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~~~~ "I'm Never Alone, I'm Alone All the Time"~~~
*Chapter Ten*
The bodies moved about the court with ease and grace. Men who were doing exactly what they were born to do. Blood, sweat, tears and sacrifce had contributed to their once in lifetime opportunity to play ball in the NBA. An opportunity Nathan didn't intend on wasting or taking for granted again. His game tonight was a direct reflection of his renewed sense of self and confidence in his body again. He couldn't remember the last time his knee felt so in sync with the rest of his body.
Nathan took a seat next to Parker and grabbed some water. He checked the time clock once more and was ready for a little breather. He hadn't played that many minutes since returning from the injured list.
"Scott you weren't kidding earlier. It's good to have you back man." Parker said slightly out of breath as they watched the game play out in front of them.
Nathan found himself looking through the players on the court to sneak a quick peek at Haley before responding to him.
"It doesn't hurt that the Rockets suck ass tonight." He shot back taking one last gulp of water.
"That and you've got your own cheerleader here too." Parker teased and then looked across the court at Haley. He wasn't surprised to see her looking back at them. Parker had seen her watching Nathan closely the entire game.
They were broken from their exchange by a 15 second time out and quickly got up to gather round the rest of their team. There was only 2 minutes left in the game and the Clippers were leading by 4 points.
"So what's your next move?"
She honestly hadn't figured it out yet. She had tried to come up with something masterful but kept getting distracted by the game being played out in front of her.
"I don't have one Chris." Haley admitted to him honestly. She was feeling completely out played.
"You should just sneak into the locker room or something after the game." Chris playfully suggested.
"Something tells me that wouldn't be the best plan of attack. I don't really think I could pull that off on my own anyhow." She replied.
Suddenly she heard a deep voice next to her clearing his throat which startled her.
"Ahem, I don't mean to over step my bounds here Ms. James. But I do believe as head of your security detail tonight, your current plan in development with Mr. Keller is indeed possible. Should you choose to carry it out..." Steve concluded very matter of factly.
Haley and Chris exchanged looks with one another. The game was again underway and Nathan was back on the court like a ball of fire. Haley felt a rush of butterflies invade her stomach as his picture perfect male form raced past her again down the court. Nathan jumped up and released the ball from his grasp. The ball sailed with ease through the net resulting in a 6 point lead. Beautiful.
And it was then that she made her finally decision.
"I'm all in." She declared and at that very moment a similar feeling crept over her body. The exact feeling she had the night they danced together and ended up inches away from their lips connecting.
Haley and Chris watched the last few seconds of the game play out before vacating their seats with ease thanks to Steve's assistance. Nathan was promptly pulled into a live post-game interview with ESPN further delaying his search for Haley. Once the interview was complete, he looked over to find the seats empty. He made his way back towards the locker rooms not wanting to get sucked into signing autographs that night. He was feeling a little selfish for a change. He jogged off the court and down the long hallway towards the visiting team's locker room. The hallway quickly became congested with bodies making it hard for Nathan to navigate an arena he wasn't overly familiar with.
"This way Mr. Scott. Take the short cut!"
Nathan heard a tall security guard call to him and direct him down an empty hallway. He nodded with agreement and proceeded down the hall.
Chris appeared from behind a pillar and stood next to Steve, the security guard who had just redirected Nathan.
"Now that was impressive Steve. The real challenge will be if Haley actually goes through with this." Chris stated. He secretly was hoping his good friend would just let loose for a change.
The team's locker room was now within his eye sight and he had to admit, he was ready for the athletic trainer to stretch his knee out after the game he just played. He also was looking forward to speaking with Dan about the game. Nathan found himself feeling hopefully they would finally have a pleasant exchange about his game instead of the usual semi-heartfelt constructive feedback. His mind was also on Haley and the effect her presence had on his overall game. He was disappointed she hadn't approached him after the game or waited for his interview to finish before she left the court. This girl was something different and seemed to be playing even harder to get than he was used to. The real question was whether or not she was worth the extra effort.
