Emery nodded and headed to the empty hoop. I rebounded for her as she took her shots, the net swishing almost every time. She was more accurate than all of the guys out here. There was no question left about her skill level. This girl was a baller.
I mean, was there anything she couldn’t do?
I tried not to let Lauren’s confession affect me, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wonder for half a second if she’d regretted her decision. I maybe even hoped she did for a second. Not that it mattered now. She was too much for me. I had my family to think about, and she couldn’t accept that fact.
I grunted and switched Emery places, shooting while she rebounded. A few minutes later, Mal called it and everyone met at half-court, Hunter and Mal picking teams. Of course, Emery was Hunter’s first pick. Mal picked second, choosing me.
Awesome.
I’d invited her hoping we’d be on the same team, but whatever. If she was as serious about playing as she seemed, it would probably be better playing against her anyway. The overhead lights came on as we manned up. Emery’s team took the ball out first, and I called her name, letting everyone else know I had her on defense. She grinned when Hunter passed it to her at the three-point line, draining her first shot before I could even get out there.
“Straight fire!” Mal shouted, fanning his face. “Better get that next time,” he said to me, as I passed the ball in to him.
“Don’t worry about it.” I ran to my spot beneath the basket.
“I got Tucker,” she called out, like she could really put up a fight against me.
She stepped in front of me, keeping a hand on my ribcage, as she turned to find the ball. I couldn’t deny the electricity buzzing beneath her palm. Mal lobbed it over her head. She jumped to get it and missed, grunting when I put it up for a clean basket.
“My bad,” she said to Hunter, and sprinted back down the court, running patterns like she could lose me, but I knew her game.
The chase was my specialty.
“Dang, Chuck, you got some skills,” Mal said when we called it quits. We won by one point. It would be a miracle if Mal didn’t rub it in their faces.
She didn’t laugh, her cheeks blotching as she shook her head. “That last one was a lucky shot.” She glanced my way, huffing a breath. “I should’ve blocked it.”
“Someone sounds like they don’t like losing,” I said.
Hunter scoffed. “Lay off, man. She did great.”
“I don’t like losing,” she said, with a seriousness that had me wondering. She cared way more about the game than I thought she would. “I’ll probably lose sleep over it.”
I frowned, studying the resolution in her eyes. “It’s just a pickup game.”
“Every second on the court counts.” She lifted her collar to wipe a drop of sweat from her cheek. “Anyway. What time tomorrow, Tucker?” she asked, waiting with a hand on her hip, her forehead glistening.
“Eight at the Oakwood cabins.”
She nodded. “See you then.” Hunter smiled, making a point to offer Emery a high-five. “Here, I’ll walk you,” he said, and they turned to leave. “Seriously. You’re amazing,” he added. “How long have you played?” She answered as they descended the hill, but I couldn’t make out what she said.
Mal clapped my shoulder. “She’s ace, bro. I don’t get your hesitation—”
“She’s on the crew.” My gut clenched at the thought of Hunter walking her to the lodge alone. She just got her heart broken. If a guy wanted to mess with a girl, there was no better time than rebound time. “And she’s not dating right now. Neither am I.”
Mal lifted his brows, nodding toward Hunter and Emery at the bottom of the slope, Hunter nudging her with his shoulder. She laughed. My chest constricted. “He’s just walking her.”
“Sure.” Mal started downhill, and I followed, watching them like a hawk. I had no idea why I felt so protective over her. Hunter was completely trustworthy. It was her first year, though, and she just got bulldozed by a punk. Any decent guy would feel like I did, right?
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “I gotta call home real quick”
NINE
-Emery-
The moonlight cast a translucent glow over the campus, the roadway Hunter walked me down coated in a tinge of dark blue. “Has anyone ever told you you take basketball way too seriously, Chuck?” he asked, as we veered to the right and took the trail leading to the other side of the hill where the women’s lodge sat, windows all aglow. I scoffed, rolling my shoulder. “My family’s split on it. My brothers say I’m a beast. My parents say I need to lighten up a little. Blah. Blah. Blah. All I know is, every time I step out on a court, everything else disappears.”
