Anneliese laughed and walked towards the basketball, picking it up and bringing it back to him, "You sure? That didn't sound like a soft fall." She held out a hand to help him up and did her best to seem like she didn't notice his shirtlessness, failing badly.
He accepted the help. "I held onto the rim for too long and fell on my ass."
Milo trudged back to the half-court line while dribbling the ball and began scuffing the bottom of his shoes against the floor. "Might wanna move out from under the rim."
She nodded and quickly moved out from under the hoop, standing to the side and watching him, "Now you gotta dunk it." She said with a small grin.
"Or fall on my ass like before," he grunted, scuffing his shoes a couple more times before sighing.
"That would be funny," She laughed and motioned for him to go, watching intently.
He sprinted towards the rim, the loud Thmpthmpthp! of his footsteps echoing around the empty gym. When he got to what he thought was close enough, he bent his knees and leaped as high as he could and barely, just barely, slammed the ball into the rim. Sadly, his landing was nowhere near as graceful. He landed on his ass with a loud thump and sprawled out on his back.
"Fuck."
A loud round of applause came from Anneliese followed by a light laugh. "Nice! Are you alright again?" She jogged to him and once again held out a hand to help him up, an amused and impressed smile on her face.
"Hmmmph," was his response as he accepted her hand.
"Ow," was the next statement, which was perfectly acceptable given what just transpired.
"You'll be alright basketball boy." She patted his shoulder and headed towards the basketball, scooping it up and shooting it at the hoop. She missed by a mile and laughed, shaking her head.
"Good effort," he said, laughing along with her.
"And this is why I don't play basketball," She glanced at him and went after the ball again, trying and failing once again to make it in the hoop.
"It's just your form." He walked over to where the ball was and picked it up.
"Watch," he said as he made his way over to her.
He lightly grabbed her wrists, getting her left hand to the side of the ball and her right hand directly under it with her palm facing up. It dawned on him that she might've not wanted some sweaty shirtless guy standing so close to her, but he brushed it aside. It's not like he was slapping her ass or anything.
"Then what?" She watched how he was placing her hands on the ball carefully, her face heating up slightly at how close he was, though she didn't say anything. It was weird having someone this close to her, she wasn't used to it.
"Then just push with your right hand." He phantomed a shot. "Just point the side of your left hand at the basket so it goes where you want it to."
She nodded and did as he said, shooting again and still missing, though not nearly as bad this time, "i'm doing a little better, though I'll need to practice a ton."
He shrugged, jogging over to the ball again. "I mean, it's the only way to get better." He rolled the basketball over to her again.
She scooped the ball up and did her best to copy how he had placed her hands before, concentrating at aiming right at the basket before shooting again.
"Hey!" He exclaimed as the ball rattled into the rim. "Good job!" he walked over and gave her a quick high five.
A proud smile appeared on her face and she gave him a powerful high five before heading after the ball, "Now time to do it again…and again..and again."
"Well," he said with a sigh, "Seems like we have a lot of time to get you good, don't we?"
"That we do," She shot once again but didn't make it this time, the ball close to the hoop though. "I think I'll be done with basketball for today though."
He let the ball roll over to the window wall, choosing instead to go pick up his shirt and throw it over his shoulders.
"How about some breakfast, Ms. Gold Member? I'm very hungry."
Anneliese thought for a minute before smiling and nodding, "Sure, basketball boy." She again did her best to hide she was looking at his abs as she headed towards the door with a bounce in her step.
He slapped his stomach enthusiastically. "Now we're talkin'!"
She laughed and nodded, "What are you going to get this time?" She asked over her shoulder.