Page 51 of Hard to Take

Brooke takes her coffee and sips it, nodding with satisfaction. “Good luck today. Best way to get that shoe deal is to win.”

“Oh, that easy, huh?”

“That easy, champ.” Her eyelashes bat over the rim of her mug.

She’s so fucking cute.

“You coming to the game today?” I ask.

Her smile stills. “You want me to?”

The questions circling my brain whenever I have a moment of quiet are back.

Suddenly, I’m trying to play it cool.

“Yeah,” I say honestly. “I do.”

* * *

Brooke: Sorry about the L. At least it was close. And Waffles still loves you.

Miles: Thanks. He’s legally obliged to.

Brooke: Pity cuddle? I have some new lingerie I’d love your opinion on.

Miles: Home in 30.

14

MILES

“Enough with the pity party,” Coach calls at the start of practice. “Semi-finals is respectable work considering we’re shorthanded and the West got stronger during the off-season.

“However, this was a rehearsal for the post season, not the post season itself. Which means you’ve got three more months to get it together.”

Sometimes, you’re in a groove that takes you out of the effort.

Today is not that day.

I’m playing off-ball, which used to be my comfort zone, but when Jay tries to find me with a pass, I catch it but I’m in the wrong place. My shot is weak, bouncing off the rim with a dull twang.

The next time, Damon stretches out an arm and deflects it before it reaches me.

The third attempt, I miss it altogether. The ball goes sailing into the stands.

Fucking hell.

Jay’s gaze finds mine and holds it. There’s no mistaking the worry there, and the frustration.

Clay comes up to me on a break. “You play better than you ever have for a few games, and you think you’ve gotten to a new level. Hell, maybe you have. But there’s always a come down.”

“Meaning?”

“Last few games, you were so busy scoring it didn’t matter that you and Ellis weren’t connecting.”

Or the fact that Brooke and I are hooking up behind my friend’s back is starting to mess with my head.

The first few days didn’t bother me because I was too amped to think about anything but memorizing the feel of Brooke’s curves under my greedy hands. The taste of her everywhere. The way she hisses my name when she comes.

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