Page 69 of What I Needed

“Thank you, baby. After the game⁠—”

“I know. We’ll wait for you outside the tunnel. Will you please leave? You’re stressing me out.”

She was serious, but I chuckled anyway. She took my daughter from my arms, and I smacked her ass as she walked away.

“If we win, you gon’ do that thing you do with your tongue?”

“Bye, River!”

I finally grabbed my bag and headed to the arena. A year ago, you couldn’t have paid me to believe that today, I’d have a five-month-old daughter and be in a serious relationship. Honestly, I could hardly believe it now, and it was my life.

The moment I found Riverlynn at my door and looked into her big, bright eyes, something shifted in me. My inner spirit knew she belonged to me before the paternity test confirmed it, and the shift wasn’t slow; it started immediately.

Then came Erissa. A fool would know I shouldn’t have hired her and welcomed her into my home without a thorough background check, but just like with Riverlynn, my inner spirit gave me the confirmation I needed.

Two short months later, a lot had changed, and if anyone asked, I’d say it was for the better. I felt like a different man, . . . a better man, and I was looking forward to experiencing my continued transformation.

Jaxon and I arrived at the same time, parking next to each other. He exited his vehicle first, got his bag from the back, then leaned against the door to wait for me. A few minutes later, we were headed inside.

“You ready?” Jaxon asked.

“As ready as I can be.”

“Let’s get this ‘W’ to start the season.”

“Let’s do it.”

We walked in silence until we entered the building. As soon as we entered the locker room, our moods shifted, and we shifted into game mode. Pregame was more than just our warm-up on the court, so we arrived at least three hours before tip-off.

During those three hours, we dressed in our tunnel outfits, changed into our game gear, usually ate something light, and got stretched, taped, or massaged as needed. The time flew by, and before long, we were on the court, doing more stretches and going through drills.

Erissa did as I asked, sending me a text when she left the house and when she arrived at the arena. For some reason, knowing she was in the building with my daughter had my overgrown-ass feeling giddy.

“You’ve been smiling since before warm-ups,” Desmond said, tossing me the ball.

“Damn. Since when is a nigga smiling a problem?”

I stood at the free throw line, got into position, then put up the shot. It was all net, and Desmond grabbed it, tossing it to me.

“It’s never a problem, man. I’m just fucking with you. I take it things are going well between you and the nanny-chef-girlfriend.”

Desmond and Boris hadn’t met her in person yet, although they’d introduced themselves last week when I was on FaceTime with her after practice.

“It’s cool.”

“Nah. It must be better than cool. You’re noticeably different, and that’s not a bad thing.”

“Oh yeah?”

“We all gotta grow up some time. Out of the four of us, I didn’t think you’d be the first, but now that you’re out the game, that’s more women for us.”

We shared a laugh and finished the warm-up. Once the game started, I pushed all thoughts that didn’t have to do with basketball from my mind and locked in. I played the majority of each quarter, had twenty-two points with six assists and six rebounds. We ended up winning by ten points. After the game, we headed through the tunnel, and I couldn’t explain the feeling of seeing Erissa and Riverlynn waiting for me.

“Nice game,” she said when I reached her.

“Thanks, baby.”

I pulled her against my sweaty body and kissed her lips, then took Riverlynn from her arms.