Double Trouble | Paige Bueckers & Nika Mühl X Readers

~ Eight ~

Paige P.O.V

"Aaliyah!" I call out as I'm moving towards a corner, motioning for the center to run a screen, blocking Nika from being able to quickly move after me. Using the few seconds of free space I have from the Croatian guarding me, I plant my feet in the corner and shoot, watching as the ball arcs and cleanly finishes through the net. I laugh, holding three fingers in front of me, signaling the shot that had just went in.

"Gotta be a bit quicker than that, twin." I tease, backpedaling to my side of the court as the other junior rolls her eyes. The brunette getting the inbound from Azzi on her team before bringing the ball towards my teams court side.

Geno was having us run a 5 on 5 to end out practice today, our coach always being a bit more lax on Friday's considering it was moving into our days off on the weekends.

"Paige, stop giving Nika so much space! Are you trying to give her a open shot?! Guard her!"

Lax or not, that man was going to Coach whenever he saw fit. Love G.

Listening to his voice, I step forward, catching Nika near the half court as I smirk at her, eyes flicking between both the ball and her as my body lowers closer to the ground, guarding her.

"Sheesh, you trying to get on G's bad side this close to the end of practice?" Nika comments, dribbling the ball between her legs and trying to fake me out to the right, I stay in front of her with a small chuckle to her tease.

"You know me. I gotta keep him on his toes." I shoot back, watching Nika pass to her left, Ice catching the ball as Nika sprints to her right. I stumble slightly having been trying to deflect the pass before following after Muhl, weaving through Azzi who had tried to set a screen for her but as I do, I run straight into another screen by Caroline.

"Shit." I get out, trying to get around the second screen, watching as Ice passes the ball back to Nika who matches my corner shot from earlier. The Croatian yelling in excitement as the ball goes in, bringing her fist to her chest, banging it against her jersey.

"Smart play. Can't lie." I shrug watching as Geno shakes his head slight annoyance, thought I knew half of it was fake, he knew my antics. He also knew the play that was just ran was good as well, I know Azzi and I know that she would have tried to get me away from Nika, but in my haste to avoid her it was a perfect opportunity throw in another obstacle I wasn't expecting, thus, Caroline.

"You're gonna let Nika do you like that?" Aaliyah laughs, throwing the inbound to me as I dribble up the court. The forward jogging on the side of me as I bring the ball to half court.

"Nah, you know I have to double it and give it to the next person." I say as Nika approaches me, eyebrow raised at the comment but her eyes staying on the ball nonetheless.

Side-step right, she follows.

Pump fake right, she doesn't fall for it.

I step back a bit, dribbling between my legs leisurely as I do so. What Nika doesn't notice though as I buy more time is Kk approaching from my left who I quickly hand the ball to as she crosses behind me and I run a screen for Caroline who tries to catch up to the shorter girl. The action causes for Nika to switch, shuffling to stop Kk's attempt to drive while Caroline stays on me. Kk runs a quick pass to Aaliyah as I make my way to the paint, the forward passing back to me as she sees me drive through an open lane, Caroline quick on my heels.

I pump fake causing Caroline to jump past me, her momentum translating to her rushed attempt to block me, which led to her landing far off from me. I square my feet, acting as if I'm going to take the shot and watching out of the corner of my eye as a nearby Nika peels away from Kk, coming to help guard me as Caroline wouldn't be able to contest in time.

Bingo

As soon as Nika takes her second step towards me, I throw a bounce pass through the opening between both the Croatian and Nika to the newly open Kk, who continues her drive, making an easy lay up. Nika huffs to herself, presumably bothered by her falling for my fake and Geno calls the game after that as my team had won 35-33 because of it. Jogging off the court to grab my water and towel before making my way to the locker room, towel around my neck, I feel a hand smack itself against my midback.

I glance back to see Nika having jogged up to catch me, my friend's had remaining on my back for a second longer before removing itself and drinking from her own bottle.

"Good shit, Bueckers." She says after she swallows her drink, and I grin at her. We always competed on the court, hell we may have even yelled and fought a bit in the heat of the moment but off the court it was always left behind and we knew we were ride or die's. I loved our competitive natures and how we never let it get in between us outside of the sport.

It's also a reason I loved when Geno put us against each other in practice, don't get me wrong the girl was a menace and I loved having her on my side, but I honestly don't think anyone else pushes me to actually have to give my best besides her and probably Azzi, Azzi just knew how to push my buttons though.