Page 3 of Home Town Advantage (Fourth Quarter Fever #1)

He immediately stiffens. “I’m not a fucking charity case, nineteen. Don’t make me say it again.”

“I know. You’re my best friend, and I love you. I just want you home and safe.” I give a genuine smile. “Plus, I might want to build my dream house in a few years. I need my favorite architect to get his degree so he can design it.”

His shoulders relax. “I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. I have only ever asked two things of you.” He holds up two fingers.

I turn my head back to the road, unable to even consider what he’s implying. “Yeah, yeah. I don’t want to talk about it.”

He’s never accepted a dime from me, but we’ve had many conversations over the years where he’s asked that if something ever happened to him, I would always look after Sulley and Maddie. He’s made me promise that to him no less than a hundred times.

Fortunately, he drops the subject and looks at his watch again. “Mom said they’re announcing her at exactly seventeen-fifteen...errr…five-fifteen.”

I’m going over a hundred miles per hour. I nod. “We’ll make it.”

At five-fourteen, we pull into the parking lot of our old high school. I speed through until we reach the gymnasium entrance, where we both quickly exit the car and run inside, leaving my truck illegally parked out front.

The gym is packed to the gills with people and the press, including ESPN cameras.

Stated simply, Sulley O’Shea has put our school and our hometown on the map.

We had some attention when I played here, but nothing like this.

She’s widely considered the best high school basketball player in the nation and got a full ride to college for next year.

She had her pick of any school in the country and is headed out to a college in California.

Thanks to her, the high school team is undefeated and the top seed going into the state tournament next week.

Tonight is their last regular-season home game.

Sulley’s senior night. It took a lot of string-pulling, but Finn was granted a forty-eight-hour leave of absence to be here. She has no idea. He’s surprising her.

I haven’t seen Sulley in a long while. I usually spend a good portion of my off-season with my family in my childhood home, but I had a few end-of-season obligations and endorsement opportunities this year. I just got home last night in time for Finn’s arrival.

They’re announcing her now as her parents walk arm in arm with her onto the court. Phew, we made it just in the nick of time.

I take in Sulley’s appearance. Wow, she’s gotten tall. She must be around six feet. She got more of their father’s height than Finn did.

We entered the building behind them, where they couldn’t see us. The announcer finds Finn and me. With a huge smile on his face, he says into the microphone, “There’s an extra special someone here tonight to wish Sulley well.”

Sulley’s head immediately begins to swivel as she scans the crowd, and when she turns her head our way, that’s when it hits me for the first time. Sullivan Aisling O’Shea is now a woman. A stunningly beautiful woman. When the fuck did that happen?

I think my jaw drops. I know my mouth goes dry.

Her dark hair and peaches-and-cream skin make her blue eyes shine in a way I’ve never noticed before.

I suppose she was always Finn’s cute little sister, always hanging around, always trying to keep up with the boys.

But what I’m seeing now takes my breath away.

Even in her warm-up suit, I can see curves that were never there before. What is happening? Am I a perv? She’s technically an adult now, but this is little Sulley. Not so little anymore.

Her bright blue eyes fill with tears when she finds Finn. She instantly begins sprinting in his direction and then jumps into his waiting arms, wrapping herself around him like a koala bear. I’ve never been more jealous of Finn than I am right now.

I shake my head. Where the hell did that come from?

It’s Gully Sulley, the nickname I teasingly gave her as a little girl because she’d believe anything we’d tell her.

We once told her the Wicked Witch of the West was in town looking for little girls and she needed to hide.

She was missing for two days. No one could find her. The police were searching everywhere .

Once he sets her down, she turns her head and smiles at me. “Hi, Vile Vance.”

I chuckle at her longtime nickname for me. “Congrats, Gully Sulley.”

Her smile widens. It’s spectacular.

She tugs on my hair. It makes my dick twitch in my jeans. “You look like a girl.”

I wink at her. “You play like one.”

She crosses her arms. “Proud of it. You should be so lucky. Maybe you guys would have won it all this year if you played like a girl.”

I can’t help but grin at her sass. The once insecure kid is no longer that. She’s a confident woman. A sexy confident woman.

As she turns and walks back to center court, Finn elbows me in the stomach. “Why are you smiling so much? I didn’t even know you had teeth. Don’t look at my sister like that. Ever.”

I touch my lips. Fuck, I’m smiling like an idiot. I quickly set my trademark scowl back into place. “I just watched a real military homecoming take place. Not on some TikTok video that makes everyone cry. I can’t be happy for you?”

He runs his tongue along his top teeth. “That better be all it is.”

It’s a good thing he doesn’t know my dick is currently pushing against my zipper.

He walks out with her to join their parents.

The entire gymnasium gives him a much-deserved standing ovation.

I’m so happy we made it in time. He earned this day.

He spent countless hours with Sulley in their driveway helping her learn how to play ball.

I can’t think of the O’Shea house without remembering the thudding sound of a basketball bouncing in the driveway and Finn and Sulley out there practicing.

I envy their close relationship. Finn is the closest thing I have to a sibling. My heart swells with joy as I see how happy he and Sulley are that he’s home today to share in her big milestone. I’m grateful I was able to be here to witness it.

The game eventually begins. I sit with Finn and his family as we watch Sulley score fifty-three points en route to demolishing their opponent. She’s a phenom. There’s no doubt about it.

I also happen to notice she’s wearing number nineteen, just like me. I wonder if it’s a coincidence.

I remember this trip home fondly because it was probably the last time I was truly happy. The last time I didn’t feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. The last time I could show my face in my hometown. The last time I saw my best friend, Finn O’Shea.