This Round I'm Yours (12 page)

The paramedic gave her a questioning look. “Is that okay with you, ma’am?”
 

Silver’s words flashed in her mind.
 

Whatever he wants you to do, do it.

She managed a nod.
 

The paramedic led her towards the ambulance, Alfred walking alongside them. As she was made to lie back on the stretcher, the paramedic murmured, “It’s going to be okay, Miss.
Everything’s under control.
”

Her eyes flew to the man speaking, but his face remained expressionless before he turned away and began talking to Alfred. The ambulance doors shut, and the man still wasn’t done asking Alfred questions, not even when the ambulance pulled out.

Lace closed her eyes.

She had a feeling those questions would continue all the way to the hospital, ensuring she and Alfred had no time to be alone with each other.

She had an urge to cry, but she willed the tears away, knowing it would only make Alfred mad or even suspicious.

I love you, Wyndham. Remember that.

The urge to cry strengthened, but she fought against it.

I love you, too, March. I wish I could have told you that.

Bad Choices

The only time Lace hoped for everyone to be a no-show, and the whole world just had to turn up for the game between Christopoulos University and Northwest. Even worse, the entire front row behind her team was taken up by bikers of the Afxisi. Once word about their collective presence spread, she knew just about every girl within one hundred meters would show up as well.

Behind her, Alfred muttered, “Go and talk to them. I know you’re friends with the head of the racing club.”

Not bothering to answer, she reluctantly made her way to where her friends were seated. Her eyes felt scratchy, her whole body heavy, and it was all she could do not to break down. The whole night she had been at the hospital, Lace had been unable to sleep, fearing Alfred would do something the moment she did.

When she reached the front row, KC, along with Aria and her boyfriend Kellion, immediately stood up.
 

“Are you all right?” KC asked immediately. “I kept calling you and texting you since I heard about last night’s scare.”

“I’m sorry.” She hadn’t been able to answer, not with her phone in Alfred’s possession. “I was just too…tired. And I wanted to rest, as much as I could, for today’s game.”

Did the words sound as lame to them
, Lace wondered,
as it did to her?
 

She hoped not. She didn’t think she could lie any better than that, and she really didn’t want them to ask any more questions, didn’t want any of them to draw enough attention from Alfred and have them unknowingly force his hand.

Deciding to change the subject, she asked brightly, “Did someone lose a bet or something?” She gestured to the bikers behind them, their Greek god-like faces stoic as they did their best to ignore the girls screaming their club’s name over and over from the bleachers.

Aria wrote something on her board and showed it to Lace.
LOSER.

“What she means,” Kellion said hastily, “is that she was worried about you because you’re too much like her. So she asked me if I could get the entire club to watch your game for moral support.”

“All that from the word ‘loser’?” Lace asked doubtfully.

“Well,” Kellion said in a modest voice, “I can’t help it if we love each other so much we can read each other’s minds.” Kellion had barely finished speaking when his girlfriend kicked him in the shin, causing him to grunt.

Despite everything, she couldn’t help smiling a little, knowing that Aria right now was being at her most affectionate. “Thanks, I guess.” Behind her, the warning buzzer went off, telling them they had five minutes left before the game started.

KC stepped forward to give her a hug, whispering into Lace’s ear, “Everything’s under control, Lace.”

She froze.

When KC pulled away, Lace saw her friend’s green eyes bright with tears. “Do you remember,” KC said shakily, “what you told me when I was having problems with…
him
?”

Lace nodded.

“The game’s not over until it’s over.”

Lace said seriously, “Don’t make me cry. I’ll never forgive—ouch!” KC had smacked her on the head. “What was that for?”
 

“So you won’t cry,” KC answered with a teary smile.

Another buzz, and Lace knew she had to go. “Thanks, KC.” And then she was hurrying towards the dugout. She ran as quickly as she could, not wanting to give Alfred a chance to talk to her. Right now, she didn’t think she could manage to pretend in any way.

Inside the locker room, everyone was already suited up, and they straightened in attention the moment she came inside. Alfred coming up behind her with his camera had them stiffening. She held her breath, but when none of them said a word about it, Lace allowed herself to relax.

“So…are you guys ready?”

“Hell yeah.” Or at least that was what she thought they said since everyone had just spoken in Greek.

She made a face. “You guys know I didn’t understand that, right?”

