Page 29 of How (Not) to Conjure a Boyfriend
“Sorry.” I bow my head and cough.
“It’s not your fault, unless you tripped him or something.” Zachary chuckles.
“Nah,” I laugh. “I’m too clumsy for that.”
Zachary laughs again and suddenly I’m smiling.
“So one-on-one?” He shrugs.
“Sure.” This is going to be so bad. I’m going to get floored.
He turns and bounces the ball a few times between here and the goal, stopping at the flat line under the round one. I don’t have a clue what they’re called, they’re just random shapes to me. I stop at the crest of the rounded line. I think I’m going first.
“Ready?” Zachary asks.
“Y-yeah,” I stutter, and suddenly the ball is rushing toward me. My reflexes kick in and leather smacks my palms instead of my face, thankfully. I clamp my fingers to the surface and… Nothing. Shit. What am I supposed to do?
“Uh…” Zachary frowns.
“Oh, right.”
I drop the ball and start dribbling down the court. My feet move to the right, but Zachary matches me, so I switch to the left and try to sprint forward. He reassesses and is on me in a second.
“Double dribble! You can’t do that. And again!” Zachary calls out. He stops and I take the opportunity to take a shot. It skims the white edge of the backboard and bounces off.
“Ah!” I grunt.
“Wouldn’t have counted anyway,” Zachary says. “You were double dribblingsomuch.”
He eyes me, confusion riddling his face.
“Sorry…” How the hell am I so unaware? I know what that is, but I never really play. I didn’t realize how hard it was not to do that.
“You sure you know how to play?” Zachary asks.
“Yeah, just been a while.” I shrug and then mutter under my breath. “A really long while.”
“’Kay, my ball,” he says, and throws me the ball while he gets into position at the head of the circle.
I huff, running all I can remember about basketball through my head. No double dribbling, obviously, no walking—aka running without dribbling at all—stay inside the white lines around the court, no pushing or holding, fouls are bad, I think. I’m pretty sure those are the main ones.
“Ready?” He nods, feet planted outside the circle.
“Yeah.” I nod and bounce him the ball.
I might not be good at sports, but I’m small, so I’m quick and I can be agile when I need to be. He lurches forward and I throw my hands out to swat at the ball. He diverts with ease and twists around me before smoking me for a successful shot.
“Score one for me!” Zachary hoots and does a quick shoulder shimmy dance.
I’m not sure if it’s more amusing, adorable, or cringe. So I smile and shake my head. He motions for me to get in place again and we go back and forth like this for a few rounds. Mainly it’s me shooting and missing spectacularly or breaking the rules. He really doesn’t like it when I grab his arms to keep him from shooting.
“That’s walking!” Zachary yells, but he’s laughing all the same.
“Damn right it is,” I say and shoot at the same time.
It hits the rim this time, which so far is an accomplishment for me.
“You rimmed it!” Zachary laughs. “You actually got close.”
