Three years slipped by like sand through open fingers.
Alex Ramirez was no longer just a star...he was a legend. At twenty-eight, he had become the face of the California Suns, the player fans wore jerseys for, the one coaches built teams around. Billboards with his face towered over the city...smiling down from skyscrapers, holding a basketball, the words "King of the Court" in bold letters. Sponsors loved him. Shoe deals, energy drinks, luxury watches...his name sold everything.
On the court, he was unstoppable. Defenses double-teamed him, triple-teamed him, and he still found ways to score. His crossover dribble left defenders grabbing air. His step-back three-pointer became a signature move...crowds held their breath every time he rose up. He led the Suns to two Western Conference finals and one championship ring that still gleamed on his finger. MVP trophies lined a shelf in his new house high in the Hollywood Hills...big windows looking out over the city lights, a private gym, an infinity pool that seemed to drop off into the sky.
But late at night, when the house was quiet and the city sparkled below, Alex sometimes stood on the balcony with a drink in his hand and felt the same emptiness he had known before. Wins felt great in the moment...teammates slapping his back, fans chanting his name...but the high faded fast. Relationships came and went. Models, actors, athletes...beautiful people who wanted the fame more than they wanted him. Dates ended in tabloid photos and empty mornings.
He thought about that night often. The shootout. The beach. The blue-eyed dentist who kissed like the world was ending and tasted like hope. Ethan. Alex never forgot his name. Sometimes he searched online...Hayes Dental Care had grown huge, awards listed on the website, glowing reviews from celebrities. Ethan looked even more handsome in new photos...professional headshots with that warm smile that calmed scared patients.
Alex almost reached out a hundred times. Typed messages he never sent. What would he say? "Hey, remember when I saved you from bullets and we made out in my car?" It sounded crazy. Life had moved on. Ethan probably had someone. A nice guy who didn't live under spotlights and travel half the year.
So Alex kept playing. Kept winning. Kept smiling for cameras while something inside stayed quiet.
Across town, Ethan Hayes had built his own empire of smiles.
Hayes Dental Care now took up three floors of a sleek building downtown. He had partners, associates, a whole team of hygienists and assistants. Patients waited months for appointments...actors needing perfect veneers before award season, singers wanting whiter teeth for world tours, everyday people saving up for implants that changed their lives. Ethan spoke at conferences, taught classes on advanced cosmetic dentistry, wrote articles for journals. Awards lined his office walls...Best Dentist in LA three years running, Innovator of the Year for new laser techniques.
He drove a new car now...sleek white coupe that purred through the streets. His apartment was bigger, filled with modern art and books on everything from oral surgery to travel guides. Friends told him he had it all. Money. Respect. Freedom.
But Ethan felt the same hollow spot Alex did.
Dates happened. Nice men...doctors, lawyers, artists...but no one made his heart race like that night on the beach. He remembered every detail. The way Alex kissed him against the hood of the car. The strength in his hands. The low sound he made when pleasure took over. Ethan saved a photo once...Alex celebrating a championship, arms raised, smile wide...then deleted it fast, feeling stupid.
He threw himself into work. Long hours, emergency calls at night, weekends at the clinic catching up on charts. Maria, his assistant, nagged him constantly. "Doctor Hayes, you need a life outside these walls. When's the last time you took a real vacation?"
"Soon," he always said. But soon never came.
Patients filled the gap. He loved seeing transformations...a young woman who hid her mouth for years finally smiling big in the mirror after new crowns. A man who could chew steak again after full implants. Ethan held their hands when they were scared, joked to ease nerves, stayed late to perfect every detail.
One night, after a long surgery fixing a complicated jaw fracture, Ethan sat alone in his office eating takeout sushi. He scrolled through his phone and landed on basketball highlights. The Suns were in the playoffs again. Alex dominated as always...thirty points, ten assists, game-winning dunk. The camera zoomed in on his face...sweaty, focused, beautiful.
Ethan's chest tightened. Three years. It felt like yesterday and forever at the same time.
He closed the video and turned off the lights. Time to go home to an empty bed.
Life moved forward for both of them...busy, successful, full on the outside. But that one night lingered like a song stuck in their heads. A moment that felt unfinished.
Neither knew fate was about to bring them back together.
It started with a simple play on a Tuesday night in April.
The Suns were up by ten in the third quarter against Portland. Alex drove to the basket hard...a defender slid in front, trying to take a charge. Alex jumped to avoid him, twisting mid-air. Another player came from the side, elbow raised high.
Contact.
The elbow smashed straight into Alex's jaw. Pain exploded white-hot. He hit the court hard, hands clutching his face. The arena went quiet for a second, then buzzed with worry. Teammates knelt around him. Medical staff rushed out.
"Talk to me, Alex," the trainer said. "Where does it hurt?"
"Jaw...tooth...feels cracked," Alex mumbled, blood in his mouth.
They helped him up slowly. He walked off to applause, waving to show he was okay. But inside, pain throbbed with every heartbeat.
In the locker room, exams began. X-rays on the portable machine. The team doctor frowned. "Fractured molar, lower right. Possible jaw bruise, but no break there. You need a dentist fast...someone who knows athletes, works quick."
Alex nodded, ice pack pressed to his face. He hated dental work...needles, drills, the whole thing...but he knew this was bad. Couldn't play with a broken tooth.
"Who's the best?" he asked through the swelling.
The doctor didn't hesitate. "Hayes. Dr. Ethan Hayes. He's done work on half the league. Quiet, fast, perfect results. I'll call right now."
Alex froze behind the ice pack. Ethan Hayes. It couldn't be...
"Hayes Dental Care?" he asked.
"Yeah. You know him?"
Alex's heart started pounding harder than the pain. "No...just heard the name."
The doctor stepped away to make the call. Appointment set for first thing tomorrow morning.
Alex sat there alone for a minute, ice melting against his skin. Three years. And now this.
He laughed once...short and disbelieving. Fate had a funny way of rebounding.
Tomorrow he would walk into that clinic. Tomorrow he would see those blue eyes again.
Ethan finished his last patient of the day...a routine cleaning on a chatty actress...and checked the schedule for tomorrow. Maria had added an emergency slot first thing.
"Alejandro Ramirez," she said excitedly. "The Suns star! Cracked tooth from the game last night. Team doc called personally."
Ethan's world tilted.
Alex.
After all this time.
He kept his face calm. "Okay. I'll take him. Make sure the room is prepped."
Maria left, and Ethan stood alone in the hallway. His hands shook just like they had that night in the car. Memories flooded back...gunshots, running, kisses under moonlight.
Tomorrow.
He would see Alex again tomorrow.
Neither slept much that night.
The city turned below them, unaware that two lives were about to collide once more.
Three years gone...but some things never really ended.
They were just waiting for the right moment to begin again.