Page 83 of Don't Let Go

“Shame what happened to Aurora’s baby sister,” he said in a tone cold as death.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood. It felt like evil was standing beside me.

I moved to grab a couple of paper towels, drying off my face and hands. “Yes. It is. She was a sweet little girl.”

“It’s a pity some people pay for crimes others commit.” He grabbed a paper towel and shouldered past me toward the door.

“Excuse me?” I said, clenching my teeth.

“Forget it.” He tossed the paper towel and leaned his shoulder against the tiled wall. “Tonight’s the big game against Lincoln. You think you’re going to pussy out in front of your old teammates? Don’t they know all your signature moves?”

First, this asshole dared to bring up Lizzy, and now he’s trying to psyche me out about the game? Screw this dickwad.

“Nah. You got it wrong, man. I know alltheirmoves. Tonight should be easy.”

“Guess we’ll see. They did make it this far without ya, didn’t they?” He chuckled as he pulled open the door and walked out.

I cursed under my breath.I’m not going to let that asshole get under my skin.I had enough problems with the voices in my head.

After popping my neck and rolling my shoulders, I was ready for practice. Lincoln was going to fall, and so was every former teammate who overlooked me because I moved to a different zip code. It was time they all saw what Tyler Winston was made of.

“Yo, Ty! It’s time we tear the court up one last time before we put Lincoln in their place,” James called out, smacking the brick wall as he half-hung in the locker room’s doorway. We had ten minutes to warm up, as did Lincoln, before the gym opened for the crowd, and this party finally started.

I gave him a forced smile and hit my fist to the palm of my hand. “Right. Let’s hit it.”

We warmed up with stretches and jogging in place to get our blood pumping, then moved on to running in a line, tossing the ball to each other to shoot a basket before passing it to the next guy. I missed my shot from only inches away.

Bryce hit my shoulder as I ran to rejoin the line. “What planet are you on, Ty?”

Not this one, obviously. I hated to admit it, but I was worried about seeing Quincy and everyone else. Afraid of who might make an appearance in the crowd. Like a girl I once called mine in a different life.

The Lincoln High Mountain Lions poured out of their locker room, and we shared the court for last-minute exercises. They stayed on their half of the court, and we stayed on ours. We didn’t say anything to each other. It was as if there was an invisible wall separating us. Well, maybe for the other Mustangs. As for me, I glanced at Lincoln and saw Quincy pounding fists with some of the guys. They were all smiles. I remembered theshit we’d say with those devilish grins. We swore up and down we had the game in the bag, and in some ways, we were already celebrating.

Quincy must’ve felt my gaze because he turned his head and stopped short, almost tripping over his giant feet. If we were in a cartoon, his jaw would’ve hit the floor. There were two options, I could play it off like I was a badass or a coward. I didn’t want to be ashamed of being a Mustang. We needed this win. I needed to know I had a purpose without all the bells and whistles of being a senator’s son.

Quincy looked away first. I cracked my knuckles and joined my team on the floor for pushups. The hairs on my arms rose. I knew Quincy whispered to everyone and pointed at me. The traitor. The best player who flipped. The guy who fell from grace and ended up here.

Bryce hit me on the back. “C’mon, man. Let’s go to the locker room.”

I followed and refused to look behind me. It would hurt too much to see the evil glares or whatever hateful hand signals my former teammates wanted to send my way.

Christian caught up with me in the locker room. “How you doin’, man?”

I shrugged. “I’m good. Why?”

He sat on the bench, retying his shoelaces. “I know Lincoln is getting to ya. That was your school. Those were your boys. It’s different seeing them in person than thinking about facing them. Are you sure you’re gonna be okay to play?”

My teammates were worried and thought I needed to be benched from the biggest game of my high school career. Could this get any worse?

I took a deep breath. “I'll admit it’s weird to see them as the opposing team.” I pinched my jersey. “But I’m a Mustang now, and I’m not letting any of you down.”

Christian’s eyebrow dipped and his mouth drew into a line as a serious look came over his face. “Don’t let them talk shit. They want you to screw up. They know you’re a good player and know all their moves. The only chance they have trippin’ you up and make you miss. You gotta show ‘em you don’t need those damn Mountain Lions anymore. Now you’re a wild Mustang!” He stood, and we bumped fists.

I let out a ragged breath. “No pressure, right?”

He patted my shoulder. “Yeah, man. I know. Just focus and keep your head straight. I’ll make sure that ball makes it into the hoop every time. Don’t ya worry.”

James came by and gave me a water bottle. “You good?”

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