Chapter 10: Echoes on the Court (Ozaire's POV)
I didn't mean to linger.
I had just come to the gym to check the schedule, maybe shoot some hoops. But when I heard the thump of a ball and laughter echoing off the walls, I paused.
Then I saw her.
Ophira.
She was playing one-on-one with some guy. Tall. Confident. Familiar, maybe. They moved like they had their own rhythm, like this wasn't the first time they'd danced across the court together. He spun the ball on his finger, grinning like the past was a warm jacket he'd slipped into easily.
And Phira… she laughed in a way I hadn't seen in a long time.
I told myself I was just watching the game. Just curious. That was all.
But that wasn't all.
There was something in the way she looked at him—nostalgia maybe, or something heavier. They were close. Too close. A bump here, a nudge there. Her eyes lit up, and I realized that whatever she was feeling, it wasn't new.
Then my phone buzzed.
Kate:
Hey, last night was really fun. Wanna grab coffee again soon? ☕💬
Kate. The blind date my cousin forced me into last night. And weirdly… I liked her. She was smart, sharp. Easy to talk to. I hadn't expected that.
I glanced back at Ophira.
The guy had said something, and she was sitting now, staring at him like the whole world tilted a little when he spoke.
I don't know why that made me turn around and leave.
But it did.
Later, back at the gym...
Kate was with me when we stopped by again, this time just to say hi to the team. She wanted to meet some of the players.
I didn't expect to see Ophira standing there, teary-eyed, with that same guy's arm still lingering around her.
For a second, I felt like I walked into a scene I had no business interrupting.
I didn't say much. Just watched. My stomach turned.
Kate noticed, maybe. She squeezed my hand—just lightly. I didn't pull away.
And then I saw it. The way Ophira looked at me. Just for a second.
There was something in her eyes. Pain. Surprise. Something deeper.
It messed with my head.
After the team started practice, I caught sight of her again—this time on the court. She was fierce. Focused. But I could see it in the way her shoulders tensed or how she blinked too fast after a laugh. She was trying too hard to be okay.
That guy—Bruce—stuck around. It didn't take a genius to figure out he wasn't just "some guy."
I wasn't even sure what I was feeling anymore.
Kate and I walked to the car. She was talking about something, her voice soft and light. I nodded, responded, but my mind stayed behind on the court.
Then I saw her again. Outside.
Alone.
She looked like someone had just peeled a piece of her heart away. But she smiled when she saw us. Said it was fine. Said it was nothing.
I didn't believe her.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
She lied. I saw it in the twitch of her lips. The way she wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Just… rough day," she said.
Rough day. Right.
I wanted to ask more. I wanted to stay.
But Kate was waiting.
And I was a coward.
So I nodded, turned away, and got in the car.
As we drove off, I caught one last glimpse of her—standing there with a friendship bracelet clenched in her hand like it meant something more than she was letting on.
And somehow, it felt like I'd lost a game I hadn't even known I was playing.
Sometimes, you don't know what you want until someone else holds it like it's theirs. And sometimes, you walk away before you can even try.