Page 97 of On Merit Alone
There were only a handful of seconds left and Merit was going up for another shot, when suddenly it was obstructed. Technical foul, other team. Merit would be able to take a shot. She wasn’t happy about that though. She was obviously feeling her groove and foul or not, free throw or not, that move had disrupted it.
I could see the growl on her lips as she stepped up to the line. They needed these two. Otherwise they risked going into overtime in which anything could happen. And as Merit caught the ball, ready to take her shot she did something I didn’t think she’d do. She looked over at me frustrated and angry and searching for something.
On instinct, I set my hand out, motioning downward as if I was talking her down. As clearly as I could, I mouthed, “Easy, Six. Take it easy.”
She registered it. I knew she did by the look in her eye before she moved them up to the ceiling and took a breath.
She dribbled. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine super quick bounces and then shot. It went in.
I clapped loud, murmuring, “Atta girl, Mer. Let’s go.”
She looked at me again. I just nodded this time. She had this. She knew it. I was just telling her that I knew it too. That seemed to be enough for her, and nine dribbles later she went up to make her second free throw, pulling her team just ahead for the final seconds of the game.
“Mer?” my sister raised an eyebrow as we rose from our seats. Damn. Looks like she’d heard me after all. I pretended I didn’t hear her, going the “ignore” route instead of the interrogation one.
On our way out, I sent Merit a quick text but was stopped by a reporter on the sidelines as I tried to make my exit.
“Ira, Ira!” someone yelled as they came up on the side of me. “So glad to catch you out like this. Do you have time to answer a few questions about your playoff season?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’m just here to watch the game, man.”
“Any comments on the game then?” he asked just as eagerly.
Flipping my gaze up behind the reporter, I pointed. “The person you should be talking to is right over there. That girl’s unreal.”
“Unreal, huh?” my sister asked as we made our way away from the floor. Her detective cap was truly on tonight.
I just smiled. “I’ll catch you guys later. I got something I gotta do.”
Someone I had to see.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Merit
My heart poundedas my feet padded along the floor of the tunnel. There weren’t a ton of people left back here since the game was over, but there were still a bunch of staff around. They were littering the place, which made this all the more nerve racking.
ButKing Irahad made himself clear.
Ira
Meet me in my locker room when you’re free. Try to run away and I’m telling the first reporter I see about that little file of me you keep on your phone.
So here I was, sneaking into the men’s locker room. Ira had left the door cracked open for me, but that didn’t stop my heart from beating in my throat. It wasn’t just that someone most likely saw me sneaking in, but also the fact that I hadn’t seen him in a while. Not since he held me in my apartment and convinced me to tell all my secrets.
That night we’d both fallen asleep on the couch, tucked up beside one another as the TV screen played on mute. I felt him withme all through the night, but when I woke up in the morning he’d left. The note he left me simply said:
See you soon, Six.
I was both sad and relieved that I didn’t have to wake up and face him the morning after. I hated to make it sound like some kind of bad one night stand, because it was nowhere near that. It had actually been a good night. Not that crying my eyes out and oversharing my past was good, per se, but connecting to someone like I connected with Ira felt nice.
It was almost like that night at his house.
While it had been one of his worst since I’d known him, it was still one of the best for me and him. One that tied our hearts together on the same string and made it apparent that either one of us had the power to tug the other along with that thread alone.
Another night just like that, this time in my apartment and this time my heart doing the tugging, solidified it.
Ira had power over me. Power to rile me up. Power to cool me off. Power to make me feel like I belonged even when I knew the truth. That I didn’t belong anywhere. And that scared the crap out of me.
