Page 39 of Hard to Break

But since Vegas, James made it clear I’m on a tight leash.

“You’re popular with the fan base and you’re having a great season, both of which Chloe keeps reminding me. But try anything else cute and you’ll be facing more than an apology.”

I hand Rookie a pair of the shoes, then stash my phone and keys on the top shelf of my locker. Besides my uniform and some gym gear, I don’t keep a lot of stuff in here.

Today, I stick a picture of Brooke inside.

It’s one I took of her on a sleepy weekend morning. She’s smiling, her arms around Waffles as he licks her face.

At this stage in the season, chemistry within the team is more important than ever, but I’m not going to dance around the fact that we’re together.

Rookie glances in my locker, his gaze lingering on the photo before he slips on the shoes. “Looks like I’ve got bigger feet than you.” He grins. “Tell your girl.”

I laugh. “She’s not interested.”

“In all this?” He gestures to his body. “Find that hard to believe.”

A towel lands on his head. “Hey. That’s my sister you’re talking about,” Jay says.

“I’m not the one who’s?—”

I grab Rookie’s shoulder, and he looks at me, caught out.

“The one sleeping?—”

Jay snarls. My head tilts as I press my thumb under Rookie’s shoulder blade.

“Respectfully! Sleeping respectfully.”

I step back, and so does Jay.

He notices the photo and freezes.

So much for chemistry.

Stillness descends over the entire locker room until it feels as if everyone’s afraid to breathe.

“Heard you went to New York,” Jay says finally. “She’s always wanted to go to Fashion Week.”

A breath whooshes out of me, and the rest of the guys go back to their tasks.

The way my friend and captain’s acting, he might be slowly coming around to the idea that we’re together.

Aside from Clay, most of my teammates don’t have serious relationships, but I want Brooke in my life. The way she’s had my back this past week was one more reminder of why.

Rookie cuts a look at the clock. “How many trade deadlines pass without any changes?”

That’s the real reason the team is walking on eggshells. The entire day, we’ve been on edge. Even if management says you’re safe, it’s never a done deal until the time elapses.

“Not many,” Clay says evenly.

“It’s part of the game,” Damon agrees.

Each team in the league is trying to make itself as strong as possible with just over a month until the postseason, and we’re still a spot out of where we need to be.

From the early problems of the season with Atlas out to me “overperforming”—the stats guys’ words, not mine—it’s been a battle back and forth for us to grab the playoff spot we deserve. The one that we frankly expected to, even if half the world thinks we were lucky last year.

Every guy in here has an alert on his phone for any moves. If it sounds brutal that you’d find out you’re traded from a notification on a major news outlet, you’re not wrong. We commit all of ourselves to fitting into a team, making the biggest difference we can as though it’s our home forever.

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