Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 122514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Really.
I swallowed tightly. “The Chasers?” My stomach twisted up.
“Yep. Yep. They’re playing the Seattle Thunder, who seem to be the fucking team to beat this year. I kinda miss the old days when Johnston played, you know? He would’ve shut Forster down hard.”
I couldn’t help myself. “But Forster, Cartion, and Crusky?”
He sighed, resigning himself. “I know.” He settled into his seat. “Thunder’s stacked this year. They don’t usually have so many heavy hitters. Chasers are hurting. They need to plan better for their team, but we can get there. I know it. Give us another year, and Thunder wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“That’s your opinion.” I waited.
He registered the dig and looked over, his eyes wide. “You must be a Thunder fan?”
“Kinda.”
“Not Coyotes? We flew from Minneapolis.”
“Not this year.”
He groaned. “God, you’re one of those.”
I knew where he was going, but I wanted him to say it. I wanted him to squirm as he said it.
I blinked my eyes, so wide and pure. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Right.” He snorted, facing forward again as the flight attendant came with the garbage bag. “You’re a fair-weather fan. Those are the worst.” He side-eyed me, smirking. “No offense.”
I snorted right back, clipping my seatbelt in place. The descent would still take a while, but I wasn’t going anywhere. “I’ve always been a Thunder fan, and I’ve always been a Forster fan. Don’t underestimate the Reese, man. He’s going to be the GOAT one day.”
He groaned, and a couple of the other passengers glanced over. He waved at me. “Sorry. She just told me Forster’s going to be the GOAT one day.”
A guy a few rows back yelled, “Reese Forster? You kidding? The guy can’t rebound for the life of him. He’s gotta depend on his teammates.”
Yeah. Oh-kay, my seatbelt was off, and I twisted around. I rested an arm against the back of my seat so I could properly see my target. It was a bigger guy who, no surprise, had a Chasers ball cap on.
“Excuse me? What are you talking about that he can’t rebound? Who cares? He’s not on the inside. Wanna know what he does excel at?”
“Everything else?” said a woman from the other aisle. She and her friend started laughing together.
“And he doesn’t look too bad, either,” her friend added as they collapsed in laughter.
I had to pause, fighting back a grin, before finishing, “He led in scoring five out of the last seven games. He’s led in steals most always. His balls skills are close to Stephen Halorry, another legend in the league, and his floater balls can come in damned handy—and yes, they can win an entire game. Thank you.”
I was not done.
Raising a finger, I continued. “No, he doesn’t lead in rebounds, but that’s why they have Crusky, or Lestroy even. And no, he doesn’t lead in three-pointers, but seriously, he’s really good at those too. He’s the youngest captain that team has ever had, and that’s a feat all by itself.”
I needed a breath. My face was getting hot.
And once I stopped, I started noticing the looks.
A few guys wanted to argue, but the guy beside me was just smiling. Leering, slightly. He leaned forward. “You wanna go on a date, honey? I think I could get tickets to the Chasers game.”
I couldn’t stop myself. My retort came before I knew I was going to say it. “Oh, fuck you.”
Half the plane erupted in laughter.
I sat back, and one of the middle-aged ladies waved at me. “You go, girl. You put those men in their place. They ain’t used to girls knowing about sports.”
As I put my seatbelt back on, I noticed my neighbor eyeing me. “What?”
“I’m not hitting on you—I have a girlfriend in New York—but do you wanna go to the game? I’m sure my friend would have room for one more. I didn’t know you were that big of a fan.”
I wanted to huff, but only because I was still feeling spicy. Instead, I shook my head. “I think I’m already going with the friend I’m flying in to see.”
“Okay. Well, if I see you, I’ll give you a shout.”
“Same here.”
The fight drained from me once we landed, and I headed for the exit. My seat neighbor ended up keeping pace with me. We both had only carry-ons, so once we were outside, I waved Trent down and turned to him. “You got a ride coming?”
“Yeah…” But he was looking at Trent, his eyes narrowed.
Then, as Trent’s SUV pulled over and he got out to meet me, my neighbor’s eyes went wide. “Fuck, man. I thought we were meeting at the game tomorrow?”
Uh…back up. Screeching brake sounds.
Trent stopped, and his shocked gaze jumped between the two of us. He scratched the back of his head. “Um. Huh?”
“Give me a hug, man. It’s good to see you. I don’t know how you—” He stopped, catching on that Trent was staring just as hard at me. “Oooh.” He motioned between us. “You two know each other?”