GAME DAY I’M HYPE AS FUCKKKKK, it’s my turn to host the watch party today so i’m doing hella prep before i have to get ready but new fic coming soon baddies 🎀
knowing the stakes are far too high for stephon and the team to win game six, you try out a different approach at motivating him to play hard… ₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ ₊˚⊹♡
stephon had already warned you about the hate comments that managed to infiltrate your social media platforms ever since the playoffs started. fans of the opposing team stopped at nothing to spread negativity about your boyfriend and his teammates, your feed being filled with nothing but irrelevant podcast clips, predictions for game six winners, and conspiracies involving referees being on someone’s payroll. it had been tough for everyone all around, especially with so much criticism and frustration being displayed, stephon was more than done with sports news outlets and social media all together.
in the midst of everything going on, you couldn’t deny the tension that was growing between you two as his time became more demanding, his temper shorter, and his patience leveling down to that of zero. he was exhausted and hungry to win to say the least— your pre-game speeches only doing so much for him before they were going in through one ear and right out the other. “did you hear what i said?” you spoke up, holding your phone to your ear as the line crackled with silence. “yeah, yeah, i heard you.” you immediately picked up on his tone, the energy suddenly shifting as you squirmed in your glam chair.
“what’s wrong?” now it was you who couldn’t help the attitude from lacing your voice as you waited for him to respond. there was a deep sigh that sounded, a curse following soon after. “look, i get that you’re trying to be positive right now, and i appreciate it a lot, but respectfully, i can’t stand to hear the soft shit right now.” your eyebrows rose in surprise at his choice of words. letting your mouth take over before you could think twice, you spoke up. “i hear you. i bet lu dort would appreciate my sweet talk though.” there was a beat of silence on stephon’s line before he laughed bitterly. “you’re weird as fuck gang, do you hear yourself?” his voice rose, the sound making you smile even though he couldn’t see you.
“what?” you chirped innocently— as if what you just said wasn’t a slap to his face, “he followed me on instagram after game five.” stephon closed his eyes for a moment, his jaw clenching at the revelation. “he followed you?” tonight’s game was already super personal and vital for him to win, but now? he needed to prove something else. “yeah, he did, so go out there and play like i’m on the line. i don’t date losers.” you hung up before he could say anything else, rolling your eyes before your glam team finished you up. within hours, you were sitting court side, both you and stephon exchanging glares here and there as he ran up practice time.
usually he’d greet you and kiss you before going back to the locker rooms, but this time around he left without a word, his nostrils flaring as your words repeated themselves in his head. you scrolled on your phone for the remaining time, your attention fixed on the court once the game was in full swing. you watched nervously as stephon stared lu dort down after he got fouled, his eyes flickering over to where you sat before he was stepping onto the free throw line. the rest of the game went by with the spurs leading, and eventually winning by 27 points. knowing stephon well enough; you didn’t even try to go up to him the way you usually did after a game ends, his anger still very obvious to you as he walked off the court.
with post-game interviews and press conferences, you decided waiting for him back at his place would be better so you could clear up everything that was said. once stephon got back, he looked at you with a lot less spite than before. “why did you lie about dort following you?” he sighed, draping an arm around your shoulders as you met him by the door. “i was just riling you up…” you spoke quietly, “and clearly it worked.” stephon sighed, his shoulders finally dropping in relief. “don’t do that shit again, and i promise from here on out i won’t be mean to you when you’re just trying to encourage me,” he walked you down the hallway to his room, “can you reward me now?”
a/n: i know lu dort is in a committed relationship, i just wanted to use him for this fic since i saw this clip from x and it just made sense to me lol
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