He shakes his head in disbelief, but there’s a smile coming back. ‘I can’t believe you have the hots for my sister. I shouldn’t be so surprised, you look at her like you’d take a bullet for her. I just thought it was more … brotherly.’
The queue is moving fast. I’m up next. I need to lighten the mood. ‘You forgot to say you’ll kill me if I hurt her.’
‘I don’t have to say that. You won’t.’
It’s not a threat or a question. It’s just the truth.
When Coach throws a ball my way, I catch it, dribbling it along the maple floor. I run up to the rim and jump, twisting in the air to make the slam dunk. The swish of the net is music to my ears.
‘Just because you’ve been drafted doesn’t mean you can avoid working on your three-pointers, Edwards,’ Coach says.
Shrugging off his comment, I slap Jace a high five before wiping the sweat off my brow with the hem of my shirt. I look over to the bleachers for my girl, frowning when she’s not in her usual spot. In fact, she’s not anywhere.
I turn my attention back to practice. We play for an hour until the buzzer sounds. Everyone’s on their game and we’ll be ready for qualifiers.
I shower and change back into my grey sweats and white tee before heading out with Jace and Renny. Ty is already waiting at the exit in his hockey uniform, tossing a hockey puck in the air like it’s a coin.
‘What’s up, Ty? Did you kick some ass?’ I nod in his direction and, as always, get only a nod and a fist bump in return.
He pulls a red cap from his bag and places it on, bending the bill. It doesn’t hide the new bruise plastered across his cheek.
‘You take that hit just now?’ I ask.
Tyler’s known for spending more time in the penalty box than on the ice, but he’s come from practice with his own teammates, the guys he protects with his life. He wouldn’t be dropping the gloves on one of them.
‘Something like that.’ He’s got a permanently bored expression, indifferent to the world, but his attention snaps upright when he sees two girls walk past the building. Or rather, a certain girl.
I jut my chin toward the head of long black hair that’s got him snared. ‘Who’s she?’
Tyler remains completely fixated, and there’s a moment when the girl catches it, giving him a small wave before looking away. He doesn’t wave back. He just keeps watching like she’s the only one he can see.
Then he says, ‘My future wife.’
Renny and I burst out in laughter, but Tyler just trades his puck for a Ziploc bag filled with … kale chips … I think.
‘I’ve seen her taking photos at some of the games we have with ECU.’ Renny nudges Tyler. ‘She’s kinda like you, doesn’t talk much and has a stick up her ass.’
Tyler pushes Renny away with a hand on his face.
‘Well, aren’t you a ray of fucking sunshine?’ I beam, hooking Tyler’s neck in my arms. He grunts and I give him a playful wrestle before releasing him.
Renny’s phone chimes and he pulls it out, scrutinising the screen. He looks at Jace. ‘Pai’s said the Camino’s ready and he needs it out of the bay before tonight. You should bring little G, see if she wants to drive her own ride home.’
Jace nods. ‘Yeah, I’ll see if she’s up for it.’
His phone chimes again, but it’s not the only one. Mine vibrates in my back pocket, while Jace and Ty get a text too. The text is from X. The Tropics is on tonight.
‘Hell yeah,’ Jace says, bringing us together. ‘The Prank and The Tropics! Tonight is gonna be epic.’
‘What about Lucifer’s Dream?’ I ask.
‘Fuck the carnival.’ Jace frowns. ‘This is our last prank and it lines up with The Tropics. It’s like the universe wants us to make it count and do something memorable.’
I want to argue, I want to say that Gianna is expecting us all to go to the carnival, but the smile on his face is too big and I don’t want to dampen it. We’ll do the prank … have a quick race at The Tropics … then I’ll convince the guys to come to Lucifer’s Dream and pick up Gianna.
‘Would you relax? We always make it memorable. People still turn up for the open home.’ I beam as memories of listing the Dean of ECU’s home for sale on Craigslist, and turning the sports centre hallways into a giant slip-and-slideflash through my mind. Earlier in the year, we siphoned the gas from the ECU bus before a big game, the game that got Jace and me drafted. The ECU Hawks never made it and had to forfeit. Rumour has it that because their top players missed the scouting op, they’re planning some big payback – but we’ll be ready for it.
‘What do you have in mind?’ Renny asks, pulling a cigarette from his back pocket.
