Nika POV
The car ride was rather...quiet. I knew things weren't going to be easy between Tate and I, but I could hope.
"D-Do you wanna talk now or when we eat?" My nerves doing anything other than settling. "Or we could listen to music? You wanna put something on." With a small nod, she took my phone opening the spotify app. Almost an instinct, she searched her profile, playing the playlist she had made for us. Song after song played, Taylor Swift through Brent Fayiaz. The playlist almost seemed to drag the car ride longer.
The vibe of the car changed when that one song played...Enchanted by Taylor Swift. The lyrics, the notes, flowed through the speakers almost casting a spell over Tate and I. The night we meet replaying through my head. While the small mistake I made wasn't terrible, it still messed with something within me. All I had to do was keep her updated, I mean, there wasn't even a point for me to hide the text.
Tate's eyes focused on the scenery outside the passenger window, buildings and city lights flashed by. A small smile fell to her lips, something I would do anything to keep it there.
Her favorite song.
I've known that. Ever since she's told me, it's become an essential song that I add to all my playlist. If I was to play a playlist with her in the car, there was always a chance for her to hear her favorite song.
"What ya thinking about?" A simple question, but I wasn't sure how'd she take it. I wasn't sure if things were okay enough for me to ask it.
"Nothing much," Her eyes stayed set on the outside, "Every time I used to listen to this song, I used to think about the person who might come into my life and make me the happiest. Hopeless romantic, I guess, but the thought of running into someone so amazing that my life just seemed so much better always fascinated me." Her hands messed around with the end of her UConn sweater, the sweater I gave her once.
"What about when you listen to it now?" Curiosity crawled within, wanting to pull anything out of the girl's thoughts.
"I haven't listened to it since we stopped talking."
"Why's that?"
Tate's head moved, her eyes meeting mine for the first time since we've been in the car, "I can only think about you."
Heat flushed to my face. I'd associated songs with her, yeah, but my favorite song? In my defense, I didn't really know what my favorite song was.
Silence seeped its way back into the small car, my hands holding a tight grip on the steering wheel, Tate's eyes slowly finding their place on whatever she found interesting outside.
The lingering question kept me up
2 AM, who do you love?
I wonder 'til I'm wide awake
And now I'm pacing back and forth
Wishing you were at my door
I'd open up and you would say, "Hey"
Listening to the lyrics, it hit me. She'd questioned me, she'd waited for me, and I never came. I never thought she might want me to come to her.
"I'm sorry," The words left my mouth as I pulled into a parking spot. The girl beside me lingered, her hazel eyes slowly running over my face.
She sat there, almost not knowing what to say. Words stuck in my throat. I wanted to just spill everything right there.
"Did you take us to a BBQ place for a make-up dinner?" A small chuckle escaped her lips.
Looking up at the giant sign, flickering letters, a small laugh fell out of me. "I suppose so. The girls on the team said it was really good...why not try it." I shrugged, loving the way Tate's tense walls were slowly falling.
"Whatever Muhl. I'm blaming you if this isn't good though."
"I wouldn't have imagined you thinking any other way."
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Walking in was completely different than I expected. Definitely Texas fans. The UConn in me wanted to run out of there, maybe grab a bite from McDonald's over this. But, Tate had spoken once about loving smoked BBQ ribs, and this place was known to be the best in the area.
Being decked out in UConn apparel was like drawing a target on my back. The looks I received was nothing less than dangerous, and I'm sure the fact that their team had won eased them a little.
"Will you un-tense yourself? You're acting like-" "Anything can happen in Texas, sweetheart."
The name had never rolled off my tongue, especially towards Tate. Her face said it all.
"Maybe we should get you out of Texas. The 'sweetheart' was crazy," a sparkle in her eyes had returned. If odd pet names are what I had to do to make her ease up, that's what I'll do.
Sitting down in the corner, menus opened in front of us, I couldn't keep my eyes off the girl. I wanted to tell her everything, and I was going to.
"Stop staring, it's rude."
"Can we talk...now?" Nerves began to unsettle, anxiety coursing through me.
"Uh, sure."
"I just wanna say I'm sorry. Sorry for hiding the text from you. Sorry for being out of it when we were supposed to be having a day together. Sorry for not talking to you for that week, not making the effort to. I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could just fix things, make them what they were before I was a complete idiot," her eyes stayed in her hands, fidgeting with her fingernails.
"Who were you talking to?"
"It's an old friend. We did date...but he found out that he was gay...I found out that I was gay. We just became best friends, almost bonding over the fact that we had each other to confine in if our family became someone we couldn't even reach anymore. I'm sorry that it seemed li-"
Tate cut me off, "What? He's someone you've been talking to help you with the fact your parents don't accept you?"
I was taken back by the sudden outburst from her, "Uh...yeah?"
Her face became pale, a slight blush creeping up to settle on her cheeks, "I'm so dumb." Her face fell into her hands, hiding the embarrassment that was evident on her face.
"No, you're not. You saw something and your brain took it one way. That's not dumb. It's just what it looked like." Trying my best to ease the embarrassment that was obviously growing within Tate.
"I'm sorry, I should've just talked to you...I feel stupid now."
"Please don't," I take her hands in mine, holding them tight, "I love you."
A weak smile shined on the girl, "I love you too...and thank you for this. I see that you picked a place with smoked BBQ ribs, like, you know me so well."
Sending a wink her way, I laughed at her eyeroll, "I know you better than anyone, you should know that."
