Page 22 of Game Changer

I turn on my heel and head down the hall, willing the sound to stop echoing in my ears.

“Who’s the girl?” Jay asks when I get to the changeroom.

“GM’s sister-in-law.” I burrow in my locker for a change of clothes.

He whistles. “You chase that, I don’t care how many points you score—you’ll get sent to detention.”

“As much as I’d like to see Harlan try, I’m not planning on it.”

“I figured,” he says.

“Why’s that?”

My friend shrugs.

“You don’t do complications.”

“You’re right. I don’t.”

I grab a new shirt off a shelf and stalk down the hall to the kitchen.

They’re standing close. Miles is tugging a jersey over her head.

“Screw paper towel. That’ll cover a venti’s worth of stains,” he jokes.

“There’s smoke coming from the coffee machine,” I say coolly.

“Shit!” Miles spins like I told him his dog was on fire instead of circling the kitchen happily, chasing its stuffed frog toy.

Chloe paces in the doorway, still on the phone but eyeing the three of us with suspicion.

“He’s serious about his coffee,” Nova murmurs.

“Barista is his fallback career. His shooting doesn’t improve soon, he’s gonna need it,” I say.

Her lips twitch, her eyes dancing.

My teammates and I regularly joke around and throw one another under the bus, but even if we didn’t, I’d roast every damn one of them to make her smile.

“Here you go, Nova!” Miles is back, stretching a hand between us to hold out a coffee cup with frothed milk on top. He proudly displays his craftsmanship.

“Is that a basketball?” Nova asks, delighted.

Guy thinks he’s Michel-fucking-angelo.

On the court, I pull rank every day of the week.

It’s not like I’m trying to get with her.

But I saw her first.

Imether first.

I held her in an airplane bathroom while she hyperventilated.

She takes a sip and coos her approval.

“Stop sniffing around Nova. She’s family,” Chloe calls.

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