Page 72 of Broken

When halftime hit, I headed into the locker rooms, and the second I’d sat down to break and drink some water, Coach Larson clapped a hand on my shoulder.

“What’s going on Pierce? You’re out there playing, but your head’s not in the game.”

I shrugged. “I made some good passes, and three of our baskets were mine.”

“When you’ve usually made nearly three times as much by now. Come into my office.” He gripped my shoulder, showing support and not anger, and I sighed, getting up to follow.

I took a seat in the black metal chair while he sat on the edge of his desk, his feet sticking out and his arms across his chest. “I’ve been working with you for four years now, Tucker, and I’ve never seen you look this stressed out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you have a bad game. Not since your first few as a freshman when you got too cocky and made some stupid plays. What is going on?”

Nothing you want to hear.I took a deep breath, my jaw clenching as I tried to figure out what to say. Things were going to come out soon, but was I ready for Coach to know? And now? Like this, in the middle of a game?Fuck it; if it’ll help.Nothing else had.

“I uh…” I stumbled over how to start. “You’re gonna be pissed.”

“Well, unless you got your girlfriend knocked up or plan to quit the team, I think it’ll be okay.”

I ducked my head.

“Shit.” Coach scraped a hand over his jaw. “Which one is it?”

“My girlfriend,” I managed to grate out. “She wants to keep it. We’re keeping it,” I quickly amended. “But I’m terrified, and I’m all up in my head.”

“Which is why it’s not in the game.” Coach blew out a deep breath and then looked to the side of the room, clearly processing. “Wow. Okay. Talk about throwing my night for a loop.”

“Tell me about it,” I grumbled, and we both managed a grin.

Coach leveled me with a serious look. “I know you. And we both know you have all the talent in the world in your little pinky and then some. You’re going places. If you still want to. We’ll make that happen. But we can dive more into that later. For now, I need you to do your best to set those thoughts and worries aside and get your head back in this. It’s not over. Setbacks are part of life. It’s how you deal with them that counts. Now, pull it together, and we can talk more after the game.”

“Yes, sir.” I sat up straighter at the command in his tone and followed him back out to join the rest of my team. Coach was right. I had to pull it together. Not just with this but with everything.

ISABEL

There was a shift in Tucker after halftime. He stood taller, ran faster. Took charge of the ball instead of looking like he was ready to get rid of it. He was back to leading his team.

But what didn’t change was that he still wouldn’t look at me. Not once. And it was beginning to feel like the message was clear.

I quickly got up, slipping past the other dancers on my row, and mouthed that I was going to the bathroom to Ms. Teiger before running down the side of the court to the doors. I could feel several pairs of eyes on me, but I tried to ignore them. Even if I wanted to hope that one of them was Tucker, it wasn’t until I was leaving that he’d have cared.

Rushing into the bathroom, I went to lean on one of the porcelain sinks, drawing in several slow and deep breaths before looking at myself in the mirror. On the surface, my eyes looked flat, void of emotion, but if you looked deep enough, you could see the torture I was feeling on the inside. Because I was almost certain now that Tucker was done.

He just didn’t know how to end it.

Get it together. Itfeelslike that, but what if it’s not? Some stupid part of me still wanted to hope. It wasn’t like I hadn’t had to call Tucker out on his bullshit before to get him back on track. To bereal. Like we’d always been with each other. And it looked like we might be at that point again.

I sighed, inhaling long and deep, and then used the restroom before heading back out to the gym. I was just washing my hands when the door pushed open, and Larissa walked in.

“Oh.” She tried to look surprised, but it was evident it was fake. “I’m sorry, Izzy. Are you okay?”

I looked at my own reflection. I didn’t lookpeppyor anything, but I didn’t look bad. I looked back at her in the mirror. “I’m good.” I grabbed a paper towel, giving her a funny look.

“Okay.” She smiled. “Just checking. I wasn’t sure if you heard the news.”

“News?”

“Zane asked me out. We’re going to a party together after the game.”

“Oh.” My brow raised in surprise. “Well, that’s good. Have fun.” I started to pass her to leave when she grabbed my arm.

“Wait. You don’t care?”

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