“So, someone bought you,” I comment.“I wonder how much they paid.”
He grins.“Not enough.”
27
CLAY
“That’s a foul,” I say evenly.
Nine other players on the court pull up and look toward me.
“What?No way.”Rookie’s standing a few strides away from where he ripped the ball from my hands a second ago.
“It’s a foul.”I take it back and demonstrate.
“You do that all the time,” he protests.“They don’t call you on it.”
“That’s because I’m me.For the next year or two, you’re you.”
He curses colorfully.
I grab his shoulder and pull him in.
“Hey.You survive that time, you get the benefit of the doubt.Until then, you go the fuck to work and show them why you deserve it.Now go again.”
Rookie sighs but sets up to guard me one more time.
I feel Jay’s eyes on me through the entire play, until the assistant overseeing our drill calls a break.
“What?”I ask my friend.
“You’re being nicer to Rookie since the charity auction.Since LA, in fact.”
I lift a shoulder.“He’s here if I like him or not.Maybe he’ll get my laundry done right.”
“You mean you like him,” Jay laughs.
For the past week, life has been extra busy.
Harlan’s wedding is this weekend.We’re hurtling toward the season.
We played our final two preseason road games, winning them both.
My downtime’s been spent with the entire team packed into Bear Force One.
I’ve barely seen Nova.
There’s nothing like the high of victory.It’s what I live for.
But I miss her face.Miss the sound of her voice.
We text every day, talk when we can.
I asked for a picture, and she sent me one of her in the jersey I gave her, annotated on the screen with text that read “LEFT” and an arrow helpfully pointing to one of her tits.
Joke’s on her because I still got off to that picture lying in a hotel bed in Phoenix.
We haven’t had a minute in private, but every time I close my eyes on a plane or when I fall into bed, she’s there.
