Page 28 of Hard to Break

I turn to Jay and Clay. “Brooke said you were at the hospital. Thanks for being there.”

Jay nods. “Brooke was stuck to your side the entire time. I haven’t seen her that stressed since school.”

“I didn’t mean to worry her.”

His eyes cloud. “If you make my sister cry, I don’t care that we need your shooting to get to the playoffs. You’re going to bebeggingto feel as bad as you did in that hospital bed.”

He crosses the room to another machine, and I rub both hands over my face.

I want to tell him there’s nothing I want more than keeping Brooke happy.

Speaking of which, Valentine’s Day is this weekend, and I’ve been trying to think of what to do for her. It has to be special, but I’ve discarded each idea that’s come up so far.

“What did you do for Nova your first Valentine’s Day?” I ask Clay.

“You seriously asking me for what to get your girl.”

“It’s inspiration, not imitation,” I promise.

Still, my teammate flushes under his tattoos. “Top secret.”

Fine. Whatever.

“It’s just that I’ve known her for years, you know? Since we started hanging out, I bought her a phone. A few, actually. Clothes. But nothing seems like enough. I want to do something special.” I’m thinking of the hot air balloon ride we took on the morning of her sorority retreat.

“But there’s no one who likes clothes more than Brooke,” Rookie points out.

A lightbulb goes off. “You’re right.”

BROOKE

“Does your face hurt yet?From all the smiling?”

My mom cuts me a look. “First-time politicians think you have to get voters to fall in love with you. You don’t.”

“You mean you don’t have to outrun a bear—you just have to be faster than the other guys?”

A gust of wind blows across the path in front of us, and she wraps her scarf more tightly around her.

Mom is the one who got me started hiking. When I was young, she had precious little free time. Now, she has less, but it still feels like being with her out here is better than being cooped up in some office. The natural environment takes the edge off.

“It’s about time you came to me,” she says, keeping up with me easily.

“I’ve been busy.”

We got back to Denver yesterday, and I’m committed to making a decision about Chloe’s job offer. But, all the chaos with Miles these past few days has meant I haven’t had a second to think about it.

“With that Vivaro company?”

“I’m not working for them.” I fill her in on their investigation.

“You did the right thing,” she says, surprising me. “If only you’d put as much effort into your own business you did into the campaigns you used to help with.”

“I guess I liked helping you more than myself.”

I take a breath and refocus what I wanted to talk to her about.

I debated how much I should confide in her. But my mom’s an expert at dealing with all sorts of crises. Despite having an entire team around her, she’s a one-woman Olivia Pope and Associates.

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