Read Online Hooped #3 (The Hooped Interracial Romance Series, Book #3) by Claire Adams - Free Book Online

dodging,
passing and taking passes. Within the first minutes of the second half, he and Miles had extended our lead on
Northwestern by nine points—making it even harder for the other team to try and
even contemplate winning the game. Even better, Devon kept looking for me in
the stands, grinning at me, showing off seemingly for me alone—though I knew
objectively that he would have shown off even if we weren’t dating, even if
we’d never even met before, it still warmed my heart that he seemed to be
looking to see how impressed I was.
    The crowd was absolutely wild as Northwestern managed
to score another three baskets in the third quarter, bringing the score closer
to even—but not quite close enough. The fourth quarter began, and our team shifted into defense; the coach knew as well as
anyone watching that as long as we kept our lead, we would win. Devon still
managed two solid, beautiful shots—increasing the lead—but for the most part
they were playing a defensive game, stealing the ball back, running out the
clock. Devon’s moves became even flashier, misdirecting the other team’s
players, darting back and forth, weaving his way across the court.
    The game came to an end with our team as the winners,
and the entire section lit up—cheering, screaming, jumping up and down until
the whole seating area seemed to shake and tremble. The team celebrated out on
the court, jumping up and down, high-fiving each other and chest bumping. I
laughed at the sight of Devon and his teammates running around, cheering, and
accepting their accolades from the crowd. I managed to sit down finally, out of
breath and hoarse, exhilarated from the game. I needed to use the bathroom and
get to the lockers. More than I had all night, I absolutely wanted to be with
Devon as soon as humanly possible.

 
    Chapter
Nine
    I went to the bathroom quickly, threw away my trash,
and decided to head for the lockers as quickly as possible. Most of the crowd
was starting to come out of the stands, heading for the exits rather than the
locker rooms; it was like trying to swim upriver, getting through them and
moving against their herd-like steps to
get to where I wanted to be. I was already tired, almost exhausted from my
cheering; but I knew that I needed to see Devon—I needed to hug him, kiss him,
and as soon as possible, I needed to be alone with him in his room.
    When I arrived at the locker room area, I saw that
there were more than a few girls who had made their way there, along with some
of the local newspapers. Our team was keeping up quite the winning streak—and
Devon was the reason why. I stood off to the side, away from the basketball
bunnies, fidgeting as the sweat cooled and dried on my skin. At least you’re not wandering around
aimlessly looking for him this time, I thought. No chance you’ll miss him. No one’s come out yet, and if Devon had, he’d have found you first. I pictured him
in my mind, showering as quickly as he could in the locker room, in just as
much of a hurry to get to me as I was to see him.
    The crowd gradually thinned, and while I didn’t know
for sure how much time was passing as I waited, it seemed like a long time
indeed; the people heading for the parking lot, heading for parties on campus
or just their dorms, were trickling out. Some of the fan-girls even started to
wander away as the minutes dragged on, and I started to feel anxious. There was
no way that I could have missed Devon; I hadn’t taken that long to use the
bathroom—and he would have definitely stopped to shower. I wondered if someone
might have been injured, I wondered if that someone might have been Devon. He
had been showing off—but he hadn’t shown any signs of being hurt throughout the
game. He hadn’t taken any falls; he hadn’t been in any fights. I caught up my
bottom lip between my teeth and worried at it, looking around for some sign as
to what was going on.
    Some of the other players started to come out of the
lockers,