Basketball
Jake
“Maybe one day you’ll learn to beat me,” I tell Zane bouncing the ball around on my outdoor court and shooting it straight into the basket for the third time in a row.
“It might be today,” Zane breathes, struggling to grab the ball, “you seem distracted.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean it’s been an hour and you’ve only made seven points to my five. Two more and I’ll beat you for the first time. Like now,” he launched himself forward but I dodge the attack, sprinting down the court, the ball bouncing rhythmically beneath my sneakers.
“Nice try, Zane,” I tell him, “I’m not that distracted.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing.”
I dribble the ball back to court with a series of crossovers to evade his outstretched hands.
“Yeah? Doesn’t have anything to do with a certain cute brunette you’ve not been able to get your eyes off?”
“What?” even before he finishes the sentence the sexually appealing image of Anastasia running her little pink tongue across her bottom lips flashes in my mind’s eye.
Fuck, that girl can be the hottest point of the sun and she wouldn’t even noti—
Zane drags the ball from my hand with one swift move, his laughter echoing in the empty court.
“I knew it had something to do with your assistant.”
He launches himself into a high-arcing jump shot, the ball swishing through the net for two points.
“Seven, bitch!” he yells doing a tiny weird dance, “that’s seven to your fucking seven!”
I shoot him a disgusted look, “One minute tops and I’ll beat you to it.”
“Nope,” he lets the ball bounce and wipes sweat out of his brow, “I’m finally able to be at par with you and you think I’m willing to jeopardize that?”
He taps my shoulder and jogs backward, “Game over, Keaton. Come tell me about the brunette hottie at work.”
I shake my head amused, following him back towards the house. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“There is enough going on for her to get inside your head. I’ve never seen you lose a game before.”
“I didn’t lose.”
“That’s close enough to losing for you,” he points back at the court as we enter the house through the back door, “You’ve got to tell me, Jake.”
“There is nothing going on.”
“Great.”
“Why is that great?”
He shrugs. “It means I can make a move on h—”
“Is your life that meaningless to you that you wish to lose it?”
He smiles a triumphant smile, “Knew it. You absolutely cannot have that kind of beauty in your office—”
“You’re really willing to lose your life”
“And not want to fu—”
I shoot him a look and he clamps his mouth shut.
“So, what’s the deal?”
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and gulp down half of it before replying him. “Like I said nothing. I can't risk it with Anastasia.”
He quirks a brow. “Why?”
“She is my assistant.”
“And?”
I give him a hard stare. “I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
“There is a first time for everything.”
I shake my head. “Anastasia is too . . . innocent. She doesn’t deserve to deal with all the darkness that comes with me.”
“You’re probably right. But she should have a say if she wants it or not.”
“No!”
“Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe, just maybe, she wants to blur the lines of business and pleasure more than a little bit.”
I think of the way she melted in my arms when I kissed her, the willingness of her body . . . the innocence in her eyes.
“No. . . ” I don’t know much about her past, the only things I was able to find out were scrapes and scabs but I know enough to know that her childhood wasn’t all roses and rainbows.
… I’m too damaged to be perfect…
She doesn’t deserve to suffer any more than she probably already has and that is exactly what is going to happen if I decide to make her mine.
No, I’m fine with the sex and dump scene. If I get attached to the people in my life . . .
Zane prods again, “Jake—”
“I’m not risking it!”
Why does no one seems to understand that she is SUPPOSED to be my cure?
Not my fucking obsession.
“You know how I get, you know what happened to the other women,” I tell him, “Don’t act like I can love like a normal person, Zane. You know how broken they end up after me. I cannot risk that with her. I absolutely cannot be obsessed with her.”
Zane gives me a hard look, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “Then you have to work harder than you are doing, friend, because you’re already halfway there!”