"So...you've gotten pretty close with Kalen recently."

"So what if I have?"

Franny eyed me with a cool suspicion, but it wasn't in anger.  Curiosity shone in her eyes, and I rolled my own at the fact that she was being so aloof instead of coming right out to say what she was thinking like she normally did with her trademark blunt honesty. 

"Are you sure you know what you're doing there?"

Pinning her hair up in the mirror after turning her entire body towards mine in our shared dorm, her worry and concern for me shone through and I abandoned the books and laptop on the bed in front of me to give her my full attention. 

"Honestly?  I have no fucking clue what I'm doing most of the time, I just hope that whatever happens doesn't end up with me having my heart broken."

Again. 

But she didn't really need to know that part about her older brother. 

No one needed to know about that. 

Especially not after the way he'd been treating me and everyone else the entire semester that we'd shared. 

"Gracie...I know my brother has probably warned you off him at least a hundred times but...you'll be careful around him, right?  I mean, you snuck out to see him last night and didn't come back until the morning.  I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I know you are.  I'm being careful with him, I swear.  We haven't even...it's not like we're in a relationship or anything.  We're just...hanging out, I guess?  I'm not seeing anyone else aside from him, but from what I can tell he's not seeing anyone else either.  We don't really talk about that stuff around each other."

"Then what do you talk about?"

"I don't know...life?  Our past, our families, what they expect of us.  His father's a serious asshole, you know that.  What he said to me at the funeral?  It's nothing compared to how he treats Kalen.  We talk about the NBA and about where I want to work after I graduate.  It's not like he's only about sex, because he hasn't even tried to go there with me, not yet anyway."

"And do you want him to go there?"

I leveled her with a blank stare, my eyebrows raised suggestively. 

"You've seen him.  What do you think?"

"Well, while I do prefer the female figure, I can definitely see that man's appeal.  Yes, it's pretty obvious how much you want him.  But what if it becomes something serious?  Is your dad going to be even remotely okay with that?"

"No.  Not one bit."

I shuddered at the thought of what my father would say if I brought home the son of the man who helped destroy his marriage, and in turn, his life—at least from the way he would frame it in his mind. 

My father never did like to own up to his own shortcomings and face the fact that his marriage dissolving didn't occur overnight, and he had just as much a hand in the destruction of it as my mother did. 

His drinking didn't start miraculously one day, no.  It had been a slow decline into his addiction, one that I saw him fight with and lose every single night, day, and occasional mornings. 

"So, you're going to keep it casual?"

Thinking back to the night before, laying on that blanket with Kalen as his strong arms surrounded me, I realized that no, I didn't want to keep it casual. 

Never in a million years would I let that spark I felt with him dissipate in a flurry of casual sex and meaningless touches. 

"Hell no."

"Does he know that?"

"...also, no."

"Gracie!"

I grabbed a pillow behind me and threw it at my best friend, who artfully dodged it with a grace I didn't possess.

"What?"

"Are you going to tell him you don't want to be casual?"

"Not yet.  It's way too soon.  We've only been interested in each other for a few weeks, and even then, I'm waiting on him to bring it up."

"Oh please, don't tell me you're scared?"

"Scared?  No, I just don't want to push things before they're ready to be pushed."

Alright.  Maybe I was a little scared?  So?  A little fear never hurt anyone. 

It was beneficial to approach a situation with a modicum of caution before jumping headlong into something that could cause destruction to one's emotions. 

And Kalen?  He could do a number on each and every emotion inside of me, even that terrifying one that started with the letter L.

"Sounds to me like you're scared."

"So what if I am?"

"Oh, Gracie.  My little girl is growing up, her first big girl relationship and everything!"

"If I had another pillow to throw at you, your face would be red right now."

Her laughter bounced off the walls of our small dorm, and her smile was contagious as my own lips drew upward into a wry grin. 

"Come on, we have a basketball game to attend."

I rolled my eyes, suppressing a groan as I pushed off the bed and to my feet, grateful that I'd gotten ready for the game hours earlier so that I could pay more attention to my homework than how I looked, nervous for Kalen's reaction to me wearing his team's colors. 

"Are you sure this is alright to wear?"

Franny eyed me with satisfaction. 

The painted on jeans and cropped t-shirt were her idea.  The braided pigtails and ribbons on the ends of my hair?  Also her idea.

"Come on.  Let's go watch you man while I watch my woman cheer on your man."

***

After finding seats in the crowded sea of people gathered to watch Kalen and the team play for their first real game of the season, I couldn't help but remember the text he'd sent me earlier telling me where to sit in the stands so that he could see me when he came out. 

Sure enough, his eyes were glued to mine the moment I looked across the court, finding him immediately amongst a swath of green and white, their uniforms all blending in with one another, but Kalen was impossible to overlook. 

His dark hair was like a beacon, the silver of his eyes pinning me to the spot with the force of his stare. 

He threw me a wink before focusing on his team, and I held my breath as the game began. 

Kalen's team had the ball first, and I watched with bated breath as Colby motioned for one of his teammates to pass him the ball but overlooked him. 

Back and forth, up and down the court they went as the squeak of their shoes reverberated in the lofty gym. 

Shouting began down at the end of the court as Franny gripped my arm. 

"What's going on?"

"I don't know..."

"Looks like someone's getting into a fight."

The sound of the buzzer exploded in the gym as the crowd all began murmuring in confusion and worry at once, the sound a buzzing cacophony in my ears. 

And of course, Colby was right there in the middle of it. 

Another player was practically on top of Colby, his face contorted in anger as he yelled in Colby's face.  I could practically see the spittle from the other player's mouth landing on his face. 

Kalen strode up to the fighting players and placed himself in the middle of the brawl, but the other player took it upon himself to shove Kalen out of the way and suddenly I was on my feet, breath caught in my throat as my heart beat double time in fear and worry in what was about to happen next. 

Though we couldn't hear the words coming from the other player's mouth, it was obviously full of hatred and vitriol. 

"Surely someone will do something..."

Franny gripped me even tighter when Colby shoved the other player and then suddenly Colby was hit with enough force to knock a few teeth out of his head. 

"Shit!  What's up with my brother always picking fights just to lose them anyway?"

"It's that infamous Colby temper he never seemed to grow out of."

"Yeah, you're probably right.  Come on, I need to get closer.  Mom and dad are not going to like this one.  I think they're down closer to the sidelines."

As the brawl was broken up with Kalen pulling the two men off of one another, a whistle was blown and suddenly we made it down closer to where the benches were laid out for our team. 

I had just taken a few more steps forward, squeezing through the thick crowd on their feet until I was close enough to see the angry lilt of Kalen's down turned mouth.

One more step and then there was a man blocking my path, the very same man who'd crashed my mother's funeral and basically called me a slut to my face. 

Kalen's father stood tall enough to block out the view of the entire court, and his eyes were trained solely on me as his son peeked over the shoulder of his broad frame, something like panic on his features. 

Tilting my head up at him, a cruel smile played over my lips as Franny came to a halt beside me when she noticed my way forward was blocked. 

"Mr. Rush.  I'd say it was nice to see you again, but then that would be lying."

"I could say the same for you, Miss Gatlin."

His smile was just as lethal as his son's. 

Our eyes met across the court, and that was when the real fight began, though I wasn't so sure this one would be broken up so easily. 

***

Author's note:

What did you think of this chapter?

What do you think will happen next?

What do you want to happen next?

What is your favorite scene of this story so far?

Favorite character?

I love to hear your thoughts on what's happening, please let me know in the comments if you have any questions about the story going forward!

Until next time my lovely readers,
Kristen :)