Page 33 of Game On

We both just stand there awkwardly. I don’t know what we’re doing here. I just know that he’s not bullying me, and I like being around the Alec who I can talk about basketball with. I suck in a breath and hold it. “Do you maybe want to drive my car?”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

Under his brows, his eyes are a striking green in that moment. I hug my hands to myself. “If you want. I’m not trying to throw it in your face or anything, it’s just…” I shrug. “Fun to drive.”

Without second guessing, I hand the keys out and he takes them. I move around to the passenger seat and get in while he adjusts the seat and mirrors.

“Don’t crash it. My dad will kill me. I don’t think he’ll care if I even tell him a Baller did it.”

Alec smirks. “I don’t plan on crashing it, but good to know that my basketball skills will only get me so far in life.”

He starts it up and grins as it purrs loudly underneath him like a caged tiger. “If you push the button to your left, the top will fold back.”

Alec pushes it and then watches as the soft top recedes and folds, letting in the sunshine and the fresh air. “This is pretty cool,” he says.

He pulls out onto the street, driving carefully at first. But when we head out onto the highway, he opens up the gas a little. Not enough to scare me, and not even more than what I did when I first got it, just enough to enjoy it.

“Is it true you have a full-size basketball court at your house?”

I nod. “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing. Not going to lie.”

He looks over at me, his dark hair blowing in the wind. “It’s got to be amazing. Think of all the practice you could get in.”

I nod slowly, my eyebrows practically in my hair. He starts to laugh, hopefully getting what I’m trying to say without saying it. I have practiced a lot. None of them should be surprised that I’m as good as I am. “Do you want to see it?”

“Really?” His lips pull back, but then his face drops. “Maybe some other time.”

Crash and burn.I turn toward the front of the car. “Yeah. Sure.”

Alec turns down the next street before going around a huge country block to come back out on the highway we were on and heading back toward town. A few seconds later, he grabs the pocket of his pants. “Shit.” He pulls over on the side of the road. Dust billows in the air. He leans away to grab his cell phone out of his pocket. He glances over at me, his eyes serious again. He puts the phone to his ear. “What’s up?” He looks over at me and slinks into the corner of the car like he’s trying to get as far away from me as possible. “Yeah, I can come over. Give me a few.” He hangs up the phone and puts it back before pulling back out onto the road. My heart hammers away in my chest. I don’t know why, but I picture the girl who had her head on his shoulder. It’s dumb. I don’t know why the Ballers have this effect on me. It isn’t just me either, though. So, at least I can say that. “It rides really nice,” he says as we roll back into Rockport.

He pulls right behind his truck, and we both get out. He hands me back the keys, and I grab them without ceremony. Things are suddenly super awkward.

“Thanks for your help today,” he says.

“No problem.”

“I guess I’ll see you Monday?”

A part of me winces. Whatever momentum I thought I was getting with Alec just had the brakes slammed on. “I’ll be there,” I tell him. My stomach knots just thinking about everyone staring at me. I wish I could erase the fact that they all saw that picture. I guess I should be glad they didn’t show it at the football game.

He waves and then walks off toward his truck. I can’t help but watch him walk away. He’s bigger than the other Ballers, but not in a husky kind of way. He’s built. His body is made for grabbing rebounds and making sure no one else gets them but him. He’s also got the perfect physique for cracking homeruns into left field.

He turns abruptly, catching me looking at him. My face grows hot, and I immediately get in my own car, my stare planted on my lap. I’m not looking back up at him. Definitely not.

When I go home, I dig out old pictures from camp and look at how much the Ballers have grown. As have I. Even when I first met them, they had this bees-to-honey quality about them. Every girl wanted to kiss them, and every guy wanted to be them.

In essence, I’ve never grown up.

18

Iexpected to get texts on Sunday to do Baller things, but they never came. Part of me was sad, but the other half felt relief. Alec was giving me really mixed signals, so instead of stewing about it, I spend the whole day out on the court, and then most of the evening and into the night laying on a floatie in the middle of the pool, letting myself drift this way and that. Ever since my mother had the fight with Dad on Sign-Ups night, I haven’t seen her very much, but she did sit out by the pool while I played basketball, making sure I had plenty of water and snacks when I took a break.

So, this morning when I woke, I shouldn’t have been shocked to see a text from Alec on my phone.Pick me up before school.

I was still wiping the crusties from my eyes, so I have to read it a few times. Immediately, nerves strike. I bite my lip, picturing him in my car, the smile on his face. He talked to me like an actual human being. I run my hands through my hair and then with a big sigh, I text back:I’ll text when I leave my house.

A small section of the rebellious me just wants to leave his ass at his house, but honestly, he is the only Baller being nice to me right now. Maybe I can get the others to turn around too, and in turn, salvaging the season we’re about to have because there’s no way I’m not going to make this team. The only Baller I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to turn around is Lake, and that’s because he’s just…evil. I’m a direct threat to him. Always have been. He’s probably the reason the Ballers never liked me in the first place. I’ve threatened their five-person team since we all started going to camp together. As we got older, it just got worse.

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