Inside the Paint

This make-or-break season, the thing most at risk of breaking is her heart.

Sonia Munroe doesn't know who she is without basketball, and she hasn't got long to figure it out. Her plans to focus on herself are derailed when she's introduced to Asha, the quiet point guard who can't even meet her gaze. That's fine. They don't have to be friends. Except Sonia discovers Asha is facing a similar crossroads and feels just as lost. Soon, their undeniable on-court chemistry pervades into their personal lives, and lines start to get blurred. Sonia can't fall for her, though — she's moving back to Canada at the end of the season.

The only place Asha Bhamra feels like she belongs is with her dog, Iolo. Her confidence is further shaken when former WNBA player Sonia usurps her place in the starting line. Still, she makes an effort, for the sake of the team. She doesn't expect Sonia to end up moving in next door, or to become her biggest cheerleader. Sensual painting lessons and incendiary training contact open the path to something more than friendship, but Asha promised herself she'd never do long distance again.

Their futures uncertain, their on-court chemistry fizzles out, leaving their historic season on the line. They must choose whether to play it safe, or risk it all for each other.

Inside the Paint is a slow burn contemporary sapphic sports romance, with an autistic demisexual main character, found family, and letting people who care about you believe in you, even when you don't believe in yourself.