Hate the Game ( Urban Sports Romance )

Open up.

Saturday, March 28th

"Which one of y'all takin' the couch?" Sabrina asked her siblings as her and Amir finished up washing the dishes. Sabrina had washed them, and Amir rinsed them before placing them in the dishwasher for the sanitization cycle.

"Austin, you can take the couch." Riley immediately volunteered.

"Why you bein nice?" Austin asked, suspiciously.

"Cause I know better...either Sabrina gon leave with Amir and not come back at all, or she gon come back, let us all fall asleep then sneak back out to his house. So I'm sleeping in her bed tonight."

"Oop. Ry I don't have to sneak out of nothin." Sabrina laughed. She was definitely planning on telling Riley she could sleep in her bed at the last minute. "I'm grown. Ain't no such thing as sneakin' out."

Riley smiled at the couple, then asked, "Amir, you stayin the night?"

He shook his head before chuckling, "No, I just came to chill wit yaw for a bit."

"See."

"Riley, how you claiming my bed like I didn't tell you Chantelle's comin' over too," Sabrina asked.

Austin laughed loudly, as he started plugging his PlayStation up to the mounted big-screen tv in the living room, "Too bad you gave up the couch for nothin. Might as well sleep in Niko's bed." he teased. "Amir you tryna run some 2K?"

"Yeah, load it up, imma use the restroom first," Amir told him, before going into Sabrina's room to use her bathroom.

Riley huffed in frustration and Sabrina nudged her, "You and Chantelle can share in my bed. I'll be back in the morning with doughnuts."

Riley cheesed. She knew her sister wouldn't let her down. Amir came back in the living room and joined Austin on the couch and began scrolling his phone.

"Sabrina, when you gon move out this apartment anyway? You said you were gonna get a place with a guest room for me." Austin asked.

Amir looked up from the phone at her awaiting her answer, but she didn't look at him.

"I'm still on the fence about where I'll go." She admitted, a half-truth.

"Has Nick gotten any offers yet? I saw he was in Houston recently."

Sabrina chewed the inside of her bottom lip before answering, "I'ont know we didn't talk about it." Then she shrugged, "That ain't my business anyway."

Amir returned his face to the screen on his phone. After Sabrina answered the question, Austin realized he probably shouldn't have brought that up. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but Sabrina never told Amir that she was only still living in that apartment because her lease was set to end when Nick's current football contract ended. At the beginning of the year, she planned that she and Niko would move to whatever city Nick went to so their son wouldn't lose out on time with his father.

The co-parents hadn't discussed how things would go when Niko started grade school because neither of them liked having those tough conversations. But more recently, Sabrina had been considering buying herself a home within a few miles of her parents, so that if she did later decide to move to another city or state she could easily lease her property out and have her mother manage the property for her.

Then there was Amir, who was unintentionally burning a hole in her head with his eyes, as she was lost in her thoughts.

Later that evening when the couple arrived at the pier, Sabrina seemed to still be in her mind so Amir decided to ask, "What's on your mind, gorgeous?"

She was leaning against the railing, absentmindedly, looking down at the people on the beach. She finally looked away from the water and gave a small smile, "Nothing."

"Nothin huh?" He repeated, getting closer. He slid his hand into hers, pulling her into a hug.

"Yeah,"

"Rosalee, you know I'd hate to call you a liar?" That caught Sabrina's attention as she frowned looking up at him. "So you wanna tell me what's on your mind?"

She released a heavy breath, "Everything, really. This is so new and different. Like we're really doing this. I'm in a relationship after being single for so long. My family loves you, and that's a big deal."

"My momma loves you, if that helps. She think you're the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. She can't wait for us to come back to Chicago so she can get to know you more. You got a good heart, and it shows." He leaned in and kissed her temple.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think one time, we should bring Niko with us, if that's aight wit you and his deddy."

"I have to talk to Nicholas soon. I can admit, I have been avoiding him, but I gotta let that disappointment go, and trust his judgment."

"You maybe think about goin back to therapy? You said it helped before."

"Yeah, I made an appointment, but it won't be for a few more weeks"

"That's a start. I'm proud of you for takin action."

"Thank you." She smiled.

He smiled back, "Before you thank me, I have another suggestion."

She pulled away from him slightly, and looked at him, cautiously, "What's that?"

"I think you should introduce us soon. I'm only sayin this cause if my kid was hangin' out wit some new dude, I'd at least wanna know who the nigga is, especially with how smart and communicative lil Niko is."

"You're not wrong." She sighed. "Lemme get some things figured out first."

"Fine by me. Now come on, let me win you one of those stuffed bears from the arcade." He said pulling her with him.