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plot: in which, they always wanted each other

trope: enemies? teammates to lovers

pairings: wbb! black! reader x dijonai carrington

warnings: foul language

a/n: love nai 🙂‍↕️ we doin' a'ja too cause she won the vote xx other than that, who do y'all want next? choose one only <3 we goin' off my list, but feel free to comment who y'all want me to add on that list 🫶 joyce edwards, olivia miles, azzi fudd, or rayah marshall

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They'd known each other since college. They were teammates in Stanford. They didn't get along at all. But, if you asked anyone who knew them, they'd say the opposite. They wouldn't say they hated each other. They'd say, it was all pretend. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't. The only ones who truly knew, were them. And they would fucking deny it.

Y/n didn't like DiJonai and she wasn't shy about it.

DiJonai didn't fuck with Y/n and she didn't shy away from it.

Y/n was drafted 1st overall in the 2021 draft to the Dallas Wings, and won Rookie Of the Year. She made sure to throw it in DiJonai's face every single time. Another reason she hated her. Y/n acted like she was better than everyone else. It infuriated her.

But there was a huge difference between the teams they were drafted to. Dallas wasn't one of the best teams. They had a bunch of great players, but no matter how good, you couldn't force chemistry. They thought they could just bring her in and magically make the team good. No matter how good she played, it would never be enough. They ended that season ranked 7 in standings. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best.

DiJonai was drafted to the Connecticut Sun. The best team in the league, surrounded by many vets who could provide the experience and advice she needed as a rookie. Something y/n didn't have. But it wasn't like the Sun made it to the finals that year either. They got beat in the semis by Chicago Sky. It was still better than Dallas who didn't make it past the first round.

Y/n didn't like being in Dallas. Her happiness slowly dwindled away the more teammates left, the more they lost, the more they fell to the bottom of standings. She felt like a lot of her potential was wasted there. Even other teams, like Vegas, New York, and Minnesota reached out to her. She turned them down. She didn't want to give up on them. She wasn't a quitter, even if it could be in her best interest.

Curt, the Dallas general manager could see how much he was losing y/n. Other teams were begging for him to trade her, but he denied them. He wanted to give her a better team. Something to work with. When it was confirmed Dallas was getting the 1st pick for the 2025 draft in UConn's Paige Bueckers. He had to work to bring in new players, new coaches, and rebuild.

Y/n was happy with it. She thought everything was finally gonna turn around.

Then she got hit with the worst news of her life.

DiJonai Carrington was signed to the Dallas Wings.

Happiness? Gone. Or, was it?

Y/n didn't show up to the facility until training camp started. She didn't meet the others at all before then. Arike knew it was because she wanted zero chances of running into DiJonai. Obviously, Nai thought it was ridiculous when Arike told her. But it was whatever. She wasn't gonna entertain her foolishness.

"Who wanna bet Nai and Y/n fight when she come in?" Arike asked, majority of the locker room filled with players, some on a training camp contract.

"That's not funny," DiJonai stated in annoyance.

"It was kinda funny." Paige mumbles.

"What's funny?" They glaced over, y/n making her way to her locker, duffle bag pulled over her shoulder. Her hair was tied up, sweats hanging low on her waist, and obviously completed with a hoodie. She didn't receive a response, causing her to turn and look at the group. "Why y'all so quiet?"

She really shouldn't have gave her attention but she couldn't help it. "Cause you talk up the whole room anyways," Nai retorts.

She didn't waste a second with her comeback. "Talkin' like you ain't got the biggest mouth in here, Carrington."

"The last name is crazy." Paige mumbles, watching this unfold before her eyes. She always got to see them go at it on the court but never behind the scenes. It was as entertaining as they said.

DiJonai rolled her eyes, "whatever. I'm not wastin' my time on you."

"Then don't. Nobody was askin' you to open that mouth in the first place." She scoffed, turning around to place her stuff into her locker. Nai sucked in a breath, holding back all the urges to tell her off. Everyone was holding their breath, waiting...praying.

Arike cleared her throat, grabbing their attention. "Uh..this ain't gon' be a problem on the court, right?"

"Relax. We been teammates before. We can do it again." Nai shrugged, indirectly telling her to drop it.

Y/n stood up, ready to head on the court, "as long as you don't tell me what to do princess."

Nai groaned, "what did I tell you about callin' me that?"

She glanced over her shoulder, "when have I ever listened to you?" She winked, a smirk curled up her lips as she walked out.

Paige raised a brow, catching the way Nai tried to act annoyed but the smile she bit back told a lot. Nobody else seemed to catch it but she did. It wasn't looking like hate to her. "Nobody else saw that? Okay...," she whispered to herself.

