Freeing Carter (21 page)

Which makes me wonder why I invited her here in the first place.

"
So I
'
m guessing heels and basketball don
'
t really go well together?
"
Kira
'
s steady voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

"
Um
...
no.
"
I dribble the ball to keep myself busy.
"
I guess I didn
'
t really think this through very well.
"

She shrugs
,
pulling off her shoes and tossing them to the side.

"
You can
'
t play with no shoes on. What if you step on something?
"

"
I
'
ll be okay
,
Mom. Just make sure you don
'
t stomp on my feet.
"

Like always she pulls a small laugh out of me.
"
Ha ha. See? I try
to
be a gentleman and you make fun of me. Nice.
"

"
Are those the same shoes you play your games in?
"

"
Um
,
no. Why?
"

"
Give them to me.
"

"
What? Then what will I wear?
"

Kira crosses her arms.
"
Oh
,
I was under the impression you were being a gentleman.
"

My eyes fall closed and I shake my head
,
knowing she got me.
"
Fine
,
but just so you know
,
I wouldn
'
t do this for just anyone. And if
I
step on something and get hurt
,
I
'
m totally suing.
"

"
Deal.
"
She takes my Nikes and pulls them on. They
'
re obviously big on her. I doubt she
'
ll even be able to run without tripping.
"
And at least you have socks. That
'
s some protection.
"

"
Socks? Protection my ass.
"
This time
,
it
'
s me who mumbles
,
"
girls
"
the same way she did boys.

"
Okay
,
so what
'
s first
,
coach?
"
S
he holds out her hand
,
answering my question about whether we
'
re really playing basketball class or not. I toss her the ball.

"
Let me see how you shoot.
"
I grab her arm and pull her forward a little
,
about where the free throw line is.

With her feet apart
,
she pulls her hands in the air and I stop her.
"
Nope. Not right at all. Here.
"
I step up behind her. Patting one of her legs
,
I say
,
"
Move this leg a little. Yep
,
like that. Raise the ball up
,
with two hands
,
but put one on the side a little.
"
She does it
,
but wrong. Reaching my arms around her I touch her wrist.
"
Over a little. Yeah
,
like that. Then the other hand at the back of the ball.
"

I
'
m behind her
,
arms on each side of her
,
my hands on hers. It
'
s not until I smell girl that I realize how close I am to her. I don
'
t even know what the scent is—some kind of sweet perfume that goes straight to my head. Her back
'
s against my chest. My arms are around her. I suck in another breath because
,
man
,
girls smell good. When you
'
re this close to one
,
it
'
s impossible not to suck it all in
and
drown in it.
"
Is
...
Is
this
...
okay?
"

She chuckles. I don
'
t know if it
'
s wishful thinking or not
,
but I think it sounds a little more raspy than usual.

"
Sure thing
,
Coach. It
'
s the only way to learn
,
right?
"

Oh
,
yeah. This is about basketball. It
'
s the first time in my life I haven
'
t fully appreciated the sport because while it did get me this close to her
,
it
'
s not the reason a guy wants to be close to a girl
.
"
Absolutely.
"

Trying to make myself concentrate on what I
'
m doing rather than how soft she is
...
What is that smell? Strawberries? Okay
,
I
'
m going the wrong way here.

"
Y
ou
'
re going to bend your right wrist a little so the ball tilts backward. Smoothly flick your wrist forward a little
,
letting the ball kind of roll out of your hand
,
off your fingers. One fluid movement
,
'
kay?
"
Basketball
,
basketball
,
basketball.

I step away from her. She shoots it hard
,
bouncing the ball roughly off the front of the rim.
"
Oops.
"

Running around her
,
I grab the ball and give it back to her.
"
Totally my fault. Hold the ball like you did last time.
"
She gets into position and I get behind her. Teasingly
,
I push my knees into the back of hers
,
trying not to focus on wondering what her legs feel like. Trying not to regret wearing pants so I would know firsthand.
"
Bend your legs a little. Not too much
,
but enough to give yourself a little leeway. There you go. Like that. Arm up a little more. Perfect.
"

It
'
s dumb. All kinds of dumb
,
actually. I mean
,
I got dumped by Mel tonight. I
'
m all screwed up over Mom
,
but I need to feel her. Need to forget everything else
,
so I slide my hands down her arms instead of pulling them away before stepping around her.

"
Okay
,
watch me.
"
Did my voice just shake? I hope she doesn
'
t notice.

I bend my legs
,
put my hand up like there is a ball in them.
"
You
'
re going to push off the ground a little. You can jump
,
but you don
'
t have to. Just give yourself a little push. At the same time
,
shoot the ball. Nice and smooth
,
remember.
"
I demonstrate a jump shot.
"
Your turn.
"

Kira stands there a few seconds
,
focusing on the basket
,
then does exactly what I said. Her form is almost perfect. The ball flies out of her hand. The arch is a little high
,
but that
'
s okay. Nothing wrong with a rainbow shot as long as it goes in. Which is does. Missing the rim completely and sliding straight though the net.

"
There you go! Nothing but the bottom of the—umpf!
"
  She flies at me like Sara does
,
crashing into me
,
but it feels different. Way different than my little sister launching herself at me.

"
I did it!
"
The hug is too short for my liking.
"
I
'
m good
,
huh? See how fast of a learner I am? Come on
,
let
'
s do it again.
"

She doesn
'
t have to ask me twice. Ruining my white socks
,
I run for the ball and bring it back to her. She shoots a couple more jump shots. I try and teach her to dribble through her legs which probably isn
'
t the smartest move since she
'
s wearing a skirt
,
but it
'
s kind of fun. The layups don
'
t go as smoothly as jump shots
,
especially with the oversized shoes. It takes her throwing the ball over the back
,
bouncing off the bottom of the rim
,
and every other screw up you can think of before she makes one
,
but eventually she does. I swear her face brightens up enough to lighten the park if the lamps went out.

It
'
s not until she falls against the wall
,
sitting on the ground
,
that I realize I could probably do the same. I
'
m smiling so big
,
I probably look like an idiot
,
but I don
'
t care. I practically feel the light coming off me. I
'
m not thinking about Mel
,
worried about Mom or Sara. I
'
m not even plotting out how to win
,
how to get better because teaching her
,
this was just for fun.

I can
'
t ever remember having so much of it.

***

"
Can I ask you something?
"
I turn to look at her
,
while we
'
re both sitting on the side of the court. Her legs are out in front of her
,
long and lean and I can
'
t even explain how hard it is not to stare at them. But the funny thing is
,
as much as I want to look
,
I also want to talk to her too. There
'
s a part of me that wonders if she
'
s insane
...
but a good insane. One that makes me wish I could be a little more crazy.

"
Sure thing. Oh!
"
she turns to me.
"
We can have like
,
a bonding session
,
where we bare our souls to each other and become cosmically connected by our experiences!
"

I can
'
t help but wonder if my eyes are as big as they feel. I know my mouth is hanging open because this chick really is nuts. Not sure this part is the good kind or not
,
but she
'
s definitely one player short of a team.

"
Breathe
,
Coach. I
'
m kidding. I know a little bit about boys. The whole baring the soul thing isn
'
t something you guys excel at
,
right? Plus
,
while I like you pretty well
,
and I
'
m pretty much an open book
,
not sure I
'
m
that
open.
"