Page 123 of The Baller

Ace lifted his shirt and patted his stomach. “I’m a growing boy. I’ve already burneda lotof calories this morning. I need to carb load.”

“Can we get through breakfast without a story about you and Payton having sex?” grumbled Parker, pouring almost the entire box of Coco Puffs into an extra-large bowl, and stuck his spoon in.

Ace put down his fork, only to hold a finger directly in front of Parker’s face. “One, I wasn’t talking about sex, I went for a run this morning. Training starts in a month, and I’m getting ahead of the game, and two…” a second finger flipped up, “I’ve never told a story about Payton and me having sex.”

To prove his point, Parker reached over the counter and eased a Cosmo from the top of the pile of other Cosmos which had been stacking up on the side. Flipping through the pages until he found what he was looking for, he dropped it open in front of Ace.

“This. You told us about this last week.”

Ace glanced down at the Post-it marking Cosmo’s position of the month – which he’d rated eight out of ten – a smirk tilting one side of his lip. “Yeah, this was a good one. But I never mentioned Payton. I never mention Payton to you dipshits, ever. I was simply passing on the information, like we’ve done with all of them.”

“Yeah, that’s before you two got yourself coupled up,” he grumbled in a disgusted tone, his thumb flicking back and forth between us. “Tan and I don’t want to listen to stories about Payton or Radley.”

“Hey, I’m more than happy listening to stories about Payton and Radley,” Tanner grinned, biting down on the strawberry he’d tossed in his mouth. “You know my motto…”

I spun around so quickly the spatula flew from my hand, only to be caught by Ace before it hit the floor. “I have never talked about Radley.”

“And for that, we thank you. Where is Radley, anyway?”

“She went to the gym.”

“Is she still pissed?”

I nodded. Pissed was one way of describing Radley right now. Seething, perhaps. Though she’d definitely woken up with more of a simmer than the boiling rage she’d been in yesterday. For the entire journey back from D.C. she’d flipped between yelling and crying.

For three hours it was all she’d done while I sat and listened, and by the time we’d made it back here, she’d almost lost her voice. I thought she’d feel better this morning, but the first thing she did on waking was call Jake to take her boxing.

“I think a few rounds with the punching bag will help, and Millie’s meeting her, too.”

“Millie?” Tanner’s head shot up again. “Millie’s here?”

Parker and I both shook our heads, while Ace rolled his eyes.

Since the day we went skating, Millie’s name had become a trigger word for Tanner. If you wanted him to pay attention, say Millie. Wanted him to hurry the fuck up? Say Millie. Wanted him to do absolutely anything at all? Say Millie.

“No. Go back to your strawberries,” Ace snorted, though he wasn’t so amused when Tanner swiped a pancake off his pile, narrowly avoiding a fork being stabbed through his hand. “Hey!”

“Weston’s making more.”

“I am?”

“Yup. I’m feeling a second breakfast coming on, seeing as Ace ate most of the first one.”

“Told you, I’m a growing boy.” A smile creased his face before he added, “Can we have bananas pancakes this time?”

“Ooh, and chocolate chips.”

“Do I need to get a notepad to write this down?” I muttered. “Parker? Any requests from you, too?”

He looked up from the Cosmo that was still open, a spoon laden with Coco Puffs paused halfway to his mouth. “Chocolate chips is good for me. Is there any more juice?”

“In the fridge, where it always is.”

“Get it, will you?”

I gestured to the mixing bowl, where I’d just thrown in a measure of flour and was pouring the milk. “I’m kind of busy right now making you second breakfast. You get it.”

Parker pushed out of his chair with a loudtut, which I ignored.

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