Chapter Text
Devin was really regretting ever saying Yes to hanging out with KD and Kyrie, in his defense he did not know that hanging out with them entailed Luka.
Don’t get him wrong he doesn’t hate the guy, their so-called beef or rivalry as people like to term it did not extend beyond the court but they were not the best of friends either. They respected each other’s game, but their interactions were limited to a quick hug and polite greetings before or after a game, so sue him if he wasn’t the most enthusiastic about the impending hangout,though it has been a long time since he have seen him up close.
Their infamous rivalry has been an overblown joke of the internet for many years, they were both very competitive so it was only natural that they clash on the court. They have never talked or hung out before despite several common friends suggesting they should because in their words they had this distinct ‘tension’, he never felt the need to, he’d never admit but their rivalry was not the worst thing to happen in his basketball life. Also, if there was going to be any sorting out of tension, he was not going to be the first to reach out.
What was Luka doing in Dallas anyway wasn’t he supposed to be in LA getting chummy with all his new teammates, he wouldn’t know he has been in Phoenix his whole career, he doesn’t know if that is good or depressing looking at the current state of the team, that was a thought for another existential crisis induced late night, right now he had to get ready.
He picked up KD and started heading to Kyrie’s house, they were catching up now that KD was in Houston it was hard to get a hold of each other with their schedules, but suns game with Dallas ended lining up with KD’s event in Dallas.
“So, what is Luka doing in Dallas anyway?” Devin asked keeping his eyes on the road attempting to look indifferent to how the question sounded weird Luka and Dallas always went hand in hand.
“ahhh...I was waiting for you to ask that” KD answered looking pleased with himself and added “do you mean why’s he hanging out with us? You know he’s basically Kyrie’s adopted brother, right? I mean, you don’t have a problem with him coming, right? Should have checked with you, my bad”
“No, it’s cool I don’t have a problem with him, you know that, I’m just curious whys he not spending their only weekend off at home or with his new teammates, they seem to get along” Devin said shrugging his shoulders.
“been keeping up with him I see” KD said with his eyebrow raised and a shit eating grin "he had things to take care of here and hang out with Kai I guess"
“huhh? umm.. yeah only cause I have to …as they say keep your enemies close don’t they?” Devin stuttered out looking away
'Don’t worry he probably keeps up with you too' KD thought to himself, sometimes he wonder if they really think they are subtle with their admiration and curiosity of the other, if they do think so it is rather adorable how they think they are fooling anyone but themselves. But that was a bubble they were gonna have to burst themselves.
“I guess they do say that, now take a left and we’re there” KD said absent mindedly.
Kyrie’s house was white with a little brown here and there, it had a warm lighting making is look cozy and soft, Devin appreciated the homey furniture with the modern architecture, it felt lived in, he wondered if Kyrie has settled in like Dallas was home, if yes did Luka also made his house a home in Dallas before it was taken away from him.
Devin would be lying if he said he had never been curious about Luka, of course he was, his team had the first pick in Luka’s draft year so there was a possibility that he could have been his backcourt partner so he definitely did his research and that research might or might not have led to an admiration for Luka.
He was woken up from his daydream by the chatter in the living room, seems like they have left him in the hallway while he was admiring the artworks.
He made his way to the noise, there they were clearly talking passionately about something.
There he was on the far right of the couch intently looking at a magazine like he was trying to decipher a puzzle
His hair was a little longer than when he last saw him, the blonde was dark and glowing under the yellow warm light in contrast with the night in the background visible through the glass, his skin looked soft with a soft pink hue like he had just ran and sat down on the couch, he had always looked softer with his hair down Devin thought as he approached.
Luka looked up and their eyes locked, grayish blue sea meeting with the dark brown sand on the shore under the warm light of the sun, but what does the sea and the shore know of their chemistry.
“Hey booker, everything good?” Luka greeted flashing a small grin looking up briefly from his magazine, he clearly knows Devin hated it when he called him that
“Hey Doncic, I’m good, what’s going on?” Devin nodded as he took a seat on the adjacent couch.
“On the last name basis, damn you guys are moving too fast or too slow I can’t tell” kyrie said as he shook his head disappointedly.
Luka looked up and straight to Devin’s eyes with eyes full of mirth and challenge and said “I wasn’t the one that started it”
“Never thought dbook was one for formalities” Kd added to the conversation as he was setting up the game
“We are very formal when it comes to off court stuff, aren’t we? It works for us as decided by booker himself” Luka said smiling as he continued to read the magazine. Behind him kyrie and KD looked at Devin who just looked confused and really out of his element and shrugged.
They spent the night eating, talking and playing games, apart from the time they ran into each other at the upstairs bathroom and the awkward eye contact and small talk here and there, there was no personal interaction between them, which was for the better according to Devin because when there were no adrenaline of the match to blame, their tension was hard to comprehend.
They did exchange number as very strongly advised by Kyrie, so that was all Devin was thinking about on the drive home.
Devin have always thought about Luka a lot, which maybe an understatement, he has always liked the boy with his blonde hair and boyish grin paired with beautiful eyes that seems to dance across the court measuring and estimating his and his opponents move.
He has developed a crush of some sort on Luka ever since he was watching the draft night kinda hoping the team took him first overall, well that went down the drain now the guy they picked was in LA playing with Luka, what even is life?
Now Devin’s confusion was caused by what Luka meant when he said he decided for their relationship to be as professional as possible, because clearly Devin knew himself he wanted more than that, there were just little to no chances to even come close to a conversation like that in the first place, and their so called fights in the court did happen so Devin decided to leave the crush alone with the timing and the uncertainty of reciprocated feeling, and right now it feels like that buried feelings are holding him captive in his own mind. Their on court battles were in his opinion not caused by him alone, Luka really knew how to get under his skin,it is kinda crazy, but of course his own competitive spirit and emotions he attempted to cover up were the biggest culprit.
But he never meant for their relationship off the court to be so strained and stagnant, if you would have asked Devin from 4 years ago he would probably believe that they would at least be friends.
He never made a move towards that but Luka didn’t either, yes he is shy but he had no problem making friends with Austin reaves and Rui in a week so if he had made any effort Devin would have met him halfway. Sometimes he does wonder if he ever made even the simplest move would their relationship between different. Luka was new to the league and even the country so maybe it was too much to ask him to meet him halfway, so he always kinda understood, he also did have a soft spot for him after all.
Devin knows he is being unreasonable and he was making himself upset but hey this a long time coming, why would he accuse devin of being the sole reason they call each other by their last name and maybe this is why they would never work they were maybe too similar as sad as that sounds.
As Devin prepares to go to bed, he mindlessly scanned his wardrobe and saw his all star jersey with the corner of his eyes.
Oh he does remember, Devin does remember when and why he called Luka by his last name.
It was Luka’s first All star, everyone kept getting his last name wrong interviews, players, coaches and Devin saw him being too exhausted to correct every one of them, so whenever they were at the same vicinity on or off the court he made sure to call him by his last name a little louder than necessary, it was poor planning on his part, an honestly weak attempt at impressing Luka and making sure he was at least a little bit comfortable but look how that worked out. He does see why that can come off as rude and flaunting his seniority in the league, past Devin poor planning and execution is swaying current Devin’s life, it was almost funny.
Devin couldn’t help but find it endearing that Luka was holding a grudge about this, he really is bewitching in his own right.
Devin was covering his face at his own thinking “okay I really do need to sleep” he breathed out as he turned off the light and dozed off.
He contemplated sending a text to Luka, but decided against it because what would he even say.
If he dreamed of supple pink lips and soft dark blonde hair, nobody needed to know.