Page 49 of Play Maker

We go at it. Hard.

Rookie is good, better since I saw him last, but I push back.

Basket his way.

Another mine.

Back and forth, one apiece.

I have the chance to take the winning shot. I take it, and it bounces off the rim. Rookie grabs it and takes it the other way. I’m a step slow but sprint after him, pulling up to watch as he lobs it toward the hoop…

Swish.

Not a peep from a single kid or any of my former teammates. Even Coach is quiet in his chair.

“That’s ten,” Rookie says quietly.

Reality sinks in. I lost.

There’s nothing enforceable about this. Except everyone here has it on camera, and more than the league’s rules, I have my own standards.

And that matters.

Even when nothing else does.

“I’d need a contract,” I hear myself say.

Miles nods. “You better get talking to Harlan.”

Fuck. Am I really doing this?

I guess I am.

15

NOVA

There’s nothing like the feeling of losing yourself to your passion.

Since the premiere, I’ve started a few pieces but haven’t finished anything new. I get nearly done, then can’t bring myself to complete it, as if it can’t be bad if I haven’t declared it finished.

Even though Annie said she loved the pieces, I can’t drown out the tiny voice that says I let her down in some vague way.

An unknown number pops up on my call display while I’m painting in the garage. Harlan and Mari offered to give me a room inside, but I like having a separate space from the rest of the house.

I turn my music off to answer. “Hello?”

“Nova.”

“Yes?” The voice is familiar, but I can’t place it.

“This is Raegan Madani. Little Queen,” she goes on, like I don’t know exactly who she is. “Annie gave me your number.”

“Great,” is all I can say through the surprise.

“I’m playing a club in Denver next week, and I thought you could help me out. I want a mural for behind the stage. A smaller version of what you did for the Kodiaks. But I’m on a timeline.”

Little Queen is a huge deal, and the fact that she remembered me and reached out personally blows my mind. It would be good to have more money coming in. Plus, it’s great exposure.

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