Page 21 of Beautiful Broken Love

“Not much lately,” I answered dryly.

Octavia sighed so hard I may as well have felt her breath in my ear. “You need to stop remembering the old version of her. She’s trying, Vina.”

“Yeah, and it only took her sixteen years to do so.” I tossed the cinnamon into the cart with more force than intended.

“If I can forgive her, you can too. You know I couldn’t stand how she used to be—and look at Abe. He’s doing good. Going to school. Going to his cute little spectrum basketball camps. Getting fed hella grilled cheese sandwiches ’cause that’s all he’ll eat. Plus, she was there for you when Lew died. She dropped everything and came running, so that proves she cares and that she’s changed.”

My chest tightened as I headed to the checkout, remembering how Mama cooked every morning and night, left little DOVE chocolates on my pillows after my showers in the morning. She was there for a whole week.

I was so consumed by grief that I hardly acknowledged it, but now that I remembered, I felt guilty.

“Just call her, all right? She said she’s been trying to reach you. She misses you, Vina.”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, well, just like you, I’ve been busy, sis.”

“Sure. Whatever. Where are you anyway? What’s all the beeping?”

“I’m at the store. I’m making an apple-crumble cake later.”

“Oh, Lord. Please don’t burn your house down.”

“Bite me, bitch. I can bake too.” Not as well as my sister could, though.

“I’ll call you when I’m on the way to your house.”

“Okay.” I dug into my purse for my wallet. “Love you, Poop-Butt.”

“Love you, too, Stinky V!”

I chuckled, slipping the phone back into my purse. After collecting my bag of groceries, I walked past a magazine stand to get to the exit but ended up doing a quick double take when I spotted Deke Bishop on the cover of a sports magazine.

His hands were pressed on top of a basketball, and he wore a black T-shirt with the number seventeen on it. As usual, gold chains hung from his neck. The thick veins in his hands ran all the way up to his inked forearms, and his lips were quirked up on one side just enough to reveal his amusement.

And though those veins were a sight to behold, nothing caught me more than his eyes. They stared right back at me with a confident glint.

I drew in a breath and left the store.

I swear, even when he wasn’t around, he was flirting with me.

ELEVEN

DEKE

“Well, I think that went pretty well.” Arnold pushed the side door of the building open and stepped outside with a triumphant sigh. The sun was beaming, even with the shadows of the buildings hovering above.

I stepped out, and the humidity was enough to make me sweat in a matter of seconds. My black Armani button-down was sticking to me like glue.

It was the start of summer in New York City, so the heat was expected, but I didn’t think it’d bethisdamn hot. We’d just had a meeting with a team from Nike to discuss a massive lifetime endorsement deal. I’d been endorsed by them before, but not for a lifetime.

When I was a kid, getting endorsements was one of my goals. The first was to get good enough at basketball and make it to the NBA. The next was to make sure I was a top player on my team. Then I’d go for the endorsements just to prove I was worth it to the world.

It all sounded pretty sweet ... but all I could think now was how exhausting it was. When I was a rookie, getting endorsed was hella cool, but that was years ago. The sweetness of it all became bitter prettydamn fast. Still, I was fortunate. Not many people could say they were endorsed by Nike.

“You’re hot right now, Deke,” Arnold went on with a chuckle. “Everyone wants your face with their brand. Keep playing like you did last season, and you’ll be seeing more of it.”

I looked toward the oncoming traffic, where a sea of yellow cabs mixed with other vehicles whizzed by. The thing I liked about New York was that everyone minded their own business.

People walked right past me with their faces buried in their phones or hustled to get to their destination. A few would look back as the familiarity registered, but they never stopped.

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