Page 59 of Game Changer

She pulls back the door.

I should be outside with my teammates. Or rehabbing my body. Or working with my agent to make this trade happen.

Instead, I step into the bathroom.

It’s white and wood and cozy. I take in her toothbrush and makeup bag leaning on the vanity against the mirror. Little feminine details. We have so little in common, but she’s the one I’m seeking out.

“During the game, I came down after a dunk and my knee screamed. I didn’t say anything to the trainers. Didn’t let it show. But I was up in my head over it.”

“That must be scary. But players get hurt all the time. Isn’t it a risk you take?”

“Yeah, but most of them aren’t as good as me. There’s not as much riding on it.” I hang my head. “Back in college, I was in it with this girl and found out she was cheating on me. I spiralled, it got bad, and it almost ended my basketball career.” Her eyes deepen with empathy, but she lets me continue. “I was in a dark place. I pulled out of it, but I could have just as easily not. Everything I worked for my entire life would’ve been wasted.”

I swallow, tasting bitterness in my throat. I’ve never told anyone all of that except Jay, and even he doesn’t know the details.

Her lips curve softly. “We all have soft spots, Clay. In our bodies, our hearts, our souls. That’s how we know we’re human.”

Nova doesn’t judge me, or pity me, or tell me I’m selfish. Her words release some of the heaviness in my chest.

“I know you think I’m stupid for wanting to be here for Mari,” she goes on. “But my sister is the only person I have left who cares about me.”

She crosses to the window, gazing out like an angel watching humans below. Guests flood the lawn, little specks of color bright against the green grass.

“That’s not true,” I say, coming up behind her.

Nova’s head turns as she glances toward me. Her hair brushes my shirt as she flexes her wrist absently.

I shouldn’t want sweet and innocent. She’s the last person I need in my way.

But right now, so help me, it’s all I want.

“It isn’t?” she asks.

I shake my head.

Her attention drops to my mouth, and I want to put it on her everywhere she’ll let me.

A feeling flickers to life in my chest that hasn’t been there in a long time.

Not a spark.

It’s her.

She’s under my skin, in my blood.

Her breasts rise and fall with her shallow breathing. The dress looks thin enough that I could feel her warmth through it. I want to close the last inch between us and find out.

I reach for her wrist. My thumb probes her skin, the veins beneath.

Nova lets out a little hiss.

“Still hurt?” I ask.

“No.”

She’s soft, her skin pale.

I bend to brush my lips over her wrist. “How about now?”

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