Page 17 of Hard to Break

“Then do it for me.” Her eyes shine.

The trouble I caught him in, the pact we made, plays back in my mind. I don’t owe him anything. Back then, he tried to hurt Brooke—succeeded, come to that—and all he got from it was a black eye.

Brooke doesn’t move, almost as if she knows what’s going through my mind.

“Princess,” I say under my breath. “You’re the reason I can’t.”

I turn and head for the locker room, smacking my fist into the wall on the way.

We’re running hard drills,sweat sticking my jersey to my back, when Coach calls for a break.

I’ve tossed back half a Powerade when Atlas shoves my shoulder and nods behind me.

James and Harlan are standing at the edge of the court, Chloe at their side.

Is he here to tell me to apologize too?

I don’t realize I’ve said it out loud until Clay grunts at my side.

“No love lost between me and that man, but what did happen with that fight last week?”

I debate how much to say. “Back in college, I roughed up Kevin pretty bad. He deserved it for the way he treated Brooke.”

“You get in shit for it?”

I shake my head. “Nah, because I got photos of him. He wanted to know if I still had them.”

He blinks. “And you said…?”

“I said, who the fuck knows what I have stored away?”

Clay grabs a towel and scrubs it across his face and the tattoos covering his shoulders and arms. “Why does he have a problem with you now?”

“Probably doesn’t like seeing me with the woman he thought was his. If he has an ounce of brain in his douchebag head, he realizes what he let get away.”

“I get it, but we need this. Sometimes the biggest plays you make happen off the court.”

James finally steps forward.

“In a moment, we’re going to turn on the broadcast. The all-star committee is going to announce their next selections: Miles Garrett from the Denver Kodiaks.”

A roar goes up from the guys that rivals anything from a full stadium.

My grin splits my face.

“And Clayton Wade will be repeating for his fifth performance? Sixth? Who the hell knows how many,” Harlan says with a grin, and the guys laugh.

I turn to Clay and clap him on the back in congratulations.

“You deserve it, man,” I laugh.

“You do too.”

But it’s the words Clay says before I release him that stick with me long after practice.

GARRETT ISSUES STATEMENT ON EVE OF ALL-STAR GAME:

“Fighting is not the answer, but I will always stand up for the people I care about.”

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