“I fucked her in the ass before the game,” he says, so low only I’ll hear. “No one’s ever had her like that before. I get all her firsts. Did you know I was her first, West? I’ll be her only and her last.”
Outrage and disgust rise like bile in my throat. I glance at him, my eyes burning with hate. I squelch my fury and reach for the coldhearted, ruthless competitor who always finds a way to ruin this man’s night.
“You talk that way about the mother of your child?” I tsk and shake my head like it’s a shame. “I was gonna ease up on you, show some mercy, but now I’m gonna wipe the floor with your bitch ass.”
And I do.
For the next twenty minutes, I take Maverick’s advice to a degree, but I shake Caleb, deny him the ball, do everything in my power to pick him apart.
With only a few minutes left, this home crowd is stunned that we’re up by ten points. Caleb attempts a dunk. Not on my watch. I leap to trap the ball against the backboard, and the ref calls it a clean block shot. None of Caleb’s shouting and whining gets the call overturned. The building is as quiet as it’s been all night, and some fans are even starting to leave.
Next time down the floor, Caleb tries to return the favor, but my shot goes in, even though I fall on my back in the act of shooting. I’m about to get up, when he comes to stand over me, legs spread and groin above my face, a not-so-subtle “suck my dick” message—a blatant disrespect among ballers.
I’m on my feet and in his face before my brain can catch up to the rest of my body. We’re head to sweaty head, chest to chest, nose to nose, growl for growl. Teeth bared and tension unleashed in the tight space between us. A leanly muscled arm shoves me back.
“What the hell?” Kenan demands, his nose now at mine. “You trying to get suspended for the next game? Keep your shit together, Rook.”
Caleb looks over the shoulder of a teammate, his eyes baleful and malevolent. Indignation drains out of me every second I hold his stare. I glance from him to the scoreboard and back, my smirk telling him without words that he may go home with Iris, but it’s as a loser who got his ass handed to him on the court. I made him my highlight reel bitch, and she witnessed every second of it.
Fuck that in the ass, you pussy son of a bitch.
I turn away, as disgusted with myself as I am with him. I give Kenan a curt nod, letting him know I have my emotions on lock again. With only a minute left in the game, we’re almost home free. In the last time-out huddle, Decker stands behind the bench.
“Game’s over, Coach,” he says, his eyes trained on me. “Do we need August out there? It’s sewn up, right?”
Coach Kemp looks at me speculatively. “It’s true, West. Why don’t you sit out this last—”
“No,” I cut in, looking from him to Decker and back again. “Let me finish.”
I want to be out there when the buzzer goes off. I want that asshole to shake my hand like a good little golden boy when this is over or risk everyone seeing him for the whiny little bitch he is.
“Up to you,” Decker says, disappointment flickering over his expression before he clears it. “But I’d prefer you sit out.”
I don’t wait for them to reconsider. I leave the huddle and walk onto the floor.
It’s our final possession, and I’ve got the ball. Me and Caleb, one on one. I fake left. He dives. I turn right. I’m gone. Dodging defenders, in the paint, penetrating to the goal. I leap and scoop the ball in. I’m high. Caleb’s below, and our eyes connect.
Nail in your coffin, motherfucker.
When I come down, Caleb’s still standing there. Our bodies collide. I plummet to the floor, my leg twisting awkwardly when I land.
White-hot pain lances through my leg, and my vision goes black around the edges.
The team trainer is immediately at my side and tells me not to move. I try to sit up, but my head swims from the pain.
“Shit,” I mutter, collapsing back onto the court.
“He said don’t move,” Decker orders from my right, his furrowed brows and tightly held lips a map of concern. “And don’t look.”
Don’tlook? What is there to see?
I glance around the tight circle of grim-faced players surrounding me. The emotions warring on their faces range from horror to pain to pity.
My heart batters my chest, not because of the pain, though it’s excruciating, but because of the pity in their eyes. So few people can play at this level, and we’re an elite fraternity of sorts. We’ve all worked unimaginably hard for most of our lives to get here, and it can all disappear in an instant. One bad fall can ruin a career.
I need to see my leg.
They bring a stretcher, and I shake my head. No way I’m going out like that. Even if I have to hobble off the court, I want to go under my own steam.
