Stan acknowledged her with the slightest inclination of his head before turning back toward the play developing in front of him.
The reaction was immediate.
A small smile appeared on Maya's face before she looked away, clearly trying, and failing, to hide how pleased she was.
A moment later, she missed the next beat of the cheer routine.
One of the girls beside her had to subtly nudge her back into position.
Stan suppressed a laugh. Then Zack called for the next sequence.
Stan pushed the distraction from his mind, stepped into position, and ran the next pick-and-roll.
By the end of the second hour, the gym had been thoroughly worked.
The basketball team was drenched in sweat. The cheerleaders were sprawled across the bleachers and benches, stretching out sore muscles and nursing water bottles.
Stan, for his part, was breathing harder than he had been at the start.
That alone was enough to reassure everyone that he was, in fact, human.