Just then he felt a forceful set of hands grab his arm and yank his body through an open doorway. His balance was thrown off unexpectedly and was left completely stunned. They stood face to face for a moment as the door shut behind them again.
"You played a great game tonight Nathan. Thank you for the courtside seats by the way."
"I'm glad you enjoyed them. I happened to enjoy the much too short performance before the game as well." Nathan said peering deep into her eyes. He took a moment to really take in her appearance and couldn't help but notice how amazing she smelled as well. He couldn't believe she surprised him yet again.
"What are the odds we'd be asked last minute to sing the anthem for some basketball game? A game you happened to be playing in as well. Should I call this a twist of fate?" She flirted back with him. She thought maybe she should be turned off by the coating of sweat on his body but she was oddly aroused by it.
Nathan raised one eye brown while he allowed himself to grin like a Cheshire cat.
"More like fate guided in the right direction." He stated boldly. His body oozed confidence that night. "So should I consider this your big counter 'move'…pulling me into your temporary dressing room?" He concluded.
Haley found herself licking her lips as he spoke reminding her of the note he left for her at the start of the game. She thought quickly on her feet and quickly responded.
"It's part of it. The second part is where you give me your number." She said and then produced her phone from her back pocket. She unlocked her phone, pulled up her contact listing and prepared to enter a new number. She felt her cheeks flush with color as he recited his number watching closely to ensure she entered the numbers correctly. She saved the number and then opened up a new text message.
Nathan could have sworn he felt a building energy as they stood nearly toe to toe, inches apart again.
"And the third part is me texting you my number in return which is done as of now." Haley responded to Nathan's intense look he was giving her. She put her phone away again upon receiving confirmation her text message had indeed sent.
"Well I look forward to reading that when I get back to the locker room." He confessed as he found himself leaning into her slightly.
Haley reached out and discovered herself touching his forearm with her delicate hand to steady her burning desire for him. The second their skin connect her whole body felt alive. Nathan's eyes widened as he looked into hers signaling he felt the same thing. She rose to her toes, reached up and placed a seductive kiss on the side of his cheek near his ear. Nathan's hand found it's way to the small of her back again but only briefly.
"Consider that my final move for the night. Hope to hear from you soon Nathan Scott." She whispered into his ear. She stepped away from him, offered him one last flirty smile and with that left the room. Nathan stood there for a moment completely satisfied yet craving for more at the same time.
"Damn, that Haley James has some serious ass." He muttered to himself and then headed to the locker room.
Two Weeks Later
Nathan found himself laughing so hard he nearly felt tears come to his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt that happy.
"I'm serious. A nasty leopard print G-string was thrown on stage last night and landed right at my feet." She looked so earnestly as she spoke to him. Haley was situated in the back room on the tour bus talking with Nathan via Face Time while her band mates finished up their dinner at the table in the front of the bus.
Nathan just managed to get back to his place and into bed right before Haley called.
"Are you sure you don't want to back out and go on a date with Mr. Leopard G String?" Nathan asked.
Nathan watched Haley instantly shake her head no.
"No way. I just feel bad it's taken this long for us to get our schedules to work out for us to meet up. Thanks again for sacrificing your only day off from public appearances, practices and games for the next week to see me." Haley said with a grin. Inside she was nearly bursting with anticipation of their first date.
They began talking the very next day after their encounter in Houston after his game. Her heart had skipped a beat when she found a voicemail from Nathan waiting on her phone after her show in Dallas. The pair had continued communicating through texts and calls up until recently when they began using Face Time.
"Don't even start with me Haley James! My flight gets in tomorrow morning at 9 and I don't depart until 11:30 later that night. I plan to have the car take me right to your hotel if that's cool?" Nathan questioned.
"Yeah, I hope you can sleep some on the plane since you'll be flying so damn early to come see me." Haley said thoughtfully. She was lucky she had gotten tomorrow off from appearances as well. The tour bus would be arriving to Miami sometime around 4 am. Just enough time for Haley to check into her hotel room, catch a nap and get a shower before Nathan arrived. They may have only had roughly 13 hours of time scheduled to be together but both parties planned on making the most of them.