He eyed me for a second, nodding. “That’s how football was for me.”
“Was?” I asked, glancing his way.
“I was all set to play at Cal State, but I tore my ACL senior year of high school.”
“What? How?”
He shrugged. “Some big ugly linebacker broke through our line and tackled me at a weird angle. I felt it pop and that was it. I was down, and by the time I reached full recovery, Cal State had a shiny new quarterback from Washington.”
My heart quaked a little, but I brushed it off. I was fine. Basketball was physical, but it wasn’t anywhere close to football. “That seriously stinks, Hunter. I’m sorry.”
He studied the ground, chuckling and we passed a small group of girl staffers, heading down the path from my lodge. “Hey. If I would’ve played, I never would’ve come to Bridgeport. And this place is too awesome to miss.”
“Seriously. Did you end up at Cal State in the end?”
“I wish.” He shook his head, hands stuck inside his pockets as we reached the lodge. “I just finished at Community. You’re looking at a certified welder. Start my new job after summer.”
“Wow. From football to welding.”
He shrugged. “My nephews play pee wee, so I still get it in sometimes. And I love working with my hands.”
“Ha.”
We stopped outside my lodge and he saluted. “Fun times, Chuck. Let me know if you ever want to play some one-on-one.”
“Thanks. I will.”
Turning, he headed downhill toward the Snack Shop.
Hunter was another one of the nice ones.
I made my way into the lodge and got ready for bed, trying to decide whether or not I believed the nice ones were as honest as they seemed.
-Tucker-
Mom didn’t answer when I called home. My brother Walker did.
“Hey, Walk. How’s everything going?” I asked.
“You’d know if you were here,” he shot back.
I cleared my throat, nodding. He was sixteen. I could take a little heat if he needed me to. That wasn’t about to stop me from figuring out how to fix their problems. “Mom said the rent went up again.”
“Yup.”
“Dad’s still not helping?”
“Nope.”
Man, there wasn’t much that made me want to punch things anymore, but that did. I clenched the phone line instead. “Did she try telling him the rent went up?”
Walker cleared his throat. “Yup. He says he has a house he’s paying for and she can stay there if she wants help.”
That was what he’d been saying since she found out about everything. He wasn’t paying for two houses when he already paid for one. But, Mom wasn’t staying under the same roof as him while he was doing what he was doing. I held back a grunt. “How’s Ky?”
He sniffed. “Annoying.”
I frowned. “Where’s mom? Can I talk to her?”
“She’s asleep on the couch.”
“On the couch?” That was weird. Usually she stayed up after the boys to clean the house a little. “Is she sick?”
“Who knows?”
“Come on, Walker. Where’s Kyler?”
“He’s over at Victor’s.”
“Victor’s?” Something was way off. Mom didn’t t
rust Victor’s parents. She always made Victor come to our place.
“Yup.”
I blew another deep breath, teetering between wanting to go home and fighting the urge. She was probably just exhausted. I usually helped her out a ton. “Okay. Call me if you need anything, all right? Remember to call the office though. No cell service up here. I think Mom put the number on the fridge.”
“We’re fine. You can go back to your sweet little camp life now.”
Help me keep it cool, God.
“Yeah. Hey. Take care, Walker.”
He grunted and the phone line cut out. I squeezed the pay phone receiver and slammed it back on the cradle, glancing at the parking lot ahead. I had to find a way to help her. Maybe she needed more money. Maybe I could get a second job.
That actually wasn’t that bad of an idea. I blew a deep breath and headed up to my lodge to get a good amount of sleep in. Pastor Gregg always went on an early morning walk around the lake, and I could meet him on his way and ask if I was up early enough. If I could talk to him about everything, I could relax a little while I worked with Emery tomorrow.
