Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
ALEX
“That looks hard,” Millie stated, climbing onto the chair beside me.
I sighed. “It is hard. It’s biology.”
“What’s biology?”
“Really hard science.”
The girl’s face scrunched in disgust. “Ew.”
Ew was right. Nodding, I focused my attention on my work once again.
Millie had been with me since the morning.
Now it was five p.m., and after helping her with her own homework, I finally had the time to sit down and do my own.
But judging by the raspberries my niece continuously blew, she was bored.
One could only play the same games so many times before they grew tired of them, which meant I was her next source of entertainment.
“Maybe I can help,” she suggested cheerily.
I did not respond, hoping that she would take my silence as an answer and let me focus. How na?ve of me. Instead, the girl picked up my pencil and began scribbling numbers in my notebook, which had all my formulas.
I snatched the pencil from her. “Millie, what the f…. heck? You know better than that.”
Millie, as unbothered as ever, shrugged. “I was trying to help.”
My lips parted, unable to fathom how calm and uncaring she was. Eight years old was too old to behave like that and not know it was wrong—she did it on purpose.
But I did not have the time to discipline her, so I settled on shooting her a stern glare before going back to my assignment.
When she remained quiet beside me, I assumed I was in the clear.
That was until she took it upon herself to answer one of my assignment questions.
She hit the ‘submit’ button on my laptop, and the button flashed red.
There go five points.
“Stop!” I shouted slightly louder than intended. “Are you trying to be difficult?”
Millie jumped at my voice rising, but her face showed no signs of remorse.
That should have ticked me off, but instead it created an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
It made me feel sorry for her. Before speaking again, I shut my eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to calm both my nerves and the uneasiness in my chest.
“I’m sorry.” I shut my laptop. With a sympathetic smile, I reached a hand out to her. “I didn’t mean to yell.”
She took my hand but rolled her eyes at me. Rolled them. This was my sign never to have kids. Maybe it was time for some fresh air. Mostly for me, not her.
I squeezed her hand in mine. “What do you say we go for a walk and hang out somewhere that isn’t this tiny apartment? Clear our heads?”
Millie rolled her lips as she thought about it. She eventually smiled—a half smile, but a smile nonetheless. “I guess.”
I had Mills pick up her school items and stuff them into her bag while I did the same. She already knew the drill; we would walk around campus for a bit and then settle down in a quiet area outside to finish our work.
My sister worked two jobs and could not afford to spend her money on childcare, so I didn’t mind stepping up, especially since my parents weren’t kind enough to do so.
I helped her with homework, fed her, and put her to bed, all on top of doing the things that I had to do for myself, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was tired of it.
I was, but it was better than watching Anna and Millie struggle.
We strolled around campus for a while, the peaceful atmosphere easing some of the stress in my muscles.
As we walked and I searched for a secluded area for us to settle down, I realized we were passing the old outdoor basketball courts.
The concrete courts were in a less-populated area of campus, and only a few students used them since the new, shiny ones were built.
Two people were shooting around on separate courts, and as we got closer, I recognized the tall, lean-muscled build of the guy on the court closest to me.
I nudged Millie to sit on the nearby bench while my feet stalked closer to the fence of the court, as if at the center was a magnet and it was dragging me toward it.
River gnawed on his bottom lip as he bent his legs and sprang upward, letting the ball fly through the net seamlessly. I thought back to the times when I’d watch him practice, back when he couldn’t get the ball through the net with just a flick of the wrist. He had come so far.
I looped my fingers into the fence and shouted, “Slam dunk!”
River had just caught the bouncing ball when he froze at the sound of my voice. His head snapped my way, and it took a second of squinting before his lips curled into a grin.
“That was corny,” he couldn’t help but chuckle as he yelled.
I scoffed, feigning offense. “Was that not a slam dunk?”
The fence rattled when River pressed up against it, his free fingers curling in the holes. “Nah. I’d show you a slam dunk if I had the right shoes on.”
My eyes fell to his red sneakers, which were at least three sizes too big. “Whose are those?”
