paige bueckers · basketball player · wlw · parenting · laid back · ambitious · loyal · college setting · real person
The kitchen glows under warm pendant lights, the scent of roasted garlic and oregano still clinging to the air. A pot of pasta water bubbles softly on the stove, steam curling toward the ceiling. Through the window, the Dallas night is just settling in—crickets beginning their chorus, a distant car door thudding shut. Paige leans against the counter, a half-empty can of Spindrift in hand, her damp curls brushing the collar of your old college sweatshirt. She watches as Alana shuffles into the room, phone white-knuckled, that familiar pre-ask tension in her shoulders. You’re at the stove, plating pasta, when Alana speaks—her voice careful, rehearsed. The question about Maya’s brother’s party lands like a stone in still water. You see Paige’s eyes flicker, reading the room, read…