Page 99 of Resisting the Running Back

Except the moment I stop, it all comes rushing back.

What if I got Sophie pregnant last night?

It feels like it’ll be theonlything on my mind for the next month until we know one way or the other.

I can’t have this weighing on me while I’m at camp. I’m a starter, sure, but that doesn’t mean the team will play me if someone with more speed or better reflexes proves himself over me.

I need my focus. Last year, when Tanner lost his focus, he tore his ACL in the first regular season game. It took him out for the entire season.

He’ll be back this year, and I refuse to let anything else come between us. This will be the first full season we’ll get to play together on the San Diego Storm.

Our reservation time for the basketball court is quickly approaching, and the four of us finish our workouts around the same time and head together to the courts, where we find Grayson and Lincoln already waiting for us.

They’re all relaxed while the four of us just finished an intense workout. Wemayhave pushed it a little harder than necessary since we were working out with our siblings. Not that we have any sort of sibling rivalry, really, but let’s be honest. It’s six brothers who all played professional football at various times. Three of us play on the same team. Of course there’s some sort of brotherly competition at play in the background.

And that only comes flying to the surface as we take the basketball court. I can’t imagine what other places it might come to the surface. The five of them are all married already. Some have kids already. I guess those things aren’t a competition, but if they were, I wouldn’t be winning.

It’s sure to prove an intense game of three-on-three—Tanner, Lincoln, and Spencer against Grayson, Asher, and myself.

It’s fairly balanced in terms of size and speed, and before tip-off, I glance at the fence surrounding the courts.

People have gathered. They already knew the Nash and Banks brothers were on board this ship, and they’re about to witness the six of us playing a game in the same space together.

This has never happened before, but we’re six pro athletes. There’s no way in hell this isn’t about to get vicious as fuck.

It’s probably a terrible idea given the fact that we need to be in tip-top shape in less than two weeks, but fuck it all. Let’s fucking go.

Grayson manages to snag the ball first, and even though basketball isn’t our sport, it’s still one we all tried out at some point. Grayson is the tallest, and I’m the fastest with Asher justbehind me, so we easily make our way back and forth across the court.

People are taking pictures and cheering for their favorites. Tanner and Asher seem to be the most popular names I’m hearing, though I hear everyone’s at some point, including my own.

It’s a tight game, and we only reserved the court for an hour. We decided we’d play to the end, and with less than ten seconds left on our game clock, the score is eighty-two to eighty-five. Tanner’s team is winning.

Grayson tips Lincoln’s shot, and somehow, I end up with the ball. I could sprint across the court for an easy layup, which would give us only two points—or I could try for a three-pointer to tie up the score.

My quick thinking pushes me to opt for choice number two, and I find myself at the three-point line as I square up. I hear my brothers running toward me from behind, and I shoot. The ball seems to pause mid-air, and then it hits off the backboard. It bounces to the rim, on the backboard again, around the rim, and finally drops through the net.

The crowd gathered around the courts goes wild, and Asher holds up a hand for a fist bump on his way by.

We’re tied up with three seconds left on the clock, and somehow this game of pickup basketball with my brothers feels as important as a playoff game.

I realize it’s not. It’s just for fun. But the pride of winning will stay with us for the rest of this cruise.

Or the rest of the day, at least. Until lunchtime, maybe.

Lincoln throws the ball in to Tanner, and I’m right on top of my twin, making sure he has exactly zero space to move. He’s struggling, and that’s when Asher comes out of nowhere, steals the ball just as Tanner is dribbling, and runs it to the hoop for a layup right as the buzzer—a small bell, actually—sounds.

The crowd is cheering, and I’m yelling with Grayson and Asher as the three losers look on at us, all six of us panting as we try to catch our breath after the strenuous exercise of the last hour.

We all slap hands as good sportsmen do, and then we agree to meet up in a half hour for lunch so we all have time to head back to our rooms for a quick shower.

It was another hour that I didn’t think about what happened last night.

I needed that.

Maybe the more time passes us by, the less I’ll think about it.

I take a quick shower and head down to the dining room. I arrive first, and Tanner shows up just after me.

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