On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,102
he did wake up, he would never play ball again. He would never win March Madness or draft to the NBA. Declan’s dreams were over... but mine were still alive.
And that was a hard fucking thing to swallow.
How was I supposed to go after what I wanted, knowing he would never get that opportunity?
A ball of emotion lodged in my throat.
“I need to go see my brother,” I said. I’d been putting it off for a reason. But I couldn’t put it off any longer.
Until I reconciled everything that had happened, I couldn’t move forward. I couldn’t even begin to figure out what I wanted.
But I also knew I couldn’t do it alone.
“So I was wondering...” My fingers went to my hair. “Would you…? Uh...”
“Consider it done.” Maverick gave me an understanding nod. “Just name the date and time and I’ll be there.”
“Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”
“I was thinking we could shoot some hoops,” he said, “but how does breakfast sound instead?”
“I could eat.”
“Well, let’s go. I know just the place.”
The place turned out to be Flippers Diner on a quiet street downtown. It was popular with the student crowd, but the last people I expected to find sitting in a booth there were Victoria and Kira.
“Maverick, Zach.” She waved us over.
“Did you plan this?” I grumbled, and Maverick chuckled.
“You’re kidding right? She’s... a lot.”
“You’re telling me.” I hadn’t spoken to her since she’d stormed out of my apartment the other day and I’d hoped to keep it that way, at least until after the exhibition game.
“Fancy seeing you two here.” She grinned as if everything was fine between us. “Maverick, it’s so good to see you.”
“Hey, Vic,” he said. “And... Kira, right?”
She nodded. “You’re in town for the exhibition game?”
“Yeah, something like that.” He picked up a menu. “What’s good?”
“The pancakes are to die for,” Kira answered. “But I went with a fruit salad and granola.”
I had to refrain from rolling my eyes.
“So, Zach, how are you?” Victoria’s brow arched and I saw the flash of accusation in her gaze.
Yeah, she was still pissed.
But the feeling was mutual.
“I’m good,” I clipped out, and Maverick slid his eyes to mine in question.
“Ready for the game? I spoke to your parents. They want to do dinner with the team after. Nothing fancy, so I spoke to Trev at The Pivot and he’s going let us have the back room and put on some food. I’m hoping to talk the alumni players into auctioning off their jerseys.” She glanced at Maverick.
“Uh, yeah, sure. Whatever.”
“Excellent. Coach Baxter has arranged full press coverage and there’s going to be an address before the game.” I knew her eyes would have flicked to mine, but I didn’t react.
“Vic, we should go,” Kira said, “or we’ll be late for our appointment at the salon.”
“We have time.” She swished her hair off her shoulder. “I want to talk to the guys about—”
“Another time,” I barked.
Surprise flashed over her expression, quickly morphing to indignation. Victoria didn’t like being dismissed, but I didn’t have the energy to do this.
Kira took the hint, grabbing her purse and standing. “Enjoy your breakfast,” she said, pulling out some bills.
“I’ve got this,” Maverick said.
“So generous.” Victoria beamed at him, reserving a scowl for me. For a second, I thought she was going to dig in her heels and refuse to leave. But to my relief, she grabbed her purse and followed Kira out of the diner.
“Dare I ask?” Maverick let out a low whistle.
“Fuck you, man. Fuck you.”
“I always knew she was trouble. You’ve got to watch your back with girls like Victoria.” He grimaced.
“She thinks she knows about Calli.”
“Does she?”
“Enough to make waves, yeah.” I scrubbed my jaw, anger trickling through my veins.
Although Victoria didn’t know anything, not really, she could still make Calli’s life difficult. More difficult than she already had.
In reality, the worst she could do to me was tell Callum she suspected I still had feelings for Calli. But something told me he already knew; it’s why he’d warned me off her.
“You know if you want to be with her, you’re going to have to come clean eventually?”
“I know. Calli wants to wait until after the game.”
“Smart girl,” he grinned. “So she’ll be there?”
“I hope so. I asked her to come.”
“Was that before or after you fled her dorm room and called me?”
“I didn’t—” Ah, fuck. I totally had. “I guess I have some groveling to do.”
“Yeah, you do. Question is, are you going to stew on your feelings