWEAR THEY GOOD AF TOO
YOU ARE READING
seasonal ♕ nba shorts
FanfictionCOMPLETED. [KIND OF] PREVIOUSLY NAMED AS JINGLE BELLS. in which althea relieves her seasonal feels in the form of short stories starring athletes from the nba.
