His For A Year: The Basketball Lord's

Chapter Forty Three

♠ Kim Stans ♠

Kelvin- Heard the news about Oliver. That's awful.

Kelvin- You must be stressed out, so maybe we should reschedule our shopping for the wedding ring.

Kelvin- You need some time to gather your thoughts.

Me- We can go tomorrow.

Me- Oliver's coming back today, so I'll try make sure she's alright, then tomorrow we'll shop and all.

Me- I'm so sorry things had to take this turn.

Kelvin- Don't worry yourself about a thing. Just ensure Oliver's alright.

Kelvin-The proposal ain't going nowhere yet -Winking Face Emoji-

I couldn't help but smile as I walked into the hospital by exactly seven in the morning, my other hand holding onto a bag of food.

Overnight I couldn't find myself catching a glimpse of sleep because of how occupied my thoughts had been.

Yeah, it had been filled with thoughts of how Oliver's accident took place.

But annoyingly, also because of all the emotions erupting in me at the thought of Austin.

The gentleness he'd used in comforting me had struck me so hard, it was confusing emotions in me.

And why I was feeling this way, I couldn't make out.

Overnight, I had to remind myself that this was only a fake relationship.

Love wasn't a real thing. It never lasted.

Those were the words ringing in my head with each step I took towards the elevator, after meeting with the receptionist.

There were two other men in the elevator with me, so I pushed the fourth floor and waited.

After the ding and the doors separated, I moved out of it to Oliver's room.

When I got in, a bright smile was plastered on her lips.

This smile was even more than yesterday's own, seeming to hold more genuineness in them.

“Kim!” She beamed, her eyes filled with light.

“And to what do I owe such bliss?” My tone was laced with surprise.

Which only furthered when she let out the merriest of laughter I'd ever heard from her.

“Is it a bad thing to be happy to see one's sister?”

I was aware that wasn't what made her filled with this amount of glee, but as long as she had something to distract her from the injuries, I wouldn't pester.

Instead, I raised the hand that held a bag of food, “you hungry?”

She waved a bandaged hand, as though to signify she wasn't, “already ate.”

“You ate? This is just seven, were you so hungry that you ate alone?”

Her smile widened, “actually, a friend of mine ate with me.”

That came out surprisingly, “you have a friend that came to eat with you?”

Another fit of laughter erupted from her, “why? Did you think I was friendless.”

“I didn't think you'd have friends that'll come so early to eat with you,” my gaze scanned the room, “where is she?”

“Actually,” the pinging from my phone interrupted her.

“One sec,” I reached for it, my heart certainly skipping a bit when I noticed a message from Austin pop up on the screen.

With relief that I could actually message him after all the thinking about him, I clicked on the message.

Austin- Started work today, but I just want to know how Oliver's doing.

The thought of him being considerate enough to care warmed my heart as I thought of a reply.

After much typing and deleting, I finally came up with;

Me- She seems better, and will be discharged today, which is very good news.

Austin- Glad to hear.

“From the looks of it, you're chatting with Austin,” Oliver reminded me of her presence.

“Huh?” I glanced at her over the phone.

“You have that huge grin planted on her lips which I'm certain only a guy can do to you.”

“I see you're still not fully alright, maybe the doctors should check your brain so we can be sure you're still thinking straight,” I joked, hoping it'd calm my racing heart and stop her from suspecting anything.

Really, what was going on with me?

She let out a hysterical laughter, “yeah yeah, say whatever you want to say, but I see it all.”

“And what might that be?” I tried acting nonchalant by going to check if the room was arranged well, and dropping the stuff I bought on the table beside her bed.

“The way you blush when he's being mentioned,” she stated, and I couldn't help huffing, though my heart rate increased.

“Oh, please,”

My hands did random things, like arranging the flowers, patting the bed, dusting the windows and many more.

Anything to let her assume I was taking this conversation casual, and not about to explode from a racing heart.

“The glee that's obviously in you whenever you have a chance to meet him,” she continued, “the fact you obviously can't stop thinking about him.”

That made the colors rise to my neck.

Oh shoot, how did she find out? Was it that obvious? Did more people figure that out?

Worse of all… did Austin know about it?

At least I could be grateful I had a coat on so my neck could be covered by it.

“Daydream,” my voice cracked a little, that I had to internally curse myself for that.

She ignored me, “the way you are learning basketball only because he is the one teaching it.”

The color further moved to my ears at those words, only making me feel grateful I'd left my hair to fall so it covered them.

“Oh please, I'm only learning better because he's a pro at the sport and also a good teacher,” again, the stupid voice cracked.

She chuckled softly, “at least no one can argue with this one… the amount of care he obviously has for you.”

That made me throw a glance her way, where a small smile stayed steady on her lips.

Her expression held so much certainty, it made me begin questioning myself.

“What do you mean?” At this point, I didn't even mind that my voice shook.

My entire body wanted to hear what it wanted to.

And secretly, I hoped she'd tell me what I wanted to hear.

“I've been a fan of Austin's since he won the farthest shot for America during last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup,” she started, her gaze fixed on me.

“Which means, just like every other normal female, I followed him up,” she continued, “and from all I could gather from my searches, Austin has never had any care for a female that isn't Katie or his mom.

“He had always acted like a cold hearted hot player, but when I met him, he just seemed so different.”

“At first I thought it meant all the rumors about him weren't as true as people said they were,” her tone dropped when she said, “but then I realized it was actually because of you…”

The fact she didn't seem to be teasing spoke how serious she was.

Making the color rise to my cheeks.

Could she actually be true?