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Tate POV
I was beyond stupid. I should have known better than to think Nika was cheating, but I still let my thoughts run until I had made up my mind. Never making up my mind again. Nika made me feel better, a lot better. Especially with the delicious BBQ ribs and the smoked mac and cheese, oh my god.
We were back in her car, the tension gone, nothing but the light and airy back and forth between us.
"You definitely missed me so much," I nagged.
"And what if I did? You would have never known."
"Puh-lease-a," I dragged out the word, "The game spoke for itself."
A gasp came from the brunette girl, "Ain't no way you just brought the game into this!"
"I just did!"
"Aight," Nika seemed to be racking her brain for signs of me missing her, her fingers drumming on the steering wheel, "What about the fact you came to me during the break between the third and fourth quarter? Or...just the fact that you were at the game in the first place? Huh? What about that?" She seemed proud of herself, I laughed at her annoying antics.
"Oh come on, everyone who watches basketball knows that Texas and UConn is always gonna be a good game, that's why I was there. And for the break thing, you seemed like you needed a hug," A smirk formed on her lips, rolling my eyes at the sight.
"Oh, that's why, eh? I don't believe you."
"Why not?"
"You've been reposting edits of me on your secret account on tiktok for the last week."
Dumbfounded, my jaw dropped to the ground, "WHAT?!? Wait? H-how do you know about that?"
"Paige does not know how to be quiet. I mean, her and Azzi were cracking up about it one day when you told them on the phone."
I palmed my face, hating the fact I forget they all pretty much live together. "I need to make more friends at UConn."
"Nope, just pick a better time to talk about me, pretty girl." Pretty girl. The pet name that drove me wild.
Nika's free hand placed itself on my thigh, the contact drawing goosebumps on my skin.
"You alright?" concerned filled her voice.
"Never been better." It wasn't a lie...but there were other feelings I would rather not pay attention to.
"You sure," It was as if she knew what she was doing, tracing small circles where her hand was placed.
"Yep." Nope, but the ease of the conversation, the way it used to be, it was rather nice. I had missed the girl, even if I was kind of denying it. I mean, she was my person. She was more than my person, my soulmate, and I couldn't believe I would have let her go over some stupid miscommunication.
Taking her hand off my thigh, she sent a small smile my way before talking, "Listen, I missed you, like a lot. So..." She paused, her glances going back and forth between the road and I, "Movie night in my hotel room?"
I nodded, maybe a little quicker than I should've, "Yes, yep, that sounds amazing."
Her face dropped, as if a thought ran across her mind. "Wait."
"Yeah?"
"You came all the way from Connitecut to watch a basketball game? When we first met you didn't even like basketball, and did you really book a hotel room just to watch this game?"
I laughed, she seemed so worried over this. "Okay, first of all, it wasn't that I didn't like basketball, I just never actually sat down and watched it. And for the room situation...thank Paige and Azzi." Shock held on the girl's face, I held back my laugh that was threatening to come out.
"So Paige and Azzi knew you were here!?!"
"...yes?"
"Oh my god, officially bumped down from best friends to just friends immediately," laughter filled the small space that surrounded us. The small mistake in the past, thankfully.
As the laughter calmed down and silence began to take its place, Nika decided to speak up, "So...those edits you repost?" She wiggled her eyebrows, I covered my face.
"Nika!" I knew this would eventually come up. The girl was barely on tiktok, which led to the fact that she didn't know people could see if you looked at their profile. Especially when Nika never went into her settings to change the profile view setting to off.
"I'm just curious! You reposted a lot, like way too many for it to be healthy," Nika's smile was contagious, so I sat there smiling like an idiot.
"I knew you knew," Nika seemed confused, "You never turned your profile views off on tiktok, stupid."
The moment of realization was possibly the funniest reaction I could have ever witnessed from the girl. A mental face palm was it for sure. Laughter rang out through the car, Nika joining once the embarrassment had sat aside.
"I'm glad I have you back," The words came out as almost a whisper. I wasn't shy about the fact I was madly in love with the girl, it was just that the words seemed too heavy to fully say. I had screwed up, I could have listened, but I didn't.
"I was never not your's," Her head tilted, the red light casting a glow over her almost angelic face. Her perfect jawline, her captivating eyes, she was hard not to fall in love with. "Stop staring, it's rude." The smile on her face caused a flutter to escape in my stomach.
"I love you."
Her smile grew, "I love you too, Tate."
A/N: did I just write a somewhat cute chapter....yes
Did I enjoy writing this....of course
Did I start this right after writing the last one....one hundred percent
How y'all enjoying the new chapters? I feel like my writing has evolved since the beginning of this book...which brings me to the thoughts I've been having about how long this book is gonna be....
I haven't really put a number to it, but the fact that this book is almost 50 chapters long (some being just updates or things I've been thinking about), I feel like a conclusion has to come up eventually.
I'm thinking maybe limiting it to 100 chapters, updates included. There might be a couple weird time jumps after the ball state game cause I do wanna end this book on the WNBA draft.
And that brings me to the next thought, do we want a Seattle Storm Nika book??? Would we be interested???
Also, I've been reading the twisted love series and I lowkey wanna do something like the couple in twisted games (if y'all haven't read, it's about a princess and her bodyguard...don't know how I'll do it with Nika, but it could be fun.)
Other than book related stuff....tiktok edits...I'm dying at the fact I can't edit and can't get on tiktok.
I did get a Nika jersey for Christmas (if y'all wanted to know), that was awesome.
A possibility of 12 inches of snow where I'm at is also awesome.
But...yeah...my life's boring. So, if y'all wanna rant or vent, feel free to do it in the comments. I love talking to y'all.
Anyways....
Peace y'all, til the next chapter