AllFreeNovel
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We go to the kitchen, and I pull glasses I’ve never used from the cupboards. I pour two fingers in each, and she drops in ice cubes.
“I can’t sit down,” I say when she glances at the couch.
“Cool. We can walk and drink.”
We pace down the hall, and I glance into the room that was going to be my studio. Clay’s sports memorabilia are half packed in boxes.
I pause in front of a shelf of trophies and medals. “I’ve never won anything like that. Mar was always the overachiever.”
Brooke laughs. “Between me and Jay, I was the overachiever. He never tried hard at anything. Not until basketball. Then he had friends, and I never saw him so motivated. He has some of these things, but not like Clay. This is another level.”
“Yeah.” I exhale hard, not sure I understand it. Or that I want it.
“You didn’t know about this,” Brooke says.
“That obvious?” I say dryly before taking a sip of my drink.
“You can’t fake the expression you had when you read that press release. So, unless you’re the world’s best actress… it was a surprise to you. Clay, on the other hand, it’s not so clear.”
I’m not sure how much to say. I want to be candid with my friend, but won’t be disloyal to the man I love.
“What was in that one?” Brook nods to a glass case big enough to hold a baseball.
“Nothing. It’s always been empty.”
“It’s for a championship ring,” she says.
I never asked Clay about it, but the moment Brooke says it, I know that she’s right. “If I tell you the truth, will you keep it between us?”
She squeezes my hand. “Chicks before dicks. Always.”
“He wants to win. It eats him up when he doesn’t. And with his injury, it’s been really hard. Still, he was coming around. He likes being here and his time with the guys. I don’t understand what changed.”
“Management’s always working on these deals until the very last minute. Maybe something came up that Harlan couldn’t refuse.”
“That’s what I don’t understand. Harlan wanted this too. He believes in Clay and that he can win here.” I shake my head in frustration. “Clay didn’t stick around to talk to me about it. He dropped me off and went—”
“To see his agent?”
“And Coach,” I say. Coach is still in a coma, but I can understand Clay wants to be with him before he leaves.
She nods. “They’re going to want him to report to LA this week. He’ll be in an LA uniform by Friday. Maybe sooner.”
My head spins from the idea of him packing up and moving across the country in a matter of hours.
Brooke lifts her glass in a toast, her lips curving. “This is the lifestyle, basketball girlfriend. Reason number 512 why it’s not for me. Question is, is it for you?”
I love Clay, and I love what we are together, but we’re still finding our footing. This could change everything.
I hear the apartment door shut, and Clay hollers, “Nova?”
I glance at my phone. It’s after one in the morning.
“In here.” We stick our heads out.
Clay is already walking toward me, but he pauses when he sees I’m not alone. “Brooke.”
“I was just leaving. Your girl and I needed to have a chat. Good luck in LA.”
