When the announcer’s voice began booming, the Thunder began running in.

Hadley gripped my hand. “OH MY GOD!”

The Cruskinator went by.

Lestroy.

I could name each and every one of them, and not just because of camp.

One saw us and stopped. “Hey!” He waved. “It’s nice to see you guys again.” He saw me. “Oh yeah,” he said with a laugh before he hit the guy next to him, jogging on.

Still others passed by.

A couple of the coaches.

Aiden was with them.

Juan.

Then…

When I turned, Reese was staring at me, a smirk on his face.

I couldn’t hold it in. A secret grin showed, and he answered it with one of his own.

Juan pounded his arm, waving to me too before they jogged the rest of the way.

I was not going to look around, but I knew the people around us were watching me. I scooted low in my seat and folded my head in, now wondering if his jersey was too obvious?

Then, fuck it. I was here to support him. Half the women in this arena had his number on their backs, so I sat back up and started cheering with the rest of the crowd.

Hadley was up and dancing. She and Owen were doing their dances the way only they could. He pretended to smack her ass as she waved her arms in the air.

Lauren looked at them, her eyebrows high until Trenton leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Her confusion cleared, and her cheeks pinked. She drew closer to his side, and soon both of them were moving to the music.

Once the game actually began, it was pandemonium—the way a game should always be. Everything happening inside of me came out, and I was yelling with the rest of them. We were in Thunder territory, but I liked the Coyotes too. It hurt when they fell behind, when Reese stole one, two, three balls, made his free throws, and had at least one beautiful teardrop shot.

He really was having one of his best years. They’d won all their other games but one, and they seemed to be on the fast track for the NBA Finals, but that was a long way off. They were currently rated number two in their conference.

And it wasn’t just Reese.

Juan was on the court almost the whole time, leading the team in rebounds and tying with Reese for assists. Lestroy led with three-pointers, and the Cruskinator dominated under the basket.

Thunder led 72-63 at the half, and after a quick dash to the bathroom, I sat down for the first time since the game began.

“Holy shit.” Hadley fanned herself. “We need to come to these games more often. They’re a workout.”

The Coyotes mascot was throwing shirts into the crowd across from us. On our side, the dancers were tossing little basketballs.