Season on the Brink

"I don't know where you went, man, but the whole team's hangin' out at Coach's house, so come over when you get this." Nathan flipped his phone shut and dropped into the deck chair beside Paige. "He's probably with Peyton."

Paige nodded and looked out over the beach that served as her backyard, where several players had started a bonfire. "Yeah," she agreed. "If he's suddenly a lanky, bald, black man."

Nathan followed her line of vision and found his ex-girlfriend laughing at something Skills Taylor was saying. "He was all amped after the game," Nathan said, shaking his head. "I don't know where he went."

"Why do you look like your dog died?" Paige asked. "I thought you guys had this whole history of anger and violence."

"We do. But it's not like that now," Nathan clarified, relaxing into his seat.

While most of the team watched a Charlotte Bobcats game on the huge flat screen television just beyond the glass door, Paige rested her head against the back of her chair and turned her face toward the young man beside her.

He was so young, but had an air of maturity that defied his age. His blue eyes shone against the darkness of the night, something playing behind them that she couldn't quite identify. "So what changed?" she asked finally.

Nathan let his gaze drift back to the ocean. "Haley," he answered simply.

Nodding, Paige realized that he truly was still a high school kid. "She's your girlfriend?"

He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Ex," he answered, his brow furrowed in concentration. "We broke up last year, in April. Well, she did most of the breaking up," he ammended.

"But you're still sprung on her," Paige smiled knowingly.

"I'd kinda like another chance. Or at least an explanation," Nathan said.

For all the "I'm not here to be your friend" bluster she always blew at the beginning of the season, one of Paige's favorite parts of coaching was helping her players find their way, on the court and off. And if there was anything she had learned in the last few years, it was that sometimes the guys didn't need an answer, just an ear to listen. And sometimes a few questions would lead them to the solutions on their own.

"Have you told her that?"

Nathan shook his head and chuckled cynically. "Oh, she knows that," he said. If there was anyone who knew what he was thinking without him actually having to say the words, it was Haley. That was part of the beauty of their relationship.

Paige took a moment to process the information, listening to the sounds of youth and celebration around her. "And you think she's gonna come around? After five months?" When he didn't answer, she turned and leaned toward him. "Don't get me wrong, Nate. I mean, I talked to Haley earlier tonight and she seems nice. But you're so young.

"You've got so many more relationships to screw up before you spend this much time focused on one person in your life," she smiled softly and pushed her long, blonde locks out of her face.

He knew the argument. He'd had it with his mother, his father, and just about everyone else who had watched him mope around after Haley broke up with him. "It was different with Haley. Special," he insisted.

"So special that she doesn't want it back?"

The words struck him hard, but Nathan said nothing. He found that being silent was his best defense against saying stupid shit that he would regret later. And since he had already seen Paige's ugly side, he was pretty sure that he would regret saying any of the remarks on the tip of his tongue.

Paige reached out and touched his knee for a brief moment. "You have a talent that most guys would kill for, Nate. And the best part about playing basketball is that it's a great emotional outlet."

"I know," Nathan answered, unsure of what else he was supposed to say. When Paige stood and looked back at him, he smiled in spite of himself. "What?"

Paige shrugged and motioned for him to join her. "There's a hoop in the driveway. What do you say we outlet some emotion?"

Standing, he smiled. He had learned a thing or two about the game himself. The best part, in his opinion, was that he didn't have to talk while he was playing.

"Someone should really tell Bevin that Peyton is trying to ruin HER life now," Brooke said as she rested her head on Haley's shoulder, gazing out the picture window at the few people who were still gathered on the beach.

Turning, Haley smiled slightly, a grin that never quite reached her eyes. "I'm gonna walk home."

"Haley, what's wrong?" Brooke asked.

But Haley couldn't speak. Her plan had been to come to the party and tell Nathan that she had been stupid, that it didn't matter if Dan or anyone else thought they weren't right for each other. It didn't matter that they were headed in opposite directions with their lives, and their college plans. She still loved him.

Then she had seen him talking to Paige, their bodies leaned toward each other as they spoke in low tones. She couldn't hear them through the picture window, but she could tell that they were speaking intimately. And when Paige had touched Nathan's knee, Haley had felt her dinner rising in her throat.

Shaking her head again, she walked past Brooke and out of the house. When Nathan didn't so much as wave when she walked past he and his coach on the way to her car, she felt as though her doubts had been confirmed. Any chance she had of getting Nathan back was gone. And she had no one to blame but herself.