Chapter One – Bryn

“Yo, Whitting, that was some game!” Coach Smith yells out to me, I can’t see him through the steam of all the showers running at the same time but hearing him is enough. “That slam dunk was something else.”

I smile to myself, soaking in his remarks. I love the praise that comes with playing well, it reinforces that I’m doing a good thing. Compliments from my NBA team mates, cheers from the crowd, special praise from the coach, it all bolsters me up and gives me the confidence I need to give the same performance next time.

The day I got signed for the Pistons was the best time of my life so far. It’s what I’ve been working for my whole life. All those missed parties in high school, all the times I couldn’t go out drinking because I had training the next day, all the girls I could have taken on dates but didn’t because I wanted to keep my focus… it’s all worth it now because I’m living the dream. I’m playing for my favorite team and making a success of myself at the same time. I just keep on improving and that makes me so freaking happy. The better I get, the more success I’ll have.

Maybe I’m focused too much on my career, there’s a chance that I’m viewed by others for having a one track mind, but that doesn’t trouble me. I know why I’m fighting so hard and that’s all that matters to me.

“Thanks, Coach!” I cry back. “I just keep thinking about those finals, that keeps me going.”

Finally, coach gets closer to me and he pats me hard on the back, smirking at me. He knows that I don’t fully fit in with the others, he can see that I’m different, but he appears to like me for it. I suppose because my differences help to set us apart from the others, they’ve brought the team up to very near the top. That’s all good by him! The better we play, the more success he has as well. He seems just as hungry for it as I am.

As the other guys on the team all chat among themselves, mostly ignoring me like they do until we’re playing, Coach gives me a grateful grin. “You just keep bringing that magic, Bryn. You’re kicking some serious ass.”

If I can read between the lines of his comments, and I think that I can, what he means is that next season I’ll be able to demand more money, especially if I do something spectacular at the finals match. That’s what all of this is about after all. Of course, I love it. I wouldn’t be able to stick to it in such a driven way if I wasn’t in love with basketball, but I do adore the money as well. But not because I want flash things, because of my Dad.

Ah, my father. The man who’s more than happy for me to rely on him even if I don’t need it anymore but refuses to take even a dime from me. Not that it stops me. I have to pay him back for everything.

It’s always been just me and my dad, I haven’t ever had a mother. Unfortunately, she had a terrible sickness as she passed away just after giving birth to me. I don’t know much about the details because if the subject ever comes up my dad gets this haunted, sad look in his eyes. It’s terrible to see. I don’t know how much I need to know anyway, my mother is a ghost to me, someone who only held me once. I’ve seen a couple of photographs of her, my dad doesn’t keep many of them about, and I can see a lot of myself in her. We both have the same dark hair and piercing brown eyes. I have the same toothy grin as her as well, I’m surprised it isn’t harder for Dad to look at me, but everything else I get from him. My broad stature, my height, my cheek bones, they all belong to Dad. They’re the bits of me that are familiar so I prefer to look at those bits of me.

When my mother died, my father had to scale down his shoe making business. It was something that he mostly did online anyway so he didn’t have to give it up completely, but he had to bring it into the home and run it around taking care of a child. Because he hasn’t ever really had the time to dedicate to it, it’s never been a big money maker. We didn’t ever have a lot while I was growing up. A lot of love, sure, but nothing in the way of material possessions. That hasn’t made me yearn for those things, but I want to give my dad something back. I want to pay for his home, give him financial security, make sure that he’s okay like he did me.

He sacrificed a whole lot for me and I want to do the same for him too. It’s only fair. So, because of that, the social life that comes with being an NBA star doesn’t bother me, I don’t care for any of that. I simply want to concentrate on growing as a better basketball player so I can gain everything that I desire. Maybe the other guys think I’m a little strange for that, they all love the social life, but that isn’t my concern. Not right now.

“Thank you, Coach.” I nod agreeably at him. “I will. You know you don’t have to worry about me.”

“I sure don’t.” Then he turns to address everyone. “Right, everyone. Well done for today. You worked as a team and did some great work out there. Enjoy yourselves tonight, but not too much. We don’t want a PR disaster in the morning.” A smattering of laughter breaks among the crowd. “And I’ll see you at training on Tuesday.”

“Tuesday? That’s the day after tomorrow,” James, the power forward, groans. “Can’t we make it Wednesday?”

