Bounce Back

Chapter 54

Ryan's POV

I settled back into my routine even with the new changes. Tyler and Alex both made sure that I followed it but after a week it was normal. UCLA were still unbeaten before the Pac-12 tournament meaning that they were the top seed.

It was in Nevada from Wednesday until Saturday. I had talked to all my teachers about the content that was going to be covered and Alex promised to send me all of his notes. The day before we were already in Nevada and it was late at night.

Tyler and I were sharing a room and we had both already in bed but I could hear him tossing and turning.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm nervous," he admitted.

I knew what he was talking about. He'd already played a lot of games but the Pac-12 tournament was even bigger and a lot of the season was riding on this. I flicked the light on and he sat up and rested his hands in his hands.

"What are you nervous about?" I asked.

"People are starting to ask me if I'm going to be a one and done and if I am then I need a good showing in the hope of being drafted highly so it's really important and I don't know what I want to do," he continued.

"What are you thinking so far?" I asked.

"I talked to Mom and she said that she wouldn't mind if I moved on but I wanted to finish my degree, it might just take me a little longer."

"It would be hard to get it done."

"Yeah but I do want to do it. I just need to play well and that is more nerve-wracking," he said softly.

"Do you want to come join me?"

I was a little scared because he didn't say anything and we hadn't shared a bed in months now. I was about to say something else when he stood up and moved across the room.

He slid in beside me and wrapped an arm around me before tucking his head onto my shoulder. I could feel him relaxing around me and after a few minutes we were both asleep.

When I woke the next morning Tyler wasn't beside me and when I rolled over the bed was cold. I sat up, rubbing my eyes and looked around the small room. The bathroom door was open and Tyler wasn't in there so he wasn't in the room.

I slowly got up, showered and changed. Tyler still hadn't come back into the room so I sat back down on the bed and waiting for him. The lower seeds had played yesterday and because UCLA was the top seed they had had a bye and weren't playing until 8:30 tonight so it was even longer for the team to wait. At last I heard the door open and Tyler walked in.

"What were you doing?" I asked as he joined me on the bed.

"I woke up way too early so I headed out and had a bit of a walk around," he explained.

The rest of the day seemed to drag by and everyone on the team seemed to notice it as well. UCLA were playing Arizona State and at last we headed to the arena and then the time seemed to fly by at last.

There were lots of people talking about an unbeaten season. Coach made sure to remind the team all the time about focusing on the next game and not thinking about that and take it just like a normal game.

Once again I took my seat at the end of the bench and waited for the game to start. I had done quite a bit research on the Arizona State team so I knew a bit about them. Like normal I watched them warm up and soon enough the game started.

I couldn't help but notice that Tyler was playing really well. Every play he made seemed to go perfect. The scores were ticking up quickly and I couldn't fault much of it. This was clearly their best game so far this season.

Half time came and I headed into the locker room with them. Most of what Coach said was keep doing what they were doing. I added a couple of small things but there wasn't much that I could add.

The rest of the game was just as good and Arizona State was dismantled. The locker room was loud and excited after the game and for once I joined them in the locker room.

"Great game guys but it is only the first one so be prepared for tomorrow. We have the 8:30 game again tomorrow so we'll do the same thing as today. So cool down, change and head out," Coach said.

Everyone cheered once more and I continued to sit around as the players stretched out on the floor. I talked to a few different people as I waited for everyone to finish. I noticed that Tyler had left and I knew exactly where to find him so I stepped out as well.

As predicted I found him with the medics. He was sitting one of the beds with an ice pack resting beside him. The medic was working on his ankle and I could see the pain on his face. I waited until they were finished and Tyler was just icing his ankle.

"Is it ok?" I asked softly.

"Just a little sore, not any worse than it was before," he said.

I sat down beside him and we talked a little bit before he returned the ice pack and the team headed out. Tyler wrapped an arm around me so that he didn't have to put as much weight on it. I knew that it was more serious that he was letting on but I wasn't going to push him to talk about it now.

It wasn't long until we were back in our hotel room thankfully because it was late and I was exhausted.

"Sit down, I'll get things organised for you," I told Tyler.

I couldn't help but notice that he sat down on my bed instead of his but I busied myself so I couldn't think about it. I organised our stuff and dumped the stuff that we didn't need anymore. I then helped him hobbled into the bathroom to get organised.

"Are you sure that you are going to be alright?" I asked.

"I will be. I just tweaked it a little bit. It'll be fine tomorrow," he said.

He didn't say anything when we curled up in bed again together. I felt myself relaxing against him and I was hopeful that maybe we could get back together again at some point.

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The Wise One