Page 10

Chapter 9

Brooks

“Did you see the new media hire? You ever meet someone with blonde hair and green eyes?” Jalen asks.

It’s Monday morning and the locker room is empty besides the two of us. We’re an hour early since I had the itch to get extra shots up today before practice. One of Jalen’s best qualities is how he’s always down for extra work.

I shoot him a look while I tighten the laces on my shoes.

“What? She’s pretty, that’s all I’m saying.” He lifts his hands like he’s surrendering. “You know I’m taken.” He wiggles his left hand, a silicone wedding band on his ring finger.

My shoes are the only thing I can focus on. Otherwise, I’m going to spill the details to Jalen. I have no idea if there’s anything to keep secret at this point, but I don’t know if I want to take the chance.

We’re walking to the court when Megan passes us. “Brooks!” she calls. “Before I forget, can you pop by my office after practice? I want to get our schedules aligned for the project we’ve been planning.”

“You’ve got it.”

“Plus, we can get Lia up to speed.”

“Lia?” Jalen asks.

“Yes, she was with me Saturday. The new media hire. Did you have too much fun last night?” She steps in, looking at his eyes for signs of a hangover—something she won’t find .

“No, I remember her,” he answers, his brain trying to connect the dots.

Megan nods in agreement and says, “She’s smart, loves basketball, and seems like she can hold her own. I think it will be perfect.”

So do I, but for many different reasons—ones I don’t share aloud right now.

Megan’s phone rings and she pulls it from her pocket while already walking past us. “We can chat more later.” Her phone is to her ear before I have a chance to respond.

“Why does your face look like that?” Jalen presses, ducking his head and focusing on me. “Lia. Why do I know that name?”

“It doesn’t look like anything.” I try to keep us moving but Jalen isn’t having it. He puts a hand on my chest to stop me. Trying to shrug him off, I say, “You probably know a lot of names.”

“You, my guy, are the worst liar,” he laughs. “Your face is red, and your forehead looks all clammy.” He feels my forehead with the back of his hand, then emphasizes shaking off the sweat when he pulls it away. His eyes light up and he snaps his finger. “Lia is the name of your mystery girl!”

I suck in as much air as my lungs will allow, resting my hands on my hips. My neck tenses as I look at the ceiling, trying to get as much time as possible before I decide what to tell him. Finally, I look at Jalen and I know he’s right: I’m a bad liar.

“Yes. Mystery girl is the new hire.” The words are barely out of my mouth before Jalen’s hand covers his mouth as his brows scrunch and eyes go wide. “Her first day was yesterday,” I continue. “Apparently, whoever they hired first didn’t work out and they moved on quickly. I didn’t even meet the other hire.”

“Wait, so Lia’s working on the whole ‘Brooks return to the game project?’ ”

I shrug my shoulders. “Apparently? Guess I’ll learn more after practice.”

“You lucky bastard,” Jalen jokes. “Didn’t you say she was incredible? I’m not getting why you look like someone stole your hard-earned bag of Halloween candy…”

“I asked her out and she said maybe . The job makes this complicated. We’re coworkers.”

He nods in understanding and luckily starts walking so we can get to the court. “I’ve never thought of it that way, but I guess it’s true. I mean, is it against the rules or what’s the deal?”

“I don’t know. Not worth knowing if she doesn’t say yes.” I start doing circles with my arms, stretching out my shoulders.

It’s not like I’d ever try and go out with an executive. Not to sound like a toddler, but I met Lia before she accepted this job. Shouldn’t there be an asterisk for this sort of thing?

Jalen stops, shifting his weight to one leg. “Brooks. Don’t be a dumb ass. Get all the information and be ready if she says yes.” He puts a finger in my chest. “All I know is y’all will be spending a lot of time together. Could be a blessing or a curse…” He laughs when we step foot on the court.

It finally feels how it used to: my happy place. The place where I can sort through everything and figure shit out.

Fuck, do I need it.

“Brooks, you ready for me?” the trainer calls from across the court, a foam roller in one hand and a roll of tape in the other.

“Don’t you come a step closer with that foam roller,” Jalen yells, shooting a ball from half court which hits the rim and the sound of bouncing echoes. “It took me days to be able to walk right after whatever torture you inflicted. ”

I laugh at Jalen being dramatic and the feeling of being home hits me. This court. These people. It’s light and comforting all at once.

It’s the thing I’ve missed most.

Is Lia kidding? Her lips, full and shiny, are one hell of a distraction as I meet with her and Megan. She’s wearing a black dress with a collared white button-up shirt underneath it. Where you might expect to see high heels, she’s wearing black combat boots. Might be an odd combination but it fucking works.

Now, do I know anything about fashion? No. Does that stop me from cataloging this outfit as one of the hottest I’ve ever seen a woman wear? Not a chance.

Megan has a printed calendar, with a matching version in our email, and is walking us through dates. Everything is color coordinated; my name is in green and Lia’s in red, to show when and where we’ll be working together.

The calendar looks like Christmas came early. This meeting has made it clear how much the two of us will be working together. I flick my eyes and try to catch Lia’s from across the table while Megan flips to another page, another month. Her eyes are like emeralds and when they land on mine, she scrunches her nose and gives the smallest head shake that only I know means “quit it.”

“Brooks, your job is to give as much access as possible to Lia. Open up. No recluse behavior.” She points a finger at me before chuckling and shaking my shoulder .

She’s talking about my puzzle phase. When I got out of surgery, all I wanted to do were puzzles. I wasn’t cleared for any physical activity, so I soaked up every single minute of finding corner pieces and squinting over a puzzle table. They gave me purpose; something to do, complete.

I became a little obsessed. Maybe I still am. I think about the table I had custom ordered for my library back home with a current puzzle waiting for me.

“Open up. You got it,” I say without looking from the calendar.

“Lia, you’ll be responsible for getting footage for content. Both planned and candid. Once we get going, you’ll see what works and what people like to see.”

She tucks a piece of straight blonde hair behind her ear and asks, “What’s my expectation for travel or away games?”

“Honestly, we’ll take as much of you as we can get. All expenses will be covered. If you can let me know which games are a yes, no, and maybe, I’ll start getting those pieces going as far as passes, hotel rooms, all of it.”

I swear, there are pink hearts flashing in Lia’s eyes. I know what she’s thinking: you’re going to pay for me to go to basketball games?

“For this project, I’m thinking four to five months,” Megan continues. “At least to the anniversary of the injury. Ironically, there’s an away game on the same date.”

The devil works hard but the PR team for any professional sports league works harder. All kidding aside, I like our commissioner. He was courtside when I got hurt and made time to check on me, swallowing past his own emotion when we knew what it was, just needing the formal tests to confirm.

Lia coughs. “Months or weeks? Not sure if I heard you…” Her voice trails off.

“Months. You’ll be able to be involved with other projects too, giving you a break from this guy. We have an opportunity to showcase the doctor and medical team who completed the new procedure, and this guy always is good for the team image.” Megan gestures to me. “He’s easy to work with.”