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plot: in which, saniya is determined to get to know her former college rival

trope: college rivals x teammates to lovers

pairings: wbb! reader x saniya rivers

warnings: none

a/n: the way she became one of my favorite rooks so fast during the draft 🙂‍↕️ and now y'all are obviously getting paige next xx

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Y/n wasn't a very talkative person, outside the court. On the court was a different story. She was known for her trash talk, her arrogance, her nasty attitude, and cocky grins. But off the court was different. She was quiet. She didn't talk unless she needed to. It wasn't a bad thing either.

But it was intriguing. Saniya was definitely intrigued. It was odd having her as a teammate now that they used to get into it in college all the time. She didn't expect y/n to be the polar opposite that she was on the court. They hardly even spoke too. The only time y/n came up to her was to give condolences and other than that, they had no conversations outside of practice.

It was a little frustrating because she genuinely wanted to get to know her. She wasn't shy to the fact that she found her insanely attractive.

They had wrapped up practice, y/n was still on the court shooting as the others got ready to leave. Marina caught the rookie staring once again and nudged her, "stay and talk to her," she encouraged.

"I don't wanna bother her," Saniya mumbled, trying to make an excuse out of nervousness.

Marina rolled her eyes, "well you're never gonna get anywhere with her if you don't try."

She sighed, "fine, I'll stay."

She smiled, patting her back before getting up, "good luck. She's terrifying." Niya looked her in shock, "girl- you're supposed to hype me up not scare me." Marina just smiled and waved as she walked off.

Once everyone was gone, Saniya got up and walked over as y/n knocked in another three. The New York was still getting to her. It was probably her worst game ever. She had never shot so bad before. Her confidence after that game was the worst it had ever been. Her vets AT and DeWanna had to call her after that and remind her who the fuck she was. "Need a rebounder?"

She shrugged nonchalantly, "sure."

Saniya picked up the ball to pass it back to her. "You were goin' crazy last night," she said, obviously referring to their game against Atlanta. She was the second leading scorer behind Marina, who knocked down 34 points.

"I was alright," she mumbled, knocking in another three.

That had her taken aback, not expecting that response but it wasn't all that surprising. She was always the hardest on herself in college too. She only knew that because that's what y/n's coaches said about her in college. "Uh, I have a question for you, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I totally respect that."

"Okay."

"How did you transition so smoothly to the W during your rookie year?" In all honesty, she did want some advice from her. The way she came into the W so smoothly last year was pretty inspiring. She was averaging almost the same numbers she did in college.

"Rookie year wasn't easy. I was goin' through a lot. But I put in the work, listened to my coaches, to my vets, and kept that same mentality I had in college. Listen to your vets, you'll be good." Saniya nodded at her words, passing the ball back to her. "Should I listen to you too?"

She shook her head, shooting another three and missing. "No. I don't even listen to me."

"Who do you listen to?"

"My vets, and my uncle," she answered vaguely.

"Your uncle play ball?"

"Used to."

Saniya hummed, really wanting to ask more questions but she was also scared to overstep. But she was wondering why y/n never talked about her parents, almost like they didn't exist. She passed the ball back, "so, when did you start playin' basketball?"

"When I was 13. It uh, helped with my grief, kept my mind straight." She shot the three again and walked over to the corner to work on those set of 3s. Corners weren't her strong point so she needed to improve in that.

"Grief?"

She nodded, no readable expression on her face like always. It made her so hard to read. "Yep. Lost my parents in a car accident. Had to move in with my uncle after that." She caught the ball and shot the 3 again, missing it terribly. "Oh shit. I'm sorry- I didn't mean to overstep-"

"You didn't. It's fine." She reassured softly, and Niya wanted to smile when she peeped the way her voice softened when she spoke to her. The only time she heard that soft voice was when she received the condolences. She liked it though.

"Your uncle should pull up to a game though," Saniya suggested.

"That's not possible," y/n chuckled softly, shooting another 3 and missing. She really hated these corners.

"Why not?"

"He passed last year," she explained, waiting for Saniya to pass the ball back.

Saniya's eyes widened, "oh, my god, I'm so sorry-" she just shrugged it off, still waiting for the ball. "You're fine. You didn't know."

Niya passed the ball back, not expecting their first real conversation to be like this but at least it was something. She knew more about her than she did an hour ago and that was a win in her book. She did want to change the subject though. "So, who's your favorite vet?" She queried.

She got y/n to crack the smallest grin, "don't tell nobody 'cause if it gets back to DB I'mma get scolded. But, it's AT. If I wasn't under a rookie contract, I would've followed her to Phoenix."

"I can see that. You'd look good in a Phoenix jersey," Niya said in a flirty tone. Unfortunately, she hardly got much of a reaction out of her.

"Alright." She sighed, tucking the ball under her arm, "now I got a question. How come you're so interested in me all of a sudden?"

Saniya gulped, "uhh, I feel like you're kinda out of touch with the team, in your own world and I just wanna be apart of that."

Y/n nodded slowly, taking in the words. "You...you wanna be apart of my world? The same world you was shittin' on in college?"

Saniya winced, knowing that was gonna come up eventually. She did say some crazy stuff about her in college. Like how she was a selfish ball hog who only cared about herself. Or how she was never gonna amount to anything with her bad attitude. "See about that--yeah, I don't really know what to say. Clearly you proved me wrong. That's my bad. I apologize."

