Page 24 of On Merit Alone

Chapter Fourteen

Ira

Fate worked in funny ways.

It was fate that brought me to my sister’s basketball practices as a kid and allowed me a first glimpse at the game I would one day fall in love with.

It was fate that brought me back to Denver in a career that could have literally sent me hundreds of miles away from my family.

And I knew that after having Merit look at me like she was hurt but trying her best to hide it, it could only be fate that brought me into the locker room at the exact time as the one motherfucker who I knew was behind all this.

“Hey, what’d you say to Merit in the tunnel the other day?”

“Uh,” he paused, looking at me, then shook his head. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business, man.”

“Did you say she was an ice queen, Scottie?” I asked.

I could tell by one look at his face that he had, though he just scoffed. “Still not your business, Cap.”

If the condescending way he said it wasn’t enough to annoy me, another reminder of how Merit and I were similar finished the job.

We both shared a nickname through our positions on our teams, yet she seemed to think we were different somehow.

She didn’t say it in so many words, but I knew she was thinking it as she left the gym.

I knew she thought some stupid interview of her snipping back at a reporter who was notorious for punching first would change how I saw her.

Well, newsflash, it didn’t. It honestly made me respect her more. Not that insulting people was good per se, but it took guts not to lay down and take condescending questioning for what it was. Just because we were athletes didn’t mean we were punching bags.

And just because this dumbass said it wasn’t my business didn’t mean I wasn’t going to make it mine.

“When she’s my friend and you’re insulting her, it’s damn well my business,” I said.

This piqued his interest. “Y’all are friends?”

“Yeah,” I said slowly.

“You’re not dating or something, right?” he asked, turning toward me.

I felt my eyes draw down low before my brain could stop the movement. I also couldn’t help the frown that touched my face as I answered even more slowly, “No. Why?”

Looking immediately uncomfortable, he brought his hand to his neck. Out of nowhere came Marcus Hayworth, who latched onto Scottie’s shoulders and shook them animatedly as he grinned his ass off. “Because he’s got a big ass crush on her, that’s why!”

“Yo, shut up!” Scottie said immediately, shoving Marcus off and looking horrified.

I blinked rapidly. I literally just stood there blinking, unable to externalize the sudden prickling, bubbling, crackling feeling of anger and irritation and possessiveness that came over me at the sound of those words.

The thought of Scottie’s hands on Merit anywhere near the places mine had been today made me near feral.

Before I could get a hold of my words, they came rushing out in a disbelieving, almost threatening snort .

“Well, you can fucking forget about that.” Yeah, over my dead body .

“Why?” Scottie asked right away, his chest puffing up, voice lowering. Like he was about to challenge me for her or something. “Do you like her?”

I scoffed, “No, dipshit, she’s just too smart and has too much respect for herself to go out with someone who makes her feel bad.”

“I didn’t?—”

“You did, asshole,” I said. “And that little nickname you have for her, it fucking stops today. Now . I don’t want to hear that shit again.”

The blinking was contagious because now everyone was blinking at me like I was some kind of wild exotic animal that they’d never seen before.

“Am I stuttering or what?” I asked, clearly irritated. On cue, grunts of agreement rose from the men around me.

“Alright then,” I said by way of parting. They knew where they could find me. On the court. I didn’t give one shit if they thought I was acting strange.

Fine. Whatever . They could grumble if they wanted to, just as long as they didn’t say shit about Merit again.

Because I could be laid back most of the time, but if I had to see that broken up, torn expression on Merit’s face again, I swear to God I would rage.

I slid into the passenger seat of the black SUV before the driver returned to the car.

They were around back putting a few things in the trunk, and I’m pretty sure I spotted big headphones covering their ears.

I waited patiently to leave, and when the driver’s side door swung open, I didn’t even look up from the screen I was reading .

A huge sigh followed them inside as they sat down. A shoulder bumped against mine; the car’s engine hummed to life; our seatbelts clicked as we locked them into place.

Silence.

When the compartment below the sunroof opened, and a pair of sunglasses emerged, I couldn't help it—I cracked.

Laughing, I asked, “Do you really take this long to drive off every time?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to tell me why you’re in my car,” she said, turning to me and shaking her head as if she couldn’t fathom a reason herself.