"I'll be fine but I should hit the sack now anyhow ….see you tomorrow Hales." Nathan said.
"I'll text you with my room number and get you cleared through security as well. Good Night." Haley replied and then hung up her phone.
As if on cue, Quinn entered the back room of the tour bus. She smiled in response to her younger sister's goofy grin plastered on her face.
"And how is Mr. Baller tonight? Excited about tomorrow?" Quinn asked playfully. She sat down next to Haley on the couch.
"Clippers won so he's good. Of course I'm excited about tomorrow. Thanks again for covering for me with the radio spot in the afternoon. I really appreciate it since it's been so hard for the two of us to even get together in the same city for a proper date." Haley replied with a tired sigh.
"Happy to do it Sis but don't make it a habit to flake out on band stuff. You don't see me doing that to fly home to see Clay do you?" Quinn warned. Haley could tell she was teasing but was fearful part of her was being honest on some level. She had expected her own sister to jump at the chance to help when asked but Haley had to work kinda hard to get her to agree. She decided not to treat Quinn's question as rhetorical rather than provide her with an answer hoping it would be the end of the discussion.
"It's just a critical time for the album and the tour right now and you've got to keep your focus Hales. It's just not really a convenient time for you to have your head in the clouds and be missing work commitments." Quinn continued in a lecturing tone which struck Haley's last nerve.
"Name one band related event that I've missed up to this point Quinn!" Haley shot back at her sister without missing a beat. She could feel her tone of voice start to rise as she spoke.
"Tomorrow's in studio interview."
"Try again! The in studio interview requested only 2 members of the band. Walker and I have been nice enough to volunteer for the last three ones anyways. So don't even try to give me shit about losing my focus on the tour!" Haley exclaimed and then stormed out of the living room towards her bunk.
Walker who was seated next to Chris at the table saw Haley stomping towards the front of the bus and he instantly knew something was up.
"What's going on?" He questioned with caution.
"Quinn is just being a little bitch is all." Haley answered.
Chris' eyes shot open and he started to chuckle. "Do we have a little "James Sister Tour Brawl" brewing already?"
"Yeah doesn't this usually start around the eighth week of the tour not at four weeks in?" Walker added trying to be serious as he stared at Haley but failing miserably.
"Why are you laughing you guys? It's not funny! She's getting all high and mighty again and I'm sick of it. She of all people should understand how I feel." Haley explained to them.
"The great thing about the two of you being sisters is knowing that you two can be fighting down right dirty one minute and then 5 minutes later be laughing your asses off together. It's hilarious!" Walker stated honestly.
Haley's silence somewhat confirmed with Walker said. She did love Quinn to death but she could also awaken a rage inside of her than no one else could. Bonds of Sisterhood.
"Well, I'm happy to provide you two dudes with entertainment then. I'm taking a nap." She declared and with that crawled into her bunk.
Somehow Nathan had managed to get a few hours of sleep the night before and even more on the long flight from LA to Miami. He sailed through security prior to boarding and getting off the plane due to not bringing a suitcase. He managed to stash away a few items to freshen his look along with iPad for entertainment in flight in a messenger style bag. He quickly connected with the car service he had arranged to pick him up from the airport and drive him to Haley's hotel. He glanced down at his attire once he was seated in the car and was pleased with the result. His shirt hadn't wrinkled much in flight as he had originally feared. He pulled out a TSA regulation sized zip lock plastic bag that contained a small bottle of cologne as well as the tooth brush he had used in the airport bathroom earlier. Once his deemed himself, presentable he quickly stored his items again.
He pulled out his iPhone once more and glanced at the text message Haley had sent around 5 am that morning once she had arrived at the hotel. It read;
Room #2332 and ask for the concierge named Randolph when you arrive. Text me when you're on your way J
He smiled to himself as he rushed to type a response to her.
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