Page 78 of Full Court Love
I’m scanning the crowd for one person.
Spinning in circles, I’m worried she decided to wait out the crowd or something. I start wading through people who slap my back and offer congratulations, and then I feel someone jump onto my back.
She nuzzles into my neck, whispering in my ear, “I’m so proud of you.”
Then she drops to the floor and I turn to see a teary-eyed Lucy. I wipe her cheeks, and she looks at me like I’m Hercules. Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, I pull her into my chest. She squeezes me and then looks up into my eyes.
“Seriously. You were incredible.”
I shake my head, feeling tears pricking the backs of my eyes. “You know I couldn’t have done this without you, right?”
She laughs. “That’s not even a little bit true.”
I lean toward her ear, ensuring that she doesn’t miss a word of what I’m about to say, despite the loud cheers around us. “Lucy, you’ve changed the very fiber of my life. I’m not the same guy I was even just six months ago, and that’s all because of you. I’ve never known happiness like this.”
Tears cascade down her cheeks once again, but thankfully they’re accompanied by the sweetest smile.
I’m not done.
“Lucy, I’ve been wanting to tell you this, but I…”
With possibly the worst possible timing in the history of humanity, my teammates arrive at this exact moment to carry me toward the awards stage. I glance back at Lucy, whose smile is now shrouded in a look of knowing.
We both know what I was about to say. I just really wish I could’ve actually said it.
Once at the stage, we are awarded the Conference Tournament Championship trophy, and Tyler and I make the All-Tournament team. We then take way too many pictures with the trophy and freshly cut net before being ushered to the media room.
It’s a whirlwind–one that I’ve dreamed about experiencing for years. All the hard work, long hours, blood, sweat, and tears are coming to fruition. But oddly enough, it’s not even the best part of my day.
She is.
As exciting as it all is, I just want to celebrate with Lucy.
So of course she’s the one on my mind as I sit down in front of the cameras with the championship net around my neck.
The first question comes from a young, eager-looking reporter in the front row.
“Jordan, you’ve had quite the journey to get to this point. Rumors, transferring, having to earn a spot on a new team–how does it feel to have a Cinderella ending?”
I run my hand over my face. It has been quite a grueling journey to get here. But as I think back over the last few months, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.
“It feels like I found exactly where I was meant to be. The team, the coaches, the school, and…”
I crack a smile.
“...someone who absolutely changed my life. It’s hard to put it into words. I’m just really grateful.”
I see all the reporters hurriedly writing and smiling at the mention of Lucy. It’s not like it’s any big secret–I mean, we appeared on the Today show together, so I’m not going to dance around the fact that she should get the credit for changing my life.
Another reporter follows up.
“You’ve been playing the best basketball of your career these last couple months. What or who can you credit with how poised you’ve been?”
He’s baiting me to talk about Lucy. They really love this romance stuff–to be fair, I love it too. Well, mostly I just love her.
And I still haven’t gotten the chance to tell her.
I shake my head with a chuckle, making the decision to take the bait.