I couldn’t help but run my eyes along her appearance. I felt like I was constantly seeing her in stages. The first being novelty, the next curiosity, and this current one being a stage of discovery.

This had to be my favorite. I couldn’t help thinking so as I smiled over at her.

“What’s with the sunnies, Six? It’s gonna rain in about thirty seconds, tops,” I chuckled.

She ducked her head into her shoulders and turned to look out of her window, giving me her back. Mumbling, she said something I couldn't quite make out.

“What was that?” I asked.

Another mumble.

“Mm-kay,” I said easily as I rolled down my window. Leaning an arm out of it, I ducked my head under the rim and started calling. “ Merit Jones sleeps with a night light! ”

A guffaw of disbelief sounded beside me, and I bit down on my grin before continuing, “ Merit Jones hates puppies!”

“Oh my God, Ira!” she said. Fingers gripping onto my shirt, I felt her tugging at the material, trying to pull me back in. “Get back in here. Are you nuts?”

Chuckling, I kept it up, “ Merit Jones is undressing me right now! ”

“ What ?” She yanked her hands away from me.

When I looked back, I could see they were tucked close to her chest like she was contemplating if she truly was trying to undress me.

Then she shook her head, apparently thinking that was crazy, and reached for me again.

But not before a sudden snort of laughter broke through her astonishment.

This time, I let her pull me back in. Slowly, though. All while pretending to put up a fight because I sort of liked her hands on me, especially as she leaned over the center console, giggling and using her strength to reel me back in.

When she finally got me inside, she had leaned all the way across me to roll up the window herself.

After, she plopped her elbows down on the console and let out a huge breath, staring at me in shock and disbelief.

Another snort broke free despite her trying to look serious. “What is wrong with you?”

My smirk was beyond my control, because she was smiling at me. And I don’t think she noticed it yet, but one of her hands still had a hold on my shirt as I now sat facing her with my shoulders.

I wouldn’t be the one to let her in on it.

“I asked you a simple question and you got embarrassed,” I started. “If you’re gonna hang with me, you gotta have a little less shame.”

“Who said I was going to hang with you?”

“I did.”

“Oh, and you’re the boss, huh?”

I chanced leaning in further, causing her hand to flatten out against my ribs and grab her attention. I stole it back as I used a finger to slide her sunglasses a notch down her nose, revealing her eyes to me.

“Damn straight,” I said. This close, I could see all the questions and emotions sparking in her eyes as she watched me back. I liked it. Gesturing with my chin, I repeated my question from before. “Now, what’s with the glasses, Merit? ”

She continued to look down, as if it was truly some terrible reason, but when she looked up again, I could see that she was bashful—maybe even pouty—as she leaned in and whispered, “I can’t see without them.”

Whoever gave this girl permission to be so cute at the most random of times, I was going to need to have a talk with. Because at that moment, in her car, I did not expect to want to close the short distance between us and find out what her lips tasted like when she was shy.

But that was just my impulses talking. Instead of giving into them, I smiled at her, lowering my voice to match hers. “And why are we whispering this time?”

“Because I look like an idiot,” she groaned. “I leave these prescription sunglasses in the car as a backup, but I broke my other pair for the car and haven’t gotten around to replacing them yet.”

“Why?”

Something weird crossed her face fast before she tucked it away. “I need to go back for a checkup before I can order new ones, but I haven’t had the time.”

Okay . There was something strange about the way she said that–the way she was suddenly looking anywhere but at me, but I decided to table that for later.

“So you’re blind, huh?”

“As a bat.”

Reaching forward, I gently stole her sunglasses. She let me. “Can you see me now?”

Squinting, she shook her head and leaned forward a little more.

At this distance, we were officially sharing air.

I suddenly realized the air I’d been breathing for thirty-four years of life wasn't enough.

Whatever she was adding was like a drug—the kind they give you at the dentist that made you heady and happy.

Oblivious to the fact, she opened her eyes wide and looked up at me seriously. “About here. I have to be this close. ”

I nodded. Then I removed her glasses the rest of the way. “No sunnies, then. Got it.”

“Ira—”

“Don’t argue with me, Six. You have a terrible track record at winning those.”