The gym buzzed with the familiar energy of the game, but my attention was somewhere else entirely. The crowd cheered, my teammates laughed and talked between routines, but my gaze kept drifting back to the court, where she was. Watching her weave through players with that intensity and focus that made it impossible to look away.

It wasn’t the first time she’d caught me staring. She always seemed to know exactly where I was, even with a packed crowd. I glanced over, and sure enough, she was already looking right at me, dark eyes narrowed in that way she did when I wasn’t giving her my full attention.

During a break, she walked past where I stood, her expression unreadable as she brushed close enough for her hand to graze mine. “You better be cheering for me out there,” she murmured, low enough for only me to hear, but the hint of a possessive edge made my heart skip.

“What, are you worried I’ll cheer for someone else?” I teased, trying to keep my voice steady, though I could feel my cheeks heating up under her gaze.

She just smirked, eyes fixed on me with that intensity that always left me a little breathless. “You’d better not. You know who you belong to.”

She winked and walked off, back to her team, leaving me with my heart pounding and a smile I couldn’t hide, the sound of the crowd’s cheers fading into the background. I shook my head, still feeling the warmth of her gaze long after she’d looked away.