Maybe getting lost in those blue eyes for a while would help me forget about home for the day.
Maybe I was crazy, but I was looking forward to it. Way more than I should.
The next morning, my alarm went off at five and Nolan grunted. He rolled onto his side, and folded his pillow around his head like a taco.
Ten bucks said he’d stay frozen like that for the next hour.
I dressed and headed toward the lake, leaning back against the Snack Shop wall, listening to nature slowly waking up around me until Pastor Gregg came into view with his walking stick. I stepped onto the road and waved at him, hoping I wouldn’t scare him.
He frowned, waving back. His face broke out into a big smile when I got closer. “Tucker. Hey, Bud. How’s it going?”
“Good. Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all. What’s going on?”
Ducking my head, I joined him on his path to the lake and swallowed. “Well, my family’s kind of in a mess this summer, Sir.” Dang. This was worse than uncomfortable, but it needed to be said. I had to find a way to fix it.
“Really? How so?”
“My Dad left last fall. Mom has a decent job, but it doesn’t cover everything. I dropped out of Community and worked a couple construction side jobs to help out, but she’s barely making it.”
Pastor Gregg’s face fell. “I’m really sorry, Tucker. That’s just terrible. All of it.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I called home yesterday, and now they’re raising the rent on Mom, and she can’t afford it, you know?”
He sighed, shifting his walking stick forward in time with his steps. “When it rains it just straight pours now, doesn’t it?”
I nodded.
“How’re you holding up?”
I shrugged. “I’m all right. Honestly, I’m pretty worried about them. I want to do all I can to help, and I thought coming up here would relieve her a little financially. I mean, I plan on sending her as much of my checks as possible, but I don’t think it’s enough.” I swallowed. Now I just had to find the guts to ask the question.
Now, or never. “Actually . . . I was wondering if you have any staff positions open, like maybe night security, or something? I thought I could pick up another job while I’m up here.”
He stopped walking, tapping his stick to the ground a few times while he stared out at the glassy lake. “You know, I can’t say off the top of my head. But, I’d like to help if I can. I’ll be busy with meetings all day, but why don’t you swing by my house after dinner tonight? I’ll have a chat with the department leads and see what’s needed.”
“I really appreciate it.”
He clapped my shoulder and nodded toward the path. “Glad you asked. We’ll see what we can do.”
TEN
-Emery-
A tall, tan, dream of a guy was waiting around for me outside the cafeteria after breakfast the morning after our awesome pick up game. The one where I basically blew a gasket over losing. I was right. I did lose sleep over that game. Tucker’s last shot was a jump-shot from just behind the free-throw line, and I almost got a hand on it. If I had jumped a little higher, I would’ve blocked him, but I didn’t.
“Hey, Emery,” Tucker said, approaching me, a whiff of mint riding the air between us. He winced a little, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. “Look. I wanted to make sure we’re still cool after basketball last night. I didn’t realize you were so competitive.”
I sighed, hating the way I let that side of me come out. But seriously. Basketball was the beast inside me that couldn’t be tamed. “Sorry I was so rude. I don’t like losing.”
“Got that part.” He snapped his fingers in a rhythm as we walked past the outdoor food court and the chapel. We turned left and made our way up the steep path to the first set of cabins, a cool and gentle breeze tugging at the loose hairs around my face.
“Where’s that side of you come from anyway?” he asked.
“What, my competitive side?” It would have been nice to just forget about it and move on.
“Ha. Sure. Let’s call it competitive. I mean, it wasn’t like you wanted to murder me when I banked that last shot, or anything.”
“My brothers always held me to their standards,” I interjected. If he was bent on knowing the truth, fine. “They were relentless about teasing me. I wanted to be as good as they were. Actually, that’s not true. I wanted to be better than they were, so I could have my chance at payback.”
“Did you get it?”
“The day I finally showed them all up. They’ve been my biggest fans ever since.”
