Worth Saving(48)

Once we’re done, Jason, Jordan, and I take a seat on the bench, while Layla stays on the court practicing her jump shot. The three of us watch her for a minute or two, wondering if she’ll ever miss. She goes a while before she finally does.

“Austin, listen to me,” Jason says, still breathing heavily. “There’s something I want to talk to you about while I have a minute.”

When I look at him, he looks serious as hell, even though he’s still panting.

“What’s up?” I reply.

“How long have you known this girl?” he asks.

“Uhh, I don’t know. A few weeks—a month, maybe. Why?”

For some reason, I’m thinking he’s about to say something I don’t want to hear, and I already feel myself getting defensive.

“It’s nothing bad,” he assures me, trying to catch his breath. “Look, I just wanted to be honest with you real quick. That woman over there, is the real deal, man. You know I’ve met a lot of women in my life, and I’ve done a lot of freaky shit, and I still haven’t found a girl that looks at me the way Layla looks at you. I mean, I know I just met her a few days ago, but she’s pretty cool, man. I also know this isn’t exactly your kind of thing, but it’s just something to think about.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Jordan chimes in. “She just played basketball with you and two of your friends for nearly two hours. Bro, I’ve been married for almost a year now, and my wife would laugh me out of the room if I asked her to play basketball with me and Jason for two hours. No chance. But this girl is down for you, bro. When a woman has no problem kissing and hugging you when you’re covered in sweat and funky as hell, you know she’s for real. She didn’t even tell you to take a shower first, man. She just kisses you all over. That shit is gross and adorable at the same time.”

There’s an unshakable smile resting comfortably on my face by the time their done. They’re telling me stuff I already know, but damn it feels good to hear them say it out loud.

“I know,” I answer, unable to drop my smile. “I don’t even know what to say about her. She’s awesome. The amount of fun we have together still freaks me out sometimes. It’s a trip, but I like her. I like her a lot.”

“You better,” Jordan says.

“Yeah. She’s a good one,” I say as I look over at Layla again. At first, I just watch her and marvel at her beauty as she stands in the descending sun light. She’s like an angel—an angel that’s holding a basketball and dripping with sweat. Then, however, I realize she’s standing there with the ball in her hands, but she’s not dribbling or shooting anymore. She’s just staring into the parking lot where her car is.

I look over and see a black Lexus pull up next to her car, and four men get out. All of them are huge. I watch the group of them as they descend the stairs and make their way towards the court. They have a basketball of their own, so I know they intend to play, but I can’t shake the feeling that one of them looks really familiar, and I can tell by the way Layla is staring at them that she recognizes them, too.

Suddenly, Layla walks over to the three of us with a serious sense of urgency, and she grabs the towel she brought with her.

“We need to go,” she demands. “Can we please go?”

I look over at Jordan and Jason, and they look just as confused as I do.

“Yeah, we can go,” I reply. “These guys have had enough anyway. But, is everything okay?”

Layla suddenly looks panicked as she hears the sound of the other men step onto the court behind her and start bouncing their ball.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just really want to go, okay? Let’s go.” She grabs me by the hand and starts to lead me away. Jordan and Jason grab their stuff and try to hurriedly follow us as we head for the stairs. I look over my shoulder at the court, and I can see two of the four men have stopped dribbling and are watching us walk away. One of them seriously looks familiar. I know I’ve seen him before.

“Is that Layla?” I hear one of them say, and I slow my pace. Layla tries to pull me forward, but I’m too strong for her. “Hey, that is, Layla.”

“Not gonna say hi, Layla?” I hear one of them scream. All of us turn around and face the group. The one I recognize was the one who called out for her, so it’s him I’m staring at. He looks at every one of us, then I see him glance down at me and Layla holding hands, and a smile climbs up to his face. “Ah, I see. So this is what you needed time off for. This is what you needed to figure out? You trapped one, huh Layla?”

I look over at her, and Layla’s skin is beet red. I feel her clinching my hand with all her might, but I have no clue what the hell’s going on.

“Are you falling for her, man?” the big bald guy with the thick black beard says with a chuckle that rubs me the wrong way. “I don’t know how you could do it, bro. You’re a better man than me. I couldn’t take that.”

“Hey, just leave it alone,” the other bald guy says. This guy looks a little older and has a goatee. “Let’s just play,” he says.

The bearded guy smiles at Layla, then smiles at me and winks, and that’s my last straw.

“Who the f*ck is this guy?” I bark, but not to Layla. I don’t even know who I’m talking to, I just said it loud enough for everyone to hear.