During practice, y/n was guarding Paige, and she wore a smile on her face as she did it. Paige was all smiles until y/n picked her pocket, three fucking times. That bothered her. It made it worse when they had y/n switch positions so she couldn't get her back. When they took a breather, Paige and Nai were watching as y/n knocked some rookies down from her screens.

"She's not knockin' me down like that," Paige stated in an overly cocky tone.

"She's knocked over AT on her screens...you're goin' down for sure." DiJonai retorts with a knowing look.

Paige was beyond cocky about the screen stuff, and Nai was annoyed by it. So when she saw a screen coming, she wasn't even gonna call it. They had y/n set a screen on Paige and as soon as she hit the taller woman, she was on the floor clutching her chest.

They were laughing it up as she laid there, limbs stretched out in a starfish position.

"I told you she's strong." DiJonai comments, subtly checking out y/n's muscles. She could not be more thankful for muscle shirts. "Gotta get in that weight room, rook." Y/n advised, holding her hand out to the blonde. "Can you give me your lifting routine?" Paige asked, taking her hand and letting the vet pull her up. "Yeah, I got you."

Y/n took a breather, watching practice go on. They didn't very put together, but it was only the first day so she wasn't gonna linger on that. They had a lot of time to practice and get on the same page. She wasn't sure how to feel about the coach yet either. She liked her coaches to yell, to get invested, to cuss her out when she was playing like shit. He was too..calm. It was a lot of change that she still had to get used to.

DiJonai took a seat near her, taking a bottle to hydrate. "What are you thinking?"

Y/n leaned forward, elbows on her knees as she watched them run down the court. "I'm thinking...I miss my girl."

Nai raised a brow, knowing exactly who that was. "Satou? Thought she dumped you?"

She didn't look at her, focused on the way Chris was coaching. He wasn't shouting, telling them what to do and she found that weird as fuck. It wasn't something she was used to in a coach. But hey, maybe it worked for him. "I'mma get her back."

"Why did she dump you anyway?"

She scratched her neck, still focused on the practice. "Cause I didn't follow her to Phoenix."

Nai hummed, taking a sip of her drink. "That's petty." Arike glanced over, finally noticing the two..and they weren't fighting. She didn't know it was possible for those two to have a civil conversation.

She shrugged, leaning back in her chair, "guess it was."

"Oh it definitely was. If she left you over that, clearly she didn't love you as much as she claimed. I would literally never do that shit to my partner. It's selfish." Y/n didn't respond verbally, but she was genuinely thinking into what she said. She had been spending way too much time trying to get Satou back that she didn't really think about why they broke up.

"But hey, you don't gotta listen to me. You never do anyways." Nai shrugged, putting her eyes back on practice.

"That ain't true."

She scoffed, turning to look at her, y/n wearing a playful smirk on her lips. "Oh really? Name one time you listened to me."

"I always pass you the ball when you ask." Nai rolled her eyes, fighting a smile because it was true. When they played together, anytime she asked for the ball, she got it. "That don't count. I mean like outside of basketball. When have you ever listened to me?"

She hummed, "I'll listen to you now."

Nai couldn't fight her smile that time but she put it away as soon as it came. She couldn't go soft on her now. "Okay. How 'bout you forget your little ex who dumped your ass and focus on playing good basketball."

She chuckled softly, "you sayin' I'm not playin' good basketball?"

"I seen you play better."

"When?"

"When you up against me."

She couldn't exactly argue that. She did tend to play a lot better against her. Almost like Nai brought out the best in her game. "Fair enough."

"You gon' listen to me now?"

Y/n nods slightly, "let's see how good your advice is first."

Paige walked over, plopping down in the empty chair between them, completely breathless. She looked at y/n who passed her a bottle. "Do you know how to dunk?"

She furrowed her brows at the random question. "Yes."

Paige nods, taking a drink. "Why don't you?"

She sighed, already exhausted with the amount of questions Paige had asked her today. "Cause I value my knees."

"Me too."

Nai scoffs, "girl, you can't dunk."

Paige holds a hand over her chest, feigning offense. "Yes I can. I just choose not to 'cause I don't wanna show off. I'm humble like that."

"Humble people don't say they humble," y/n mumbled.

Paige turned to press a finger over her lips, "shhh."

"Get your finger off my lips before I bite it off," she ordered through gritted teeth. Paige raised her brows, almost daring her to do it before Nai leaned over to smack her hand off.

The coach called the rookie over. "I'll be back." Paige got up and jogged over to him.

Y/n sighs, "that child really tests my patience."

