Stephen

"I might be lost."

London's laugh rang through the speaker.
"Describe the area."

I scanned the surrounding town, noticing the rundown infrastructure surrounding me.
"Uh, boarded up shops, old houses-" I was driving towards the address confused as I passed the almost deserted town. "Where are you luring me lady?"

"Just keep going. You should start to see the shoreline."

I furrowed my eyebrows and kept driving, letting out a sigh of relief as I saw the shore and the large Pacific Ocean that came along with it.
"Okay, I see the shore."

"Great. There's a parking lot up ahead. See you when you get here." She said before hanging up.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, eventually pulling into a vacant parking lot. I looked around before getting out and locking my car, noticing London's Honda across the lot. Hers was the only one in the lot, I'm pretty sure we were the only people in the town. I scanned the area walking up to the beach, not seeing anyone or anything. I sighed and pulled my phone out again, calling her once more.
"I don't see you."

"I see you." She teased.

I chuckled.
"Lead me then."

"Turn right, then walk up the beach a little bit. You'll see me."

I followed her instructions and eventually spotted her on a blacktop a couple yards away and chuckled before walking over. She smiled and hung up, waving me over. I jogged over to her as I noted her tight sports bra and how her basketball shorts hugged her hips. I realized how much I loved seeing her like this.

She dribbled the basketball before holding it on her hip.
"Welcome."

I smiled back.
"Nice area."

She chuckled, dribbling the ball again.
"It's not Beverly Hills, but it's what I'm used to."

"You grew up here?"

She nodded.
"Kinda different from your childhood Curry."

I sighed and nodded.

"The town was shit but the beaches were beautiful. No one liked to come through the town to get here so they were never affected by tourism."

She was right, the sand looked the brightest I'd ever seen, the water was clear, and the air felt light not affected by the normal smog of California.

"This was always my escape from reality. The free space, the ocean behind us, the fresh air, no one around. It always helped me clear my head and just make me happy."

I smiled.
"I could see why. This is beautiful and conveniently located."

She chuckled.
"They were supposed to turn this whole area into a park which is why the blacktop is here but as you can see the neighborhood got severely underfunded."

I nodded before focusing on the basketball in her hand.
"Basketball huh?"

"Yeah. My location, your favorite pastime. 50/50." She smiled.

"You any good?"

She shrugged, tossing the ball to me.
"You let me know."

I chuckled, liking the challenge.
"Okay."

London

He tossed the ball back to me and I picked it up, dribbling it between my legs.

"Nice moves." He said, stealing the ball from me.

I rolled my eyes as he backed away.

"First one to get 10 wins?"

I nodded.
"Fine."

He threw the ball to me.
"Your ball."

I shrugged and dribbled the ball, drawing him out. I dribbled it between my legs, and tried to cross him up but Steph was a good defender and stayed on me. I made it seem as if I was going to drive to the basket and stepped back, shooting up the shot.
Swish. Easy.

He smiled and grabbed the rebound.
"Alright. Alright. You got moves."

"Yeah. Yeah." I mumbled.

It was nice playing against him, I hadn't played in awhile, and he was nice competition. This started out as just a simple game but got extremely competitive as we were tied 9-9.
It was my ball and I knew I couldn't hit a far away shot with Steph's reaching hands, so I tried to drive to the basket and missed the lay up. We both drove for the rebound but he boxed me out, grabbing the rebound and pushing me to the ground. I played hurt and groaned loudly.
"Damn!"

His eyes slightly widened as he held his hand out to help me up. I grabbed onto his arm and pulled him down with a smirk, grabbing the basketball and gracing the hoop with an easy lay up.
"Ha!" I smiled as he stood up.

"That was a dirty play."

"Like ZaZa stepping on Kawhi's foot." I smirked.

"That wasn't a dirty play."

"Neither was mine." I shrugged.

He chuckled.
"I want a rematch. No mercy."

"Fine. My ball."

He grabbed the ball from me.
"No. My ball."

I reached for it as he held it above his head.
"Steph!"

"What?" He smiled. "All you have to do is take it from me.."

"You're being an asshole." I sighed, jumping up for the ball.

He was like a foot taller than me. He chuckled loudly at my attempts, and I couldn't help but laugh too. His smile was contagious as he lowered the ball and handed it to me. I smirked and dribbled the ball down the court, as he guarded me. His height proved a big advantage, and there was no way I'd be able to make a jump shot without space. I bumped him off a bit, spun around his back, and made a run for the basket, gracing it with a beautiful layup.

He chuckled and clapped his hands.
"Damn!"

"Am I any good?" I asked, throwing the ball towards him.

He caught it in his hands and backed up to halfcourt as I took my defensive stance.
"We're about to see." He smirked, slowly dribbling the ball up to me. As I got closer, making sure he couldn't get the space he needed. He groaned in irritation as I kept my defense perfectly on him. He spun and tried to make a run for the basket, when I blocked his shot.

