Page 98 of Game Changer

“Yeah, we’re not that serious.” I bite my lip. “But I like that we can confide in one another.”

“Boy told you all his secrets, huh?”

I force a smile.

“A few.”

I can’t tell her about his plan to get traded, because she’s Jayden’s sister, and I’m guessing Clay hasn’t discussed this with his teammate. Usually I’m the one keeping secrets, and though I’m glad to have his, it’s uncomfortable.

I check my email, but there’s nothing.

“What’s up?” Brooke asks.

“Just waiting on the head of my design firm saying I can come back to work.”

“Do you even want to?”

“Of course I do. It wasn’t a dream job, but I got to meet lots of people and sit in on cool design projects.”

Brooke’s face scrunches. “So, after the wedding, you’ll go back to Boston. To the boring job, if they’ll have you. And no hot guys.”

“You make it sound awful,” I say, tugging on a piece of my hair.

“We’re young and hot and on a private plane. There’s so much more living to do,” Brooke insists.

I turn that over as we take off. Aside from gripping the armrest until my knuckles turn purple, I manage to survive.

Once we're up in the air, my stomach knots like it did on the flight to Denver. The one to LA wasn’t so bad because we were talking about wedding stuff and guys and life. But now, Brooke’s reading magazines on her phone.

I can entertain myself.

So, I go looking for my sketchpad in my bag. I’ve finished my drawings of each of the starting five and am ready to start something new.

Maybe I’ll draw Brooke.

I search the inside pockets and the outside ones. Nothing.

When was the last time I had it?I remember showing Clay but nothing after that.

I’ll call the hotel when we land.

Short of launching myself off the plane in protest, there’s nothing to be done in the meantime.

I pull up the internet on my phone and flip through images of Clay at the game. I deliberately ignore the ones where he’s pissed and focus on him playing hard, dunking the ball, glaring at the other team’s bench.

God, he’s sexy.

I should’ve let him finish what he started last night.

With the wedding a week away, I don’t even know when I’ll get a chance to see him next.

I know his schedule is insanely demanding, but I want to spend time with him before I return to Boston or he gets his trade out of Denver, whichever comes first.

The idea of saying goodbye and never seeing him again makes my stomach wrench. But I’ll deal with it when we get there.

“I think I’m going to donate a watch.” Brooke’s words bring my attention back.

“To what?”

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