“Hey, that’s a foul, Morgan,” Chance called out, watching Morgan dribble the ball down the court to make a shot. He then turned to Bas. “What’s his problem?”
“Seems like some lady he was interested in last night at the ball wasn’t all that receptive,” Bas said as they ran down the court to retrieve the stolen ball.
“Who?”
“The woman who could be Queen Latifah’s twin, Helena Spears. He asked her out and she declined. She’s probably the first woman who’s ever turned down a dinner date with him. He evidently doesn’t handle rejection well.”
Chance grinned. “Evidently.”
The game ended an hour or so later with Bas and Chance winning. Morgan, who’d made six fouls, would have gotten thrown out of the game had they been playing by real basketball rules.
Kylie sat patiently on the bleachers waiting for the men to come out of the locker room, where they had gone to shower and change. When Bas came out first, he crossed the gym to come over to talk to her.
“So,” he asked dropping in the seat next to her, “what did you think of our game?”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Interesting. A lot of rules were broken.”
Bas chuckled. “Yeah, better broken rules than broken noses. We need this game every week to work off frustrations. Otherwise, we’d be at each other’s throats at some point during the week.”
“So I heard.”
After a few moments of silence, Bas, who had a habit of shooting straight from the hip, said, “Chance has never brought a woman to watch us play before, so I figure you must be special.”
Kylie gave him a wry glance. “Do you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“That’s good to know because I think he’s special, too.”
Bas shook his head and chuckled softly. “You don’t seem too happy about it.”
Kylie let out a sigh. “We should be concentrating on our kids.”
“Hey, Marcus is a smart guy and from what I hear your Tiffany is a smart girl.”
“Yes, but trouble has a way of finding even smart people.”
“You’re talking to someone who knows. Trouble used to be my middle name.”
Kylie caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “Chance is a nice guy,” she said quietly. “Marcus is lucky to have him for a father.”
“That’s the same thing Chance said about you.”
Kylie glanced over at Bas. “What?”
“That you were a nice person and that Tiffany was lucky to have you as a mother.” Bas then leaned forward. “Hey, do me a favor, will you?”
“And what favor is that?”
“You’ve made him happy and—”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. I’ve never seen him in such a good mood. Sometimes I think that smile is plastered to his face.”
Kylie shook her head. “I have nothing to do with it.”
“Yes, you do. At first he was all bent out of shape at the thought that Marcus’s attention had gotten off his books and shifted to a girl, but once he met you then he saw why.”
Kylie’s eyebrows pulled together in a frown. “What do you mean?”
Bas smiled. “He was so taken with you that he could see how Marcus could be taken with Tiffany.” When Kylie didn’t say anything, Bas said, “Now getting back to that favor…”
“Yes?”
“Keep making Chance happy. He’s had a lot of sadness in his life and if there’s anyone who deserves to be happy, it’s him. I think he’s a pretty great guy.”
Before Kylie could say anything, Bas stood, jumped off the bleachers to the court and called over his shoulder, “I’ll go see what’s keeping him.”
Kylie leaned back and thought about what Bas had said. Before she could give it too much thought, every nerve ending in her body came instantly alive when Chance walked out of the locker room. He had changed into a pair of jeans and another T-shirt. He crossed the gym to her with a heart-stopping smile on his face.
Catching her breath, she decided to go down to meet him. As soon as she got close he leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “Sorry for the delay. I had to talk to Morgan about something.”
She nodded as he took her hand in his and led her out of the gym. “That’s okay. I enjoyed chatting with Bas while I waited. Is Morgan okay? He was playing a mean game today. He committed a lot of fouls.”
Chance’s smile curved into a full grin. “Yes, they were intentional. He had a lot of frustrations to work off.”
“Oh.”
Snaking his arm around her waist, Chance snuggled her closer to his side as they walked to the car. “What were your plans for today?”