River let the ball rest between his arm and hip. “Carson’s. He has giant Hulk feet, but my shoes were soaked from walking home in the rain, and I can’t afford to skip my nightly practices. I made do with what I had.”
I curled my fingers in the hole in the fence beside Rivers. “How can you even play like that?”
“I can play with shoes too big, barefoot, and with my shoelaces tied together,” he smirked. When I made a face of disbelief, he asked, “You don’t think so?”
“Barefoot? Sure, but not with your shoelaces tied together.”
River let the basketball fall out of his hold, leaned forward, and looped the fingers on his now free hand through the holes. “I could beat you in a game with my shoelaces tied.”
Would he get this close if the fence weren’t a barrier between us?
My nostrils flared. “I doubt it.”
“Wanna bet?”
Heat swarmed in my chest. “Bet.”
One quick match—one that I would win in less than five minutes because there was no way River could competitively play with his shoelaces tied. Then, Millie and I would finish our assignments, go back home, and settle in for the night.
“Awesome,” his tone was low and enticing. “But when I win, I get a wish.”
A wish? What did I have that River would wish for?
Whatever. Even though I was sure I could win, I wasn’t about to risk selling my soul to River over some game. But when I fixed my lips to say no, an idea popped into my head.
“Fine. When I win, you have to answer one question from me completely honestly,” I stated. “No matter the question.”
His smirk wavered, but he quickly regained composure. “Bet.”
I glanced over my shoulder to find Millie on the bench like I had asked, studiously finishing her homework by herself. Good. Her struggles with homework would occupy her long enough for me to wipe the floor with my foggy-memoried childhood friend.
I slung my backpack off my shoulder and tossed it onto the damp grass. “Get ready to eat your colossal ego, River.”
River unlocked the gate to the court and told me to get ready. When I asked if we were going to warm up, he accused me of prolonging the inevitable—my loss. I snatched the ball from his grasp and went to center court, feeling more competitive than I ever had.
“Shall I go over the rules?” River asked in a terrible British accent.
“I’m not stupid,” I spoke dryly.
“I wouldn’t expect someone who doesn’t really like the game to know the rules.”
I dribbled the ball in place, but my eyes remained on his. “How do you know I don’t like the game?”
River’s eyes widened before he cleared his throat. “You said so.”
Or he remembered I had never liked it growing up. The only times I ever played were solely because I wanted to play with him, and those were very few. He knew that.
I hummed. “Did I? I don’t remember telling you that.”
“Well, you did,” he stated quickly, but firmly, leaving no room for more denial. He crouched down and tied his shoelaces, but kept his head peering up at me. “You ready to lose, Pierce?”
There wasn’t one nervous bone in River’s body. Was it too late to back out? “You’re super cocky.”
“Nope, just confident.” He winked. “First to five wins.”
Once I could see that he was ready, I went into athletic-Alex mode.
I was never terrible at sports; I just didn’t care for them too much.
The continuous running back and forth and the gnawing anxiety of messing up were huge turnoffs.
I was lucky my parents never had a dream of me being a star athlete.
Dad always said sports were a waste of time, and only those who weren’t smart enough to excel in school chose sports instead.
A piece of my heart broke each time he said that, because River chose sports, yet he was the smartest person I knew.
And I had chosen school, but my subpar grades proved I didn’t have a talent for it.
So if not sports and not school, what did I have?
The overwhelming stress that followed me closer than my own shadow?
Shoving the derogatory thoughts into the back of my mind, I advanced with the ball.
River, watching my moves closely, didn’t make any sudden movements.
He was trying to predict my movements, but his stance was awkward and unnatural, as it was hard to stand athletically with his shoelaces tied together.
I dodged to the right, and he darted in the same direction with his arms out wide, blocking me. It would’ve worked for him had he not tripped over himself. As he barely caught himself before colliding with the ground, I used the opportunity to secure my first point with a layup.
I ran up to him with the ball in my hands and a big-ass grin. River was still on the ground, but he was sitting upright and leaning on his hands behind him. I towered over him for once, and it only made my smile grow wider. “Still confident?”
But his smirk never faltered. “As ever.”