Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
17
JOSSLYN
Finn: did you go home with him?
Butterflies take flight in my belly, but I instantly push them away, ashamed of their presence. He must have texted after I switched my phone off. I should respond and tell him to go to hell. It’s where he deserves to be. Instead, I ignore him and silently curse my mother, who ingrained the mentality "Be kind, everyone is going through something" in my brain. I grab my water jug, keys, and phone, and start walking toward the door just as the doorbell rings. I open it and smile at Tiago.
“Impeccable timing.”
He winks. “Something I’m known for.”
I laugh as I walk out and lock the door. “That, and your humility, no doubt.”
“Humility is overrated.”
“Apparently, it’s a hot commodity these days,” I say.
He squints as we reach the elevator. “Is it?”
“Considering no one I know has much of it, I’d say it is.”
We normally jog to the park, but today, we decide to walk. As we do, I snap pictures of us and post them in my stories, and he does the same.
“Coach will be proud,” I say, smiling as I respond to some private messages.
Tiago laughs as he types out a caption for his post. Coach Ogwumike loves it when we play against the men’s team. She says our game improves tremendously each time we do it, and we all agree. It helps that we’re all competitive and have major shit-talkers with chips on their shoulders on both our teams.
Tiago stops bouncing the ball suddenly and says, “I guess Hamilton wasn’t kidding about coming to watch us.”
I glance up from my phone and see Damian, and sure enough, Hamilton’s there, but it’s Finn’s presence that makes my heart drop. I left him on read, and now I’m walking up to the court with Tiago. He’s definitely going to think we slept together. Maybe it’s better that he gets the wrong idea. It’ll make him leave me alone and move on quicker. That thought really shouldn’t make my stomach turn, but it does.
“You brought a crowd,” Tiago says as we reach them.
Finn’s eyes lock on mine, and what I find in them makes me hug my water jug closer to my chest to fight a shiver. I greet everyone the way I always do, with a quick hug. My pulse thunders in my ears as I reach him. The scent of his cologne hits me first, and it takes everything for me not to inhale deeper as I lean in.
Quick hug. Quick hug. Unlike the rest of the guys, who set their hand on my back and pat it once when they return the hug, Finn’s arm wraps around my waist. I inhale sharply, grateful for the water jug between us. I use it to pull away from him. My heart’s thundering in my ears when I meet his gaze. As I move to turn away, he grabs my wrist, and even though he lets go quickly, the look in his eyes makes my stomach flip.
“I texted you.”
I take another step back. “I know.”
His jaw tightens and he looks over my head, toward the court. I turn around and head over there, determined not to let him make me feel any type of way about this. I shake my arms and legs when I reach Tiago and get into competition mode. I always want to win, but knowing these people are here to watch sets me on fire. We establish the usual rules, and I run the ball down the court.
“Half court,” he says behind me.
I shoot it, make it, and raise an eyebrow at him. “Fine, but the shot counts.”
“Like fuck it does. That was full court and we’re playing half.”
“I swear to god, T, if you don’t count that shit, I’m never playing with you again.”
“You are such a poor sport.” He laughs, and then laughs harder when I launch the ball at his chest.
“What happened?” Dame shouts as they walk around to stand closer to the court.
“Nothing,” I say, at the same time that Tiago says, “Unsportsmanlike conduct.”
I narrow my eyes at him and growl when he starts dribbling again and bumps me with his shoulder. Unsportsmanlike conduct, my ass. He’s a damn cheater and he knows it. It’s comical since the man is better than me, but I can beat him one-on-one. I’m shorter than many of my opponents, and since I rarely jump to block a ball, I have to rely on other skills. Dad taught me that skill isn’t useful without quick thinking. I’m good at reading my opponent’s body, the way they move, the way they handle the ball, and I’m always one step ahead. When I get the ball back, I shoot a three. Tiago takes it and starts going back to the other side, but I manage to steal it from behind and score another three. We go back and forth like this until I score 21 points and beat him by one.