She hummed, shooting another corner 3 and it swished in. "I'm just pressin' you. You ain't gotta apologize. I won't. I mean everything I say on the court."

Saniya smirked, recalling that one time y/n called her hot to distract her in transition. "Oh yeah? So you meant it when you called me hot?"

Y/n froze, pursing her lips awkwardly, "um...you remember that?"

She nods, passing the ball back to her, "you didn't answer the question."

She shrugged, not gonna deny it or she'd contradict herself. "Yeah, I meant it. You gonna do somethin' about it?" Niya caught the rebound and tossed the ball to the side, walking over to get closer. They were around the same height, only y/n was just a bit shorter. "Do you want me to do somethin' about it?"

She wore that same cocky smirk she did on the court, the smirk that drew Niya in from the beginning. "That's cute. But you know you ain't gon' do nothin'. There's a reason it took you so long to approach me."

She got her there. Fuck. With a wink, she walked off, exiting the court for the day, leaving Saniya standing there looking like a fool.

An hour later, Saniya was pacing back in forth in Marina's living room as the vet munched on some takeout. "Wait, hold on, you didn't know about her Uncle?" She questioned. Obviously she knew because she was there for the second half of y/n's rookie year. "No, I did not. How could you not tell me that? I could just feel her judging me..."

"Sorry. I just assumed everyone knew. It wasn't really a secret." She shrugged, picking up another slice to eat.

"Well, I felt stupid as fuck," she sighed, and Marina grabbed her arm to get to stop pacing. "And it gets worse. I tried to flirt and she didn't even react. It was humiliating. That was worse than rejection." Marina snorts, receiving a sharp glare and she quickly went quiet. "Sorry. Continue. I'm listening."

"Anyways. She pressed me 'bout some shit I said about her in college-"

"What'd you say?" Marina asked, very entertained by all of this.

"Uh...I may have called her a selfish ball hogging bitch...and that she'd never amount to anything with her nasty ass attitude." Marina let out a crunchy ass laugh, and Niya was not amused. "I'm sorry- I'm sorry, I'm just surprised she didn't punch you for that. I literally would've crashed out so bad if someone said that to me."

"It wasn't like I meant it! I was just mad 'cause she was cookin' me the whole game," Saniya defended weakly.

Marina nodded slowly, "so, y'all basically said some outta pocket shit to each other in college and you still have a crush on her after all that?" Saniya pursed her lips awkwardly, hands behind her back, "in my defense, I like when my ladies is a little mean to me."

Marina laughed, "Niya! That's toxic!" She scolded weakly.

"Not if the feelings mutual!"

She chuckled, "okay whatever. Keep going. I need to know how this ended."

"She said I didn't have to apologize 'cause she meant everything she said on the court. So I brought up that one time she called me hot in transition and asked if she meant what she said then." Marina nodded, taking in the story, "right, and what'd she say to that?"

"She stood on business and asked me what I was gonna do about it." Marina's eyes widened, growing more invested as she went on. She was very surprised to hear this because she didn't know this side of y/n at all. "So I walked over to her, and I put on my little flirty voice, right? I'm like, do you want me to do somethin' about it?"

"Oh, my god. That's my girl!" She grinned, shaking her arms excitedly which made Niya gulp because she knew that smile was about to drop when she told her the next part. She paused when the rookie wasn't matching her energy. "Oh fuck. What'd she do?"

"She said, I wasn't gon' do nothin' about it and that's why it took me so long to approach her. Then she winked, and uh...walked away." Marina pursed her lips into a firm line, very disappointed with the way this went. "Please tell me you ran after her..."

Niya took a seat with an awkward look, "..I didn't."

"Niya!" Marina scolded, smacking her shoulder. "What?!"

"Dude, you need to stand on business. Go and get your fucking girl. If you don't do it now, the next girl is gonna sweep her off her feet!" Marina exclaimed, immediately hyping Saniya up. "You know what? Yeah. You right. I'mma go get my girl!" She stood up, walking over to the door with determination.

She paused, realizing she had no idea where her girl was. "Um...where does she live?"

Marina snickered, "literally right across from me."

Saniya's jaw dropped, "you're joking."

She shook her head with a grin, "I'm not. She's literally my neighbor."

"Really? Studrina? She's been across the door this entire time?" Marina scowled, throwing the pillow at her, "stop calling me that! We are not making that a thing! Hurry up and get your girl before your garlic knots get cold."

Saniya unlocked the door and pulled it open, "wait- what do I say?"

Marina shrugs, "just kiss her. That'll get your point across. She's not much of a talker anyway."

She nods, stepping out the apartment and walking over to the door across them. Marina was quick to get up and run over to the door, spying through the peep hole. If it went badly, she was prepared to step in. The rookie knocked on the door and took a breath, hearing footsteps approach.

Y/n unlocked her door and pulled it open. "What are you doing he-" Saniya cut her off, capturing her lips into a passionate kiss. It caught her heavily off guard and that made it so much better. Her arms immediately slid around her neck, bringing her closer. It kept going so long Marina was worried they'd run out of air.

Pulling away, breathing heavy as they caught their breath. "I'm takin' you on a date Friday night," Saniya stated.

She nodded, stumbling back and Niya was quick to steady her. "Friday it is." She stepped back into her apartment and shut the door, a small smile gracing her lips.

Saniya turned around and Marina opened the door, "so?" Niya grinned, "I have a date."

"Yes! I knew you could do it!" They jumped up and down excitedly.

"No you didn't but it's okay!"

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