Hazed (Palm South University)

So before the door shuts behind us, I grab his ass for good measure.

“WHAT’S WRONG, PREZ?” BEAR chides, giving me a cocky grin as he dribbles the basketball. “Tired already?”

I’m bent over, hands on my knees, preparing to guard him again while sweat is pouring off my forehead and dripping from my hair down to the cement.

“Not too tired to block this next shot.”

Bear grins even wider, and then he’s dribbling the ball back and forth, between his legs, around his back before he breaks away and drives toward the basket. I stay on him the entire time, and when he goes up for the shot — a little jumper not too far from the hoop — I jump with all my might and sling my hand up into the air to block it.

Except I don’t.

And when the ball swishes in the net, Bear hoots and hollers in a victory loop as I stand there staring at the hoop with my hands hanging on my hips.

“Tough luck, kid,” Bear says, ruffling my hair as he passes me.

I shove him off with a laugh. “You have to admit, for someone who’s never played on a team, I didn’t do too bad keeping up.”

“You did alright,” Bear concedes. He jogs to the side of the court, grabbing a water out of the small cooler we brought with us and tossing one to me, too. “Your shooting isn’t half bad. It’s your ball handling and defense skills that need work.”

“Probably too late for me to go pro,” I tease, uncapping the water and taking a healthy swig.

We’re not even out of February yet and Florida is fucking hot again. With only a few whispy clouds in the sky, the sun has been beating down on us for the last hour while we played. I already know I’ll have a gnarly tan line where my basketball shorts hide my hips down to my knees.

And the sock tan. Oof.

Still, with it only being in the low eighties, it’s one of those days you can’t help but take advantage of. Sooner than we think, it’ll be hot enough to fry an egg on this court, and the last thing we’ll want to do is be outside for more than thirty minutes unless it’s at the pool or the beach.

Bear plops down at the edge of the court, balancing his elbows on his knees as he looks around at the other students playing at various hoops. Water in hand, I lower down next to him, taking another swig.

“I feel like I can tell which ones are freshmen just by looking at them,” Bear says, nodding toward one of the smaller groups of guys playing.

“How so?”

“They still have hope in their eyes.”

I chuckle, setting my water aside and leaning back on my palms. “Hard to believe this is our last semester, isn’t it?”

“Impossible.”

“I still remember my orientation.” I chuckle. “My aunt was so worried about me staying on campus for the weekend. She was worried I’d party too much.”

“At least you had someone who gave a shit. My mom was so blazed out of her mind, I don’t even think she realized I was gone until my sophomore year.”

I frown. “How’s that going, her being back in Pitt?”

He shrugs. “Honestly, I haven’t thought much about it since I came back from break. She was good when I was there, and she and my little brother moved into a little apartment. I think if there was anything wrong, he’d let me know. Besides,” he adds, taking a drink of water. “I’ve had other things occupying my mind.”

“Job hunting?”

He laughs at that. “I wish it was something that simple.”

I nod. “Ah. Must be a girl, then. I was wondering if you were working off some pent-up aggression on me out there.”

Bear doesn’t say anything, just takes another drink of water.

“You going to tell me who she is?”

“No.”

“Okay,” I laugh. “Want to talk about why she’s driving you mad, then?”

He sighs, shaking his head. “It’s my own damn fault I’m in the situation I’m in. I was too stupid to realize how I felt about her until it was too late.”

“Hmm,” I muse. “I’m very familiar with that predicament.”

Bear tries to smirk, but it falls short. “Did you ever think it would be best to give up?” he asks, looking at me. “Did you ever think to leave Cassie alone, to let her be with Grayson and just trust that you weren’t the one for her?”

I inhale a long breath. “There were times I wondered, times I thought maybe I was causing her more pain than anything else. And sometimes, that was true.” I pause. “But there was always this… attraction between us. Not just physical, but magnetic, chemical, all-encompassing. I knew when she was in the same room before I even saw her. And whether I was with someone else or she was, it didn’t matter. If she was there, my eyes were on her.”