Page 22

DEKE

Though I loved the designer clothes, the shoes, and my Ferrari parked in the private garage connected to my condo, when it came to seeing family, I liked to keep it low key.

So what did I do? Rented a Mazda from one of the airport’s rental car services so I could pick my nephew up from camp without making a scene.

Camille had called as soon as I touched down in Florida. She was stressing about being late to pick up Eli and how her fiancé would be running late too.

“Sis, I got you,” I said, marching through one of the terminals. I noticed a man looking at me as if he was familiar with me, but I pulled my eyes away and kept walking. I was glad I wore a hat. “I’ll pick Eli up. Just send me the address for his camp.”

“Deke, thank you,” she said with so much relief she may as well have melted. “I’ll call the camp and let them know you’ll be picking him up.”

Before I knew it, I was driving with my seven-year-old nephew in the passenger seat, with J. Cole rapping and both of us bobbing our heads to the beat of the songs.

“Uncle Deke! Watch this!” Eli started doing some crazy dance little kids do, shaking his arms and kicking his legs as he rocked to the beat. I snorted a laugh as I pressed a hand to his chest.

“All right, all right, big dog. Slow down. I see you.”

Eli grinned from ear to ear as he peered through the windshield. “Are we gonna play basketball today?”

“I don’t see why not. You been practicing?”

“Duh! I’m just like you! I make it splash in the net!”

“Oh, word?” This kid was a trip. I loved him to death, though. “We’ll see about that when we get to your house. But before we get there, let’s get some italian ice. You still like the red kind?”

“No, I like the blue one now. The red one always messes up my shirts.”

“That’s ’cause you’re a messy kid, my dude. Your mom told me you didn’t clean your room last week, said she stepped barefoot on a LEGO. You know how much that hurts, right?”

“Yeah, I know,” he returned with a hint of sorrow. “But she asked me to do it when I was in the middle of building the biggest LEGO tower ever , Uncle Deke!” He was upbeat again. “I still have it up, if you wanna see it!”

“Oh, I definitely wanna see that!”

I loved kids, man. They were the realest people on earth and not tainted by any of the world’s bullshit. At least Eli wasn’t ... yet .

I’m convinced growing up is a curse. All the emotions hit you harder and the innocence fades when you get a dose of the real world. This earth is supposed to be our playground, and yet every day feels like walking through a war zone.

After we grabbed some italian ice, we headed to Camille’s crib. She had a simple one-story home with three bedrooms and a theater room we loved making use of during my longer visits.

I wouldn’t be able to stay long this time around. My training with Ken Massey was coming up, and I needed to be prepared. Ken was one of the toughest trainers around, but he yielded impressive results. My main goal was to get better at the game, not worse, so hiring him was a necessity.

I waited at the hood of the car for Eli before heading to the front door of his house. He had a fresh blue stain from the italian ice on his gray shirt, and I huffed a laugh.

When I gave the doorbell a ring, it only took a few seconds for Jack, Camille’s fiancé, to answer the door. Jack, an extremely extroverted man with warm beige skin, a big gap-toothed smile, short auburn hair, and shirts tucked into whatever pants he was wearing, would soon be my brother-in-law.

The last man Camille was married to—Elias’s father—was a piece of shit, and the complete opposite of Jack, literally down to the skin tone. Her ex talked too much, tried too hard, and wanted everyone to like him, even though he was a narcissistic asshole.

But Jack was a good dude, and he treated my sister well. And to be honest, Jack was only ever himself, and I could appreciate that ... even if he was a little too handsy and always in someone’s face.

“Well, look at that! The Deke Bishop is at my doorstep!” Jack announced, raising his arms in the air.

“That’d be me,” I said, then cut my eyes to Eli, who was rolling his.

“Hey, Jack,” Eli said, squeezing through a gap to get inside.

“Hey, there, Eli! I made some pizza rolls if you want some!”

Jack looked at me again with that same goofy smile and his hands at his hips now. He ran his eyes up and down the length of me in awe.

I raised a curious brow. “You gonna let me in or what, Jack?”

“Oh! Right! Yes, come in, come in!” Jack moved aside, and I stepped over the threshold. It definitely smelled like pizza rolls, and as I entered the kitchen, I spotted Eli standing over the stove, devouring them.

Damn.

Maybe I should’ve grabbed him a burger instead of shaved ice.

A hand clapped my shoulder, and Jack stood at my side. “The kid’s hungry, huh?”

I laughed. “Guess so.”

“Hey, listen, Deke. Thank you for picking Eli up. Camille’s been so stressed with work and all. I would’ve gone to scoop him up myself, but I was trying to finish up with one of my patients. Time sort of ran over. Glad I could make it home before you got here, though.”

Jack was a physical therapist. Mostly treated sports injuries ... which was why it was so awkward at times with him, because it was like he was waiting for the day I got injured just so he could treat me.

I stepped back, not only to remove Jack’s hand from my shoulder but also to face him a step or two away, like most men usually did. “It’s all good, Jack. Trust me, I get it.”

“Anyway, make yourself at home. Camille should be here within the hour. I’ve ordered pizza and wings for tonight. Oh—can we take a picture together? My golfing buddies are gonna freak when they hear Deke Bishop was in my house!”

Oh, man. There was only so much of this I could take.

I took the selfie with him, but not without thinking that my sister needed to get her ass home stat.