Nai chuckles in amusement, "everyone tests your patience."

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It was May 1st. They had a preseason game against the Las Vegas Aces, which was gonna be held at Notre Dame. Y/n wasn't playing in the preseason. They were very cautious about her body, and making sure she started the regular season with no injuries or strain on her body. She had a difficult history with injury so it was important for them to take caution.

Over training camp, she and DiJonai had gotten into a couple arguments here and there but it wasn't anything that serious. Just normal petty arguments. Paige always tried to play peacemaker between them.

"I really hate bein' in Indiana. The weather so jacked up here." Y/n mumbled, stepping off the bus and opening up her umbrella.

"Girl you hate travelin' anywhere," Arike retorts ahead of her.

Nai chuckles, jumping off the steps and running to get under y/n's umbrella. "You're forgetting me!" Paige exclaimed, running under the rain to get under the umbrella. The two both wrapped her arms around her to squeeze in as much as they could. "This is way too much hugging," y/n mumbled.

"You don't like my hugs?" Nai frowned in offense.

"Yours are fine. The child's hugs are the problem."

Paige scoffs, looking up at her in offense. "I give great hugs! You're just ungrateful."

"Then I'm proud to be ungrateful."

"Wow. I see how it is." Y/n stopped at the door, the blonde stepping inside first. She turned on her heel in the most dramatic manner. "You don't deserve my hugs."

She made sure Nai was inside before closing the umbrella, and shaking it off. "Ignore her. She's dramatic."

Y/n sat on the sidelines during warmup, arms crossed as she leaned back in the chair. Paige ran over to bother her, seeing how comfortable she looked. She went to the corner to shoot threes, close enough to bother her baby vet. "How come you never smile?"

"Cause there ain't shit to smile about."

Paige scoffed, shooting a three and looking to DiJonai. "DC! Can you tell y/n to smile?"

DiJonai sighed, stopping what she was doing to look over at the bothered y/n. "Can you smile so she can leave me alone?"

Y/n groaned, forcing a smile for her. "Happy now?"

"That wasn't authentic!" Paige complained.

"So what! That's why you pale!" Y/n shot back.

"Hey, I'm working on my tan!" She defended weakly.

"You needa work on them threes. It's lookin' like brick city right now." She was satisfied when that finally shut Paige up. Until she started going again. "How you comin' for my threes and not DC's? That's mad biased."

Y/n turns to the admin, the camera pointed at them. "This is supposed to be y'all's nonchalant final boss by the way."

"DC! Tell your girlfriend to stop bullying me!" Paige pleaded.

DiJonai turned to give her a pointed look, quick to correct her. "Not my girlfriend- and y/n, leave the girl alone."

"I was even doin' nothin'! She came over her buggin' me!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!" She turned to Nai, "get your rookie, Carrington."

After practice, they got back on the bus to go back to the hotel. DiJonai and Y/n were arguing about something on the way to the bus. Everyone kinda learned to tune it out. Not Paige. She wasn't scared to get an input. "See that's exactly why Vegas beat y'all ass in the finals."

"You literally didn't even make it past the first round! You don't even got finals experience!" DiJonai argued, the two sitting across each other, both on opposite isles. Y/n tossed Nai her hoodie after noticing she was cold, and argued back as she did so. "Maybe 'cause I didn't get to ride my vets coat tails. If I did, I'd probably have a championship by now."

"But you don't so now what?" Nai deadpanned, pulling the hoodie over her head.

"Can I add something?" Paige cut in.

"No!" Y/n objected.

"You don't have to yell at her." Nai defended, pulling Paige to sit down before they started driving. Y/n groaned, "see, there you go babying her. She grown. She can handle it."

"So what? That don't mean you gotta raise your voice at her." Nai scolded, receiving an eye roll from her. She took a breath and turned to Paige, "sorry. What did you wanna say?"

"We don't need her opinion-" DiJonai shot her a glare, "hush. Let her talk. Always interruptin' somebody."

"So, y'all spend most of your time insulting each other. But, I think y'all are using insults because you're too scared to actually compliment each other." Paige said, causing Arike to glance over the sests, brow raised in curiosity. Y/n wasn't hearing none of that. "You're wrong."

"Oh okay. Say something nice about DC then." Paige challenged, a little smirk on her lips.

DiJonai smiled, waiting to receive a compliment. Y/n sighed, really hating when Paige pulled this shit on her. She laid her eyes on Nai, that smile she wore always making her heart flutter for some reason. "She's very beautiful. Always has been."

Paige grinned, looking at Nai for her reaction. She pushed her hair behind her shoulder, very flattered. "I know. Thank you."

