Page 44 of Whatever It Takes

My frustration wasevident as I hopped up and tried to smack the ball out of Brody’s hand. His reach was longer, his jump was higher, and his body thicker. He thunderously dunked the ball and threw me a smirk that only riled me up even more. We’ve always been competitive, but basketball was my sport and football was his. I would not let him beat me. I didn’t care that we were just horsing around, trying to burn off a few calories from the cheesesteak that we had at Jim’s for lunch. Winning was what mattered. After all, I had a reputation to protect. I was the one who brought my high school team to the state championship during my senior year.

I ran down the court, spun around, and laid the ball up underneath as Brody tried to block my shot. The ball swished through the net as my brother jumped up to grab the rebound. On defense, I pressed him so hard he was unable to make his last three baskets.

Finally, he stopped running and threw his hands on his hips, trying to catch his breath. “All right, hotshot, I’m done.”

I dribbled the ball between my legs, taunting him, because why the fuck not. “You owe me lunch on Friday.”

He shook his head and walked over to his duffel bag. “Yeah, well, you owe me a fucking bachelor party. My wedding is in a couple weeks.”

I frowned, wiping the sweat from my face. “I told you I got it handled.”

Brody passed me a water. “Yeah, you going to fill me in?”

I took a huge sip of my water, practically guzzling the whole bottle in one sip. “Sorry, dude.”

The only thing he knew was that I had a block of rooms reserved at the Marriott Convention Center on Saturday night. He’d been kept in the dark about the weekend plans that included a nice meal at his favorite restaurant, a private room reserved at an upscale club, and an evening full of poker and cigars. Then to top the weekend off, I organized a tailgating party and a post-game pub crawl for the Eagles game that Sunday. Brody would go out in style.

He threw the bottle in his bag and zipped it up. “Did you figure out what you’re going to do about Charlotte this weekend?”

I pulled my phone out of my bag and turned it on. My battery was running low when I got to the gym, so I was trying to save as much juice as I could. “Her friends are spending the weekend with her and Emery.”

My phone turned on and I paused when I saw all the missed calls from Marco. It had only been a half hour since Brody and I had been horsing around. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach.

I swiped his name and hit send.

“Where the fuck are you, Quinn?”

My blood ran cold as I held my phone in a strong grip. “Brody and I are at the gym. What’s going on?” I tried to keep my voice steady and ignored that crushing weight on my chest.

My brother looked over and raised his eyebrow.

“Grant approached Charlotte at her lawyer’s office inside the girls’ john.”

I was already running out the door with my brother on my heels. “Is she okay?”

“She’s a little shaken up, but otherwise okay. She just left, you might want to meet her at her place.”

“Did you get him?”

“I wish. He was gone before she could even tell us he was there.”

“Where the fuck is he now?”

“That’s the million-dollar fucking question.”

I slammed my hands on the steering wheel as soon as I slid into my car. “Find that fucker,” I yelled into the phone.

My brother held my door open as I started my car. “What’s going on?”

“Grant made his move on Charlotte. I gotta go.”

His eyes widened. “I’ll head to the station now and see what I can find out.”

I nodded, slammed my door, and sped away like a bat out of hell.

The traffic on I-76 was a bitch (as always), and I couldn’t catch a break to save my life. I somehow ended up behind every fucking Dudley Do-Right driver and caught every stoplight on my way to her house. I broke every traffic law imaginable, and by the time my truck made it to her driveway, I was ready to come unglued. Thank God she picked up the phone when I called and was able to fill me in on my drive over. Hearing her voice helped, but I needed to see her with my own eyes.

I sprinted into the house and found her sitting at the kitchen table. The second she saw me she rushed into my arms.

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