He rubbed his chin, a small smile curling at the corners of his mouth. A smile that made my embarrassment fade somewhere into the background. “I think it’s pretty cool, Chuck. You have some serious game. If you want another shot at me, you got it.”
“Game on,” I said, probably with a little too much confidence, but he caught me off guard last night. Lauren seriously laid into me about him after dinner, and I wasn’t completely there for our game.
“Ready for a big clean up?” he asked, leading me toward the set of rustic cabins ahead.
“Ready as possible,” I said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear as we entered the second cabin. “What kind of clean up are we doi—” a nasty death-scent curled thick through the air--sour, and putrid, and worse than pungent--stealing the rest of my question, nearly choking me out completely. I gasped and cringed.
He covered his nose and set a hand on my elbow, guiding me back outside. We doubled over, gagging. My eyes watered, an intense thrum pounding in my ears, bile shooting to my throat.
“Holy cow.” I was willing my stomach to settle, but it was being a complete rebel. “What was that?”
He pulled the bottom of his shirt up to wipe his eyes. “Oh, man. They said it was bad, but I thought they were just overreacting.”
“Who? And . . . what?”
“The cleaning crew.” He blew another breath and stood up, nodding toward the road. “I guess someone put a dead rat in the toilet as a prank. We’re going to need masks for this. Come on.”
I followed him down the hill, back up past the courts, and further up to the maintenance yard, grateful for the crisp morning air to soothe my burning lungs.
“Mm. I think I might be having second thoughts about Maintenance,” I said, still on the verge of losing my breakfast. I didn’t have a weak stomach, but that scent rivaled the worse I’d ever smelled.
He grinned. “Come on, Chuck. Don’t let one disgusting carcass change your mind.”
Ha. Too late for that. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” I mumbled, biting back a wicked grin.
“What?”
“Oh. Nothing.” I shook my head, instantly regretting the fact that I’d let it slip. One face came to mind when he’d said it, but that relationship was over. The fact that I was still hurt didn’t mea
n I needed to keep trying to punish Nick. “Nothing nice, anyway. I shouldn’t repeat it.”
Tucker frowned, tilting his head, pointing to himself. “Is it about me?”
“No. Just, never mind.”
Tucker stopped and turned to face me, setting a hand on my arm, sending strange warm jolts through my system. He stooped to level his eyes with mine. “If you don’t say it, I’ll assume it’s about me. And if it’s about me, I won’t quit until I know. So, spill.”
I lifted a shoulder, cheeks reddening as I turned my eyes to the empty rec field beside us. He was becoming a friend, but he was still my crew lead, and I didn’t need him thinking I was making jokes about him. “Really. It’s nothing. You said not to let a disgusting carcass change my mind and I thought of my ex. You know. A carcass that changed my mind?” I blew a deep breath, hating the fact that I thought of him at all. “But that’s super mean. So, I wasn’t going to repeat it.” Nick did have his redeeming qualities. He came to all my games. He always took the street side when we went on walks. And then, there was so much tenderness in the way he kissed me.
Help me get over him, God. I know he wasn’t right for me.
Tucker scoffed, shaking his head. “You told me what he did to you, Emery.” He sighed, his thumb stroking my skin, sending more waves through my system. “It’s okay to be mad about it.”
“I know.” My eyes fell to his hand, still on my arm, and it felt good enough that I would have been fine if he kept it there. “But I’m tired of thinking about him at all. It’s like, why can’t my heart just forget it, and let me move on with my life?” I did everything I could think to keep my emotions at bay, but they bubbled up beneath the surface and stung in my nose. Hopefully Tucker couldn’t tell.
His grip loosened, his free hand trailing my other arm, causing goosebumps to rise across my skin, before he took a step back, releasing me completely. He rubbed the nape of his neck and sniffed. “Look. I don’t know what this guy did to earn a spot in your heart in the first place, but it happens. All you can do now is build your life out from here, you know? Maybe he was a mistake. Hopefully you learned something from it, right?”
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