Something in his heart squeezed, and he turned toward Murray.
“If I give you the hundred bucks, do you promise to leave everyone alone?” Jordan’s words were a tight, controlled offer.
“I need my money, man. I got rent overdue.” Murray’s expression flickered with genuine desperation.
Jordan nodded slowly, sensing the truth. “I’ll give you the money,” he said, his voice sharpening, “but here’s the deal. You take it, and you walk out that door. You don’ttouchRory. You don’ttalkto her. Or I swear I’ll call the cops myself, and you and I both know you’re too old for juvie.”He leveled a hard stare at the kid. “Big-boy jail is not the place you want to end up. Trust me.” He leaned in, lowering his voice a fraction. “Understand?”
Murray swallowed and nodded.
“Say it,” Jordan pressed.
“I understand,” Murray mumbled.
Jordan didn’t let his guard down. He waited, watching for any sign that this kid might flip, might lunge again. When there was nothing, he slowly pulled his wallet from his back pocket and took out two crisp fifties. “Take this straight to your landlord. Give it to them and no one else. No excuses, no games.”
Murray snatched the money and shoved it in his pocket. “Got it.” He looked Jordan square in the eye, with a relief he knew all too well. “Thanks.” Then he spun and bolted for the door. Jordan watched him, but before his next breath, he heard his own voice ring out. “Murray!”
The kid stopped, half turning, brow furrowed, caught off guard.
“You play basketball?” This better not be a mistake.
Murray’s shoulders rose in a half-hearted shrug. “Sometimes.”
“I need an assistant coach.” When he caught the flicker of longing in Murray’s side-eye to the boys holding their basketballs, he knew his instincts were right. “Tomorrow, three o’clock. Don’t make me wait.”
Jordan didn’t miss the tiny lift at the corner of Murray’s mouth before he nodded. It wasn’t much, but it was something. The kid probably hadn’t been offered a chance in a long time, and Jordan knew better than anyone, one chance, a shot in the dark, a nudge in the right direction, was all that was needed.
The ball was in Murray’s court now, and Jordan hopedhe took the shot. Murray shuffled down the hallway and out the center’s front door.
Suppressing a sigh, he faced the crowd behind him, and his heart promptly jammed in his throat.
Vanessa had Rory wrapped in a hug, rubbing her back soothingly, murmuring words he couldn’t quite hear. When they pulled apart, Rory’s cheeks were wet.
“Group hug,” Vanessa called, arms widened to the other girls.
They all rushed in, surrounding her.
“Everyone okay?”
Quiet murmurs bubbled up from the huddle. A moment later, when they broke apart, he caught Vanessa discreetly wiping her eye.
Feeling like he’d intruded on a private moment, he strode toward the gym’s door. When he paused to glance over his shoulder to check if Murray was still gone, he nearly collided with Vanessa, who’d followed him.
In her heels, she stood tall, almost nose to nose with him. Her chin lifted, eyebrows drawn in with irritation. “I had that handled, Zeus,” she hissed.
It took everything in him not to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation, because of course she couldn’t simply saythank you.
“Yeah, I remember exactly how you handle things, princess,” he shot back smoothly. Unable to resist the urge to needle her further, he leaned in, lowering his voice so only she could hear. “But I was hoping the next time you kissed me, it would be in private.”
She gasped, and he grinned.
Then, facing the horde of wide-eyed, awestruck young people, he sidestepped Vanessa, and barged his way through the crowd. “Practice isn’t over for another tenminutes, gentlemen,” he yelled, seamlessly shifting gears. He pushed open one of the gym doors and wedged a wooden doorstop underneath it. “And from now on, strutting practice will be in here.”
They all filed back inside the gym, leaving only Vanessa in the hall.
With a dramatic sweep of his arm, he gestured to the gym. “After you.”
She strutted past him with a flip of her glossy hair, and he ate up the gesture with a smile, because there was no one he loved getting the brush-off from more than Vanessa Barone.
