Page 38 of Hard to Break

“Every girl and half the guys in here would be happy to be with you. Even before you started talking like that.”

Miles is handsome and fun but what no one sees is how startlingly sweet he is. How thoughtful and caring.

He wraps an arm around me and holds up his phone, snapping a photo.

“What was that for?”

“Show ‘em I’m with you.” He posts it to social and tags me with a flower and a blue heart emoji. “Best place I’ve ever been, by the way,” he adds.

“You’ve played in an all-star game.”

“Said what I said.”

My heart does a little flip.

If there’s a casual response to that, I don’t know what it is.

He’s taken me prisoner with a grin and a flower, with his admissions that he’s always cared when other people treated me as disposable after getting what they wanted.

Going to the all-star game in his jersey and being seen at the club with him weren’t exactly being inconspicuous, but we’ve yet to fan the flames of speculation. This photo and caption are definitely going to do it.

“You ever want to reinvent yourself?” The words slip out before I can question them.

“All the time.” His earnest answer has me cutting a surprised look his way. “I love basketball, but don’t get me wrong, I dream about what else I want to do. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a zoologist. I think my chances are gone, but I hear you can still swim with the dolphins. What about you?”

“I wanted to be a surfer.”

He laughs, his bright eyes dancing.

I would feel embarrassed saying that to anyone else, but with him, I’m willing to take the heat. “I watched this competition once as a kid, and it looked so badass. Being one with nature, having it kick your ass until you learn to ride it… But I never spent enough time by the ocean, and it definitely wasn’t on the list of acceptable careers. There was no way to major in surfing in college. Now that I’m a grown-ass adult…”

I should be over it.

“You can do whatever the fuck you want,” he finishes.

Miles takes the flower back from me and tucks it gently behind my ear, sliding the stem into my hair before lowering his hands.

“We could do it, you know. The surfing. The swimming with the dolphins. We could do it together.”

His gaze searches mine.

I’m thinking about all-star weekend, recovering in the hotel room.

I’m thinking about someone doing that to him, possibly on purpose.

I’m thinking about how I can’t help being the person who thinks about those things.

“Yeah, we could,” I say.

10

MILES

“They give you a lifetime supply?” Rookie marvels as I pull up to my locker at the arena and drop the three shoe boxes in front of it.

Each pair is a different color, each with my name stitched across the heel. They’re all for me to use in tonight’s game.

The past few days, I’ve been trying to get back into a rhythm. A payment arrived at my bank from my sponsor, and the bulk of it went directly into an account for Grams.

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