"Yes!" I cheered, proud of myself for even jumping high enough to block the ball.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed his own rebound, running behind his three point line, and immediately shooting the ball.
Swish. It went in smoothly as I grabbed the rebound.

He smiled and walked up to me.
"Can you hit a three like that?" He asked, in a challenging tone.

I scoffed and dribbled the ball to half court.
"Watch and learn Curry."

He smiled and crossed his arms, waiting to see what I was going to do. I looked up at the hoop which seemed a million miles away, and dribbled the ball. I put it in my hands and shot it, praying that it would go in, and swish. Cash money👌🏽
"Steph Curry with the shot!"

He chuckled as he clapped in awe.
"Damn! I didn't know you could play."

"Kinda." I shrugged, throwing him a water bottle as I sat down.

"Kinda? There are starters in the NBA that can't do what you just did. You play in school?"

"When I was younger, as I grew up it was either school or sports and I chose to be a nerd rather than an athlete." I chuckled.

He smiled.
"Wow, you would've been an beast."

"I like to think so too." I smiled back, looking out at the pacific. "How are you enjoying your off day so far?"

He sat next to me, slightly leaning his head on my shoulder.
"Amazing. I got to hang out with you, got to do one of my favorite activities, and I got to come to the beach. I haven't been in awhile. It's one of the best days I've had in a minute."

I looked out onto the water.
"I haven't been to the beach in a while either. I miss the ocean."

"Let's go in."

I furrowed my eyebrows.
"With what bathing suits?"

"It's 100 degrees and we're in fitness wear. I doubt not having bathing suits is completely stopping us from enjoying the freezing cold ocean." He sat up slightly, standing up and holding his hand out.

I smiled and shrugged.
"I guess your right."

He took his muscle tee off and smiled.
"I know I am."

We made our way towards the water, noticing waves slightly building further back. As we made our way in as soon as the water reached knee level, the chill stopped me.
"Oh shit."

Steph turned back to me already neck deep in the water. I chuckled at how fast he got accustomed to the temperature change.

"What's wrong?"

"It's freezing!"

He walked over, quickly picking me up and taking me deeper in the water. My eyes widened as I could already feel the cold water submerging my body if he dropped me.

"You just have to get used to it. The fastest way to do that is just dive in." He smiled.

"That's nice, but I'd rather just get used to it the normal way, slowly working my way in." I said, squirming to get out of his grasp.

"You want me to put you down?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, fine." He said, dropping me into the water instead of letting me up on my feet. The cold water surrounding me felt almost perfect compared to the sun baking down on us. I swam back up before splashing him aggressively.

He chuckled.
"You told me to put you down."

"Not like that. Jeez." I sighed, floating on my back.

"So how does it feel?"

"Amazing."

"Like I said it would."

"Alright Mr. I told you so." I sighed, continuing to float.

I felt a large splash of water on me and quickly swam under before coming back up, glaring at Steph.

"You looked to peaceful." He smiled.

I rolled my eyes, splashing him back until he started laughing and grabbing my hands.

"Alright. Alright. No more splashing you. Point proven." He laughed.

I chuckled softly as he moved a piece of hair from in front of my eye. Our eyes locked into each other's and for some reason..it truly felt like there was no one else on earth but us. We slowly leaned in, his hand cupping my face slightly. My eyes widened as I realized what was going to happen before I slipped under the water, pulling him under as well. He's a married man London..

We both chuckled as we came back up.
"It, um, actually is getting kinda cold."

He nodded, giving me a small smile.
"Yeah, we should dry off."

We swam back to shore, and made our way back to the benches near the blacktop. We wrung out our clothes and sat in silence trying to see who would speak up first.

Stephen

I looked out at the early sunset and sighed. There was a slight tension between us after what had just happened. I had the chance right there to do what I'd wanted to do since I laid eyes on her and I let it slip away. It would've been the perfect way to end this beautiful day with her. What was I even talking about..nothing happened..it was just a moment..not even that...

"Today was fun." She smiled, snapping me out of my trance.

I smiled and nodded.
"It was. Thank you for setting this up."

"Of course. Everyone needs to get away sometimes."

I nodded. I definitely did. Anytime away from home, I treasured especially if I could be with her..

"It should be a good game on Thursday."

I chuckled slightly.
"Oh it will be." We were playing the Cavs and any game versus LeBron was a spectacle, we had to be prepared for anything. "You should come."

Her eyebrow raised and she smiled.
"Maybe, would I be able to bring a plus one?"

My smile slightly dropped as I felt my heart tinge, but I was hoping she wouldn't notice.
Maybe Ayesha was right, I'd been fixated on a taken woman..ironic coming from a married man huh..
"As long as your face in the crowd, I don't mind. You know you're my good luck charm."

"Okay." She smiled. "You better put on a clinic for me Curry."