Page 86 of Game Changer

“No.”

I grab my jersey and rip it clean in two.

* * *

We lose by four.

Four fucking points.

I’m off the bench and the first one in the locker room before Coach can finish explaining plans for our team dinner.

In the shower, I turn the water to punishingly hot.This is bullshit. There’s no point in me riding the bench. I’m the top scorer on this team. All I want is to win.

I grab my things and am halfway down the hall when I hear her voice.

“Clay?”

I turn back to see Nova, clutching the cord of her VIP badge.

“What happened out there?”

“We got our asses handed to us.”

Her eyes glint. “It wasn’t so bad.”

“It was brutal because I could’ve fixed it. I don’t like to lose.”

“Then teach them how to win.”

I exhale hard. I can’t tell her LA is my endgame. I don’t want to see the way she’d look at me if she knew my plan.

I feel the urge to push her away and bury my pain somewhere deep, to say she couldn’t possibly understand.

But I don’t want to push her away.

“I might not know much about basketball, Clay, but I hear it’s a team sport.”

I cock my head. “Oh yeah?”

“Mhmm.” She smiles. “You don’t need to take it all on. The wins or the losses.”

She comes close, and I let her. I inhale the scent of her shampoo, tugging her body against mine. “Say that again.”

Nova laughs and hugs me back. “It’s not all about you.”

It should feel horrible. Instead, there’s relief.

Where the fuck was she when I was a kid?

“Can I show you something?” She pulls her sketchpad from her big bag and holds it out.

First Jay.

Then Miles.

Atlas.

Rookie.

---