wrapped around your finger | paige bueckers

Chapter 3

"Stop shaking your leg, it's annoying."

Drew gave you an offended look, leg momentarily pausing as he scowled, "Why aren't you more nervous to meet Paige Bueckers?"

Probably because I just met her yesterday night, your mind helpfully supplied. What left your mouth was, "I'm not lame like you. And you do realize there are more members on the team than just Paige, right?"

"Obviously. I only have eyes for her though."

You scoffed, rummaging through your pockets for the crumpled tissues you swiped earlier, slapping them into Drew's open palm. From your peripheral vision you could see the Huskies filing into the court, and you grinned at Drew who stared at the tissues in confusion.

"For the tears you'll shed over her in the future." You explained, before bouncing off the bench and towards Coach Geno before Drew could throttle you. From a distance, spotting Paige Bueckers was surprisingly easy, your eyes almost immediately latching onto her figure. You vaguely registered Drew's hurried steps behind you, and you reluctantly tore your eyes away from Paige to scan the other teammates. You recognised a few, KK, Nika, Azzi, Aaliyah – the bigger names of UConn. As you neared, Coach Geno noticed your presence, giving the two of you an acknowledging nod.

" –light practices today, nothing too vigorous." Geno cleared his throat, "And as I mentioned before, the photography club will be covering for the media club this season. Say hello to..." He trailed off, looking at you and Drew expectantly. You opened your mouth to reply, but Drew beat you to the punch.

"Drew. Drew Garcia. It's an honor to work with you!" He grinned widely, mostly directed at Paige, who was too busy squinting at you to notice. You gave her a shy smile, and you could see the moment recognition dawned on her. You were slightly offended it took her this long to recognise you, but another part of you was grateful she even recognised you at all.

"Y/n." You tacked on, giving the team your own wide grin, "Nice to meet you!" Paige's eyes were still lingering on you as the team chorused a round of greetings, and you noticed Drew giving you a side-eye at the prolonged eye contact.

As the team dispersed, Drew slid closer to you, bending lower to whisper. "What the fuck was that?"

"What was what?"

He gave you a flat look, and you frowned, genuinely confused. "Don't look at me like that. What do you mean?"

"Why was Paige practically eye-fucking you? Is what I meant."

You tripped, stumbling as you tried to regain your balance. A choked noise escaped you as you swiveled to regard him with the most disgusted look you could muster. The effect was surely diminished by the heat in your cheeks, his crude words setting you aflame. Drew laughed.

"What the fuck? Drew! That is not what happened, my gosh– You're so vulgar– "

"She was! Her eyes didn't leave you once! What did you do to her?"

"Nothing!"

She was staring at you because she remembered you from yesterday night, nothing more, nothing less. Drew didn't look convinced.

"I don't know what's going on between you two, but I will find out."

You groaned, resisting the urge to smack him. You settled for a glower, "Mind your own business, Drew."

"Aha! There is something going on!"

"I never said that!"

You tapped through the pictures on your camera, analyzing the lighting and certain angles of the pictures you snapped. Embarrassment coursed through you when you realized a majority of the pictures you had taken were of Paige, and you briefly considered deleting some to even out the ratio to other players. You decided not to, in the end, as no one would see these pictures but you. When sending out pictures for the media, you would just filter some of them out, no big deal. Smiling softly, you felt a body plop into the seat next to you, and you glanced to the side to see Azzi's wide grin.

"Got nice shots?"

"The camera shots are good. I can't say the same about my basketball shots, though."

Azzi blinked, before letting out a startled laugh. "Oh, she got jokes."

You winked in reply, to Azzi's delight. She tapped her foot rhythmically against the floor, giving you a sideways look. "I'm always down to teach you some shots." She paused, before snickering, "Basketball shots, that is."

"I would totally embarrass myself. No way am I airballing in front of you."

"Hey, it's a learning process. I won't laugh, I swear." Her statement was punctuated with a laugh, which didn't help the credibility of her words.

You scrunched up your nose, "Wow, reassuring."

"I'll get you to shoot a ball in my presence one day."

Laughing, you shook your head lightly, "Over my dead body, Azzi."

"What's happening here?"

A familiar voice made your heartbeat skyrocket. You cocked your head back to see Paige standing behind the two of you, a smile stretched across her lips.

"Hey, Paige." Azzi greeted. Paige returned the greeting by shoving her head lightly, making her squawk in protest. She then turned to you, eyes expectant. You decided to mess with her.

"Hi..." You trailed off, mustering your best acting to paint an expression of confusion. "And you are?"

Paige's smile fell immediately, eyes narrowed as Azzi cackled in the background. You fought to keep a straight face, holding direct eye contact with her as if fire hadn't been lit in your gut from her presence. Paige leaned in, closing the distance between your heights. "I think you're forgetting something very important."

You blinked, feigning shock. "You're right! My essay is due tonight, I should finish it soon." You flashed her a grin, "Thanks for reminding me!"

Azzi doubled over at Paige's dumbfounded expression, and your lips twitched despite themselves. Paige's eyes flickered down, noticing the movement, before fighting a smile of her own. She straightened up, crossing her arms. "Is there something else you're forgetting? Perhaps, the fun we had last night?"

Azzi choked, eyes wide as she coughed her lungs out. You spluttered, breaking character to do damage control, "Paige!"

She laughed, shrugging, "What?"

Azzi held her hands up, eyes still shockingly wide. "Wait, wait, wait, wait." She looked between the two of you, taking in your equally bewildered expression, and Paige's shit-eating grin. "You two? Last night? You guys– "

"It's not what you think it is," You cut in, shooting Paige a glare. She seemed unaffected, snickering as she said, "I don't know... I think Azzi has a pretty good idea of what happened–"

"Paige!" You swiveled back to face Azzi, moving forward to block Paige from Azzi's view, and hopefully blocking her from the conversation itself. "No, Paige just came to get coffee yesterday. I was working the shift. That's it."

Azzi 'oh'ed, and Paige pursed her lips innocently, "Is that not what Azzi was thinking?"

You narrowed your eyes at her, and a beat passed before the two of you bursted out in laughter. She clapped your shoulder good-naturedly. "Nice to see you again, my favorite barista."

Your heart skipped a beat at the nickname, but you schooled it with a cheeky smile. "Your favorite barista? Wow, what an honor."

She winked. "I saw that Iced Vanilla Latte in my dreams, you know?"

"Then you better come by soon so I can start my mission in giving you diabetes via Iced Vanilla Lattes."

Paige shot you a dopey smile. "Can't wait."

Azzi's gaze flickered between the two of you in quick succession. You opened your mouth to ask her what's happening, when she seemed to have reached a conclusion, abruptly standing and bolting towards the locker rooms. You blinked in confusion at her retreating back.

"Where is she going?" Paige muttered. You could only shrug in response.