"Now you say something nice about y/n," Arike input, loving where this was going.

DiJonai hummed, looking her up and down slowly. There was a lot to say about her. But one thing that stuck out was her eyes. They were so naturally seductive. Another reason she struggled to make eye contact with her. "You have pretty eyes."

Arike and Paige turned to look at y/n for her reaction. They seen the way her lip curled up for a small second. "'Preciate it. We good here?" Y/n glanced at Paige who nodded, a satisfied smile on her lips.

At the hotel, the sun went down and DiJonai went to close her curtains when she noticed y/n sitting by the pool by herself. She considered just leaving her alone and going to bed but, something just told her to go down there. So she did.

Y/n was staring at the water when she heard footsteps approach. She glanced over, eyes landing on Nai who kicked off her slides and took a seat beside her. She tried to act annoyed by her. "What are you doin' here?"

"Came to bless you with my company." DiJonai shrugged, not really in the mood to argue with her, even if it was playful. Their arguing was strictly reserved for the court, or locker room.

Y/n cracked a small smile, "you funny."

Nai shrugged, trying to fight her smile, "I try." It fell silent, but it was a peaceful silence. Then Nai broke it with a question that sat on her mind since it happened. "Did you mean what you said in the bus..or was you just tryna shut Paige up?"

She looked baffled that she had even asked that. "Have you seen yourself? Can't nobody lie about that."

"Why you always gotta make it hard to hate you?" Nai smiled, growing flustered once again as she tucked her hands in her hoodie- or well, y/n's hoodie. It smelled just like her and she was obsessed. She didn't want to give it back. "You don't hate me," y/n countered, very confident in her words. She didn't buy it for a second.

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

She groaned, throwing her head back dramatically. "That's not an answer."

"Yes it is. I don't gotta explain myself."

DiJonai huffed, leaning into her, "you're so annoying when you avoid questions. I don't like that. You gotta be real with me. I always keep it real wit' you." Y/n scoffed, receiving a surprised look. "When have you ever kept it real wit' me? I can name a lot of times-"

"So name one."

"You liked me in college and never said nothin' 'bout it."

Her jaw dropped, a scoff escaping her throat. "That- That don't even count 'cause you did the same thing. You was always checkin' me out and never said nothingggg." Y/n pursed her lips, not denying it. But Nai was genuinely frustrated about it. She had more to say. "Then you had the audacity to be mad at me for leaving with you did nothing but argue with me-"

"I wasn't mad-"

"Don't cut me off." Y/n went quiet, letting her continue. "You were definitely mad. I remember very specifically 'cause NaLyssa told me you was sayin' crazy shit to her in college when you found out we was datin'. You weren't even just mad- you were jealous as fuck. So if you wanna talk about keepin' it real, we can start right there. Why was you jealous if you never made it clear you wanted me to be your girl?"

"Truth be told. I don't know. I did a lot of stupid shit back then and that was one of them. Not that I regret talkin' my shit to Smith."

DiJonai chuckled, hitting her arm. "You literally have no reason to hate her."

"Oh I absolutely got a reason. She had you before I did." Y/n scoffed, still deeply bothered by it. She still got into it with her to this day.

"What I'm hearin' is that you want me..." DiJonai smiled to herself, arm brushing against hers.

She nodded, setting a hand on cheek, staring into those beautiful eyes she had. "Been wantin' you." Nai smiled softly, "well I'm not makin' the first move so..." y/n chuckled, already very aware of that. She leaned down to capture her lips, very soft with it. Nai hummed, moving to climb over her lap mid-kiss. Her hands found her waist, and slowly slid down to her ass, the kiss deepening with each movement.

"You gon' call me by my name now?" Nai teased, pressing a kiss to her jaw.

"I knew you was gon' bring that up," she chuckled, and Nai smiled, waiting for her to say it. "You wanna be my girl, DiJonai?" She hummed in delight, mumbling a 'yes I do' before bringing their lips back together.

"It's about time!"

They paused, glancing over to look at Paige who shouted that out from her hotel room a couple stories up. "Stop bein' nosy and go to bed!" Y/n scolded.

"Okay dad!" Paige mocked, receiving a middle finger that Nai quickly pulled down.

"That child irritates me." Nai chuckled at her words, getting up to her feet and taking y/n's hands. "Everything irritates you." She pulled her up, y/n's arms sliding around her waist to press another peck to her lips. "Not you." She hummed, grabbing a handful of her hoodie to pull her along. "Come show me then."

"Get a room!"

"Paige- I swear I will go up there and whoop your ass!"

"I dare you!"

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