Page 118 of The Baller

“We can go down to the Lincoln Memorial and walk around the gardens. It’s pretty down there.”

“You got it,” he replied, returning to where Ethan was standing on the other side of the lobby.

Did you know scent is one of the most powerful triggers of memory and emotion? Studies have shown that scent is more powerful than sight when it comes to prompting our brains into recalling moments of time we’d long forgotten.

Or, in my case, had tried hard to forget.

I’d smelled him first; almost gagging on the sickly, cloying, rotten scent that wafted past. Every nerve ending, every cell in my body kicked up on high alert. The flood gates opened; cortisol and adrenaline surged through my blood until I couldn’t tell whether I was shaking, or D.C. was experiencing its first earthquake.

“Well, well, if it isn’t America’s Sweetheart.”

I looked up into a pair of eyes I’d once, briefly, thought were kind, but now there was nothing but coldness behind the icy blue irises. Nothing like the fiery warmth of Lux’s beautiful hazel eyes, the ones I could stare at all day and never get bored. The ones which seemed to change color every time I looked at them.

“How’ve you been, Radley?” His gaze moved slowly down my body, and by the time it had moved back up, I was fighting the puke pushing up my throat. “You look good.”

I jerked away from his hand reaching out, and in less than a second, Jake was next to me. “Step back.”

“Chill, I’m not doing anything.” He held his palms up, “just wanted to say hello to my ex-girlfriend, and tell her she’s looking good.”

“I’m not going to tell you again, step back,” Jake growled.

Machiavellian would be the best way to describe the smile on Christopher Ellington as he looked up at Jake.

“What’s going on?” Lux demanded as he barged through, positioning himself next to Jake until I was barely visible behind the pair of them. “Radley?”

“Oh look, it’s the baseball player.”

Lux narrowed his eyes, and I felt the exact moment when he realized who was standing in front of him.

I tugged on his arm, attempting to break the tension and pull us out of there, because this was only going to end one of two ways – neither of them good. Lux and Jake had at least six inches and seventy-five pounds on him; meaning Christopher was either so dumb and I’d never realized it before, and possibly had a death wish, or he’d spotted an opportunity he could use as leverage.

No prizes for guessing which one.

“You should be thanking me, Weston.”

“Yeah, for what?”

“I warmed her up for you.”

Lux let out a slow huff, his entire body expanding as he pulled his shoulders back and stepped forward. The tips of his Air Jordans brushed Christopher’s shiny black loafers, towering over him to the point where Christopher had to crane back to look at him.

“If you think I don’t know who you are, you’re wrong. You’re nothing but a tragic little weasel who will amount to fuck-all. I know what you did to Radley. It will follow you around for the rest of your life, because I will always be watching, and I will always find you.”

Christopher’s face screwed up, waiting for the punch that never came. Lux’s loud scoff had him opening one eye first, followed by the other, until they were wide enough to allow his misplaced confidence to return.

“Pathetic,” he snarled.

I don’t know where it came from; I’d never even been boxing, but I put it down to the hours and hours of Martin Scorsese movies Parker had made us watch before the holidays.

“Yeah, how about this?”

Two years of hurt, humiliation, and shame was packed into my right fist when it collided with his jaw. I’d like to say he crumbled to the ground, but he mostly teetered a little and lost balance. I don’t know who was more shocked – me, Lux, Jake, or Christopher.

Ethan had crossed the lobby in less time than it took for me to lower my hand, and my heart to beat.

“Radley, let’s go,” Jake snapped, while also managing to snarl at Christopher, “You wait here.”

“Assistance needed,” Ethan ordered into his mouthpiece, and five seconds later, Meg and Ava rushed through the doors, searching for us.

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