Coach moves closer to him, nearly getting right up in his face. Then he raises a mocking fist. We all know that he’s joking when he behaves like this, but sometimes I wonder how it’d look to the outside world. “Do I need to box your ears, boy?” he growls, pretending to be menacing. “You can come an hour early now to run.”

“Ah, but…” James moans, knowing that at least that part of the threat is true. “Come on!”

“I shall see you all at seven AM,” Coach cries out behind him as he leaves the locker room. “But, James, I expect you there at six. No ‘if’s’ and no ‘but’s’. Next time, you won’t question my methods.”

“What a hard ass,” James grumbles once Coach is gone. “Sometimes I think he takes the joke too far.”

“Oh, why, where else have you got to be?” Andrew replies as he steps out of the shower. “You haven’t exactly got a hot piece of ass keeping your bed warm, have you? I saw you strike out twice at the weekend.”

James’ cheeks turn a funny shade of red. “We can’t all be married off young like you, you know?”

“Oh, please!” Andrew isn’t bothered by these comments at all. He’s one of the few guys on the team with a long term girlfriend who he stays faithful to. A rare breed. I haven’t met Callie, his high school sweetheart, but she must be very pretty to keep a man in the prime of his fame in check. “I have no interest in hunting strange.”

“Hunting strange?” James screws his nose up at the, frankly very derogative, term. “No one calls it that anymore, dude. You’ve been out of the game for too long. And they aren’t all strangers anyway.”

“No, but they never come back more than once!”

As the other guys hoot and whistle, applauding Andrew for knocking James down a peg or two, I turn away from all of them. Women take up too much brain space of all these guys. The ones in relationships and the ones grabbing all the one night stands they can. I can understand it, maybe if my life had been different, I would be the same. It isn’t like I don’t get attention on the times when I am out in public. I mean, just last week I had a woman with a very expensive looking wedding ring on her left hand practically begging me to come back to her house. It almost ended up being a very embarrassing situation. But this isn’t the time for any of that. Right now, I need to build my career, to establish myself, then I can start hunting for love when the time is right. There’s certainly no rush to dive into anything. I have all the time in the world to meet the so called ‘one’.

I suppose, if I’m being truly honest with myself, one of the things that puts me off when it comes to finding love is my dad. He met my mother in high school, they had a fairy tale romance judging by the snippets that I have heard, and that’s why he can’t move on now. He’ll never find someone like her, which means he’s had many lonely years and he has a lot more to come. I’m scared of meeting ‘the one’ and losing her, just like he has.

Anyway, that’s why I don’t think about it, that’s why I’m one hundred percent consumed by the game.

“Where are we headed tonight?” James yells so loudly the sound is almost right in my ear, dragging me back to the present moment. “I heard that new club, Prism, is supposed to be amazing. Should we go there?”

As the other guys all answer, I feel my shoulder raise up around my ears. I can feel the question coming, and the tone of mocking behind it, and I’m really not in the mood for it. Not today.

“I don’t suppose you’re coming, are you, Whitting?” he sneers. “Or have you got another lonely night in front of the TV set up? TV dinner for one and a sad bottle of wine?”

I give him a cold look. On the court, we play well together, but I can’t find anything to like about him off it. No wonder he’s always getting rejected despite his fame! He has a very unpleasant nature that’s off putting. “Well, there won’t be any wine involved, that’s for sure.”

“Of course… you don’t drink.” I don’t know why this is such a source of amusement. I don’t think they should either since alcohol really isn’t good for the body. Certainly not in the middle of a successful season anyway. But I’ve tried to unsuccessfully make that point before and I won’t do it again. “So, what is it then?”

I grab my backpack and slam my locker shut, glad to be getting out of here. When all the attention is on me in a negative way, I find it stifling. “I’m going to see my dad, actually. We have dinner plans.”

“Oh, right, because that’s better.” James tuts and shakes his head. “Honestly, you need to loosen up.”

Okay, so I haven’t exactly shared my story with the guys, I don’t feel close enough to any of them for that, but this still feels like a shitty remark. I wouldn’t ever mock another person for spending time with their family… but I suppose that is because I appreciate mine more than others. They haven’t had anything to make them understand what loss feels like. Well, good for them. They are the lucky ones.

Anyway, it’s fine. The focus is never on me for long. I can take a couple of moments of heat because this is my dream, and right now I’m killing it.