Page 31 of Game On

He looks over at me, his cheekbones sharp. “Because you’re used to shiny, new things. I didn’t know I needed to spell it out for you. You don’t think I saw your new Mustang. Or the cars your dad drives to camp?”

I just shake my head. There’s no point in even arguing with him.

“What?” he asks. He keeps looking over at me from the driver’s side. “You don’t agree that you wouldn’t be caught dead in a truck like this?”

“Seriously?” I ask, glaring over at him. “I’m in your truck now, aren’t I? I might even be having a good time if you weren’t such a dick.” I groan in frustration. “What does it matter what car anyone drives, anyway? My dad is the rich one. My dad buys himself the nice vehicles because he put in the hard work to get there. And yes, my dad bought me a Mustang. It’s not mine. And don’t act like you wouldn’t want the cars he has. Isn’t that why you work so hard in the different sports you play? So you can have better? Otherwise, you’d be fine with being mediocre.” I sit back in the seat, crossing my arms over my chest. “Why am I a bad person just because I have a nice car? Prejudice can go the other way, too.”

After a moment, Alec sighs. He runs a hand through his dark hair. When I look over at him, I notice he’s actually too big for the seat. His head almost touches the top of the old truck. The space makes him look bigger than he actually is. “I actually just want to play,” he says. “I love the games. I don’t need to be rich. That’s Ryan’s thing. Sloan’s, too. I just want to do what I love every day.”

I raise my eyebrows at the change in his voice. He’s actually talking to me like…a person. It’s been a long time since one of the Ballers actually talked to me normally.

I think back on my childhood growing up. Though my dad has all the finer things in life, he truly loves the game, too. Just like me. I don’t think you can choose either or when it comes to basketball. Raw talent will only take you so far. You have to love the game, too. I reach out and play my finger over the dark blue dash. “I’m not going to lie, having nice things is…well, nice, but it’s not everything.”

“My dad actually likes his job,” Alec says. He keeps one hand on the wheel and leans the other on the door to support his head. His dad’s a general contractor. From what I hear, he’s a really good one. My dad has had him do some things around our house, and he’s always been so pleasant to me. “It’s not glamorous job,” Alec continues, “But he comes home happy every day.”

I smile at that. I can say the same for my dad. Sure, he had bad games. He even had bad seasons, but he was still doing what he loved to do. “Sloan asked me the other day what I was doing here at Rockport…” I start, still second-guessing whether I should open up to him. Eventually, the bottom will fall out, and I’ll be the only one who’s hurt. But for right now, I’m going to risk it just to hear Alec’s personal thoughts. “This is it,” I smile and open my arms. “I’m here to play basketball because I love it.” I look over at him. His face is pulled taut as he stares out the windshield. “They got rid of the girls’ team at Broadwell,” I confess, letting my sadness seep through for the first time in a month. I sigh. “Because they’re a private school and can make up their own rules, they wouldn’t let a girl play on the guys’ team. Rockport was my only shot.”

My words hang in the air. If Alec is surprised at what I said, he doesn’t let it show. He doesn’t make a smart ass comment back either, though. In some small way, I think we both understand one another better now.

On the other hand, I’m an idiot. He’s a Baller, and they do what they want. To Alec, I should just be a PT because I massaged some guy’s leg.

We don’t talk anymore as Alec drives to his house just on the outskirts of town. It’s a sprawling farmhouse with a lot of adjoining land even though there’s not a farm animal or tractor in sight. The house is older, but it’s been remodeled on the outside. Several areas of the house don’t match other areas like they’ve expanded it or completely re-did it. Wood siding graces one half of the house, and then on what looks to be an addition is cedar siding. It’s pretty in its haphazard way.

He pulls around the circular driveway, but then aims the flatbed toward the mouth of a barn and then starts backing up. “Do you want me to get out and help lead you?”

Alec puts his arm on the back of the seat then looks over his shoulder with a smirk. “I’ve been doing this since I was little. I think I’ll be okay.”

He does, too. He just backs right up and stops. When he takes his hand away from the back of the seat, his fingers brush my shoulder. A current of nerves sweeps through me, proving once again that I’m not immune to the Ballers even though I should be. I look up at Alec to find he’s also staring back at me, his face almost pinched as he looks me over.

“Alec!” a little girl’s voice screams.

Alec immediately turns toward the front windshield. He whips his car door open just as a small silver Toyota pulls into the driveway. A little girl runs across the grass and jumps into Alec’s waiting arms. It’s honestly one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

I get out and meet Shawn and Matt just in front of their car as Alec sets his sister back down in the grass again. When she turns toward us, her mouth drops open. “I know who you are.”

I look from the other guys then back to her.

“You,” she says, pointing at me. “You’re Timothy Dale’s daughter.”

I smile wide as a flurry of pride skirts over me. I go up to her and hold my hand out. “I’m Tessa.”

“Roberta,” she says. She takes my hand and gives it a small, but determined, shake.

I look over at Alec who’s staring at us with a mixed expression. “I have to go help your brother now, but it was nice to meet you.”

Alec tells Roberta to go back inside while they deal with the flatbed. She runs back, her cute, curly hair almost jumping off her head as she goes. Alec unhooks the flatbed from the back of the truck and then it’s mine, Shawn, and Matt’s turn to move it into a side room in the barn. Alec acts like he’s going to stand back and watch at first, but then he jumps in after he notices Matt struggling. I’m not going to lie, I’m struggling too. The foundation of the barn is uneven, so it’s a lot harder getting the thing to move here than it was out on the street. After a few minutes, we get it into place. Alec stands, a line of sweat has made a damp trail down the back of his shirt. If Dawn could see him now. But actually, that’s not right. Dawn wouldn’t care. She’s into David now, and better yet, David’s into her. She’s probably making him feel all better after their loss today.

“Anything else?” Shawn asks, his hands on his hips.

Alec shakes his head. “No, that’s it. Just, um, be waiting if you get a text from us.” Though there’s instructions in that sentence, they’re half-hearted at best.

Shawn and Matt turn to go toward Shawn’s car. I’m standing just a few feet away from Alec looking back and forth between the two. I don’t know whether I should ask Shawn to give me a ride back to my car or not. I doubt Alec really wants to take me. I still don’t understand why he wanted to bring me here in the first place.

Shawn turns around when he opens his car door. “You want a ride, Tessa?”

“Oh, I—”

“I’ll take her back,” Alec says.

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