But her boys just laughed.

“We’ll do our best to make you proud,” Ivan said. “We might not have been playing together for as long as they have, but then…” He smiled. “We have you in our corner, do we not?”

“And your 20-page, single-spaced, Times New Roman 9 report on our strengths and weaknesses,” Drew deadpanned. “We mustn’t forget that.”

Alexio shook his head. “If only you did the same thing for your history report, Coach.”

“Shut up.” She had forgotten about that one.

“Since we’re due a break after this, Coach, the other guys and I have been talking…” Vasyl paused before letting the penny drop. “And we’ve decided we’ll be your tutors.”

The old Lace would have rejected the offer completely.

But after everything that had happened…

“Thanks,” she said grudgingly. “I hate that you guys are smarter than me but…thanks.”

“We must be dead,” Alexio murmured. “It cannot be possible that we have just heard Coach thank us.”

“Shut up.” She would have said more if not for the crowd erupting in loud cheers outside, followed by the announcer calling out the team’s name.
 

Lace took a deep breath. “That’s us.” She managed a smile. “You ready?”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about, Coach.” Ivan patted her head. “We’ve got
everything under control
.”

Before she could say anything, everyone filed out.

In moments, it was just her and Alfred in the locker room, but strangely, she didn’t feel afraid at all.

Everything was under control.

Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe it was God’s way of reminding her to have faith. Whichever it was, she just felt like Silver was around her, had always been with her from the start.

Too. Irritatingly. Perfect.

Always knowing when she was trouble, always knowing when to help her and when to let her stumble on her own.

Too. Irritatingly. Perfect.

And she wouldn’t have him any other way.

Beside her, Alfred sneered, “Touching scene between you and those men, but you think they’ll still be like that after you make them lose?”

Sick and tired of being threatened the whole time, Lace answered back, “All I know is that I want to kill you—”

He slapped her, hard enough for Lace to taste blood from a tiny cut on her lip. “Don’t push me, bitch.” He shoved her out of the room. “Now, do what you’re fucking told before I lose my patience.”

As she joined her boys on the court, she could feel their gazes on her, making Lace want to cover her face. But she forced herself not to, knowing it would only draw more attention to her injury.

One final buzz sounded in the air then, and the crowd roared with excitement, the game officially starting as the referee blew the whistle for the jump ball.

Time flew, and Lace immersed herself completely in her role as the team’s coach. The first quarter ended in a tie, and the second half finished with CU having a two-point lead. The third quarter, Northwest fought back, Grant leading the way with two consecutive three-pointers in the last seconds, enough to give them a one-point lead.

When the last quarter rolled in, all semblance of defense had been laid to rest, with both teams focused on pure offense. Basket after basket was exchanged, the players running up and down the court, intent on converting as quickly as they could.

Behind her, Alfred hissed, “If you don’t fucking lose, your friend’s video will show up on that fucking giant screen above us.”

Lace hesitated.

“Don’t think I’m fucking bluffing, bitch.”

“Timeout,” she yelled just as the shot clock reset itself and the announcer boomed out, “Last two minutes.” A moment later, the buzzer went off. “Twenty-second timeout for Christopoulos University.”

As her team converged around her, Lace stared blindly at her playboard. It would be so, so easy to make them lose. She could give her boys a high-risk play, one that would likely result into nothing, and they’d be none the wiser. Her boys would feel bad about “failing” her while she got to save her and KC’s asses.

“Coach?”

When she looked up, she saw five pairs of eyes staring back at her, and all of them had trust in it.

These guys trusted her.
Completely.

She took a deep breath. “Here’s what we do.”

And the game resumed.

As soon as Alexio passed the ball to Vasyl, a Northwest player managed to steal, immediately scoring two points. Her face froze even as Alfred whispered to her, “Good job.”

Fuck you
, Lace thought. The play she had given her boys was meant to help them win, but it hadn’t been executed.

Ivan called for a timeout as the game clock dwindled to just twenty seconds, with Northwest leading by one and the ball returning to CU’s possession.

She closed her eyes.

Another chance to sink or swim.

“Coach?” It was Damian, and again the rareness of hearing him speak made her sit up.

“Yeah?”

“Whatever you decide is okay.
Everything’s under control
.”

When the other guys nodded, she had a feeling they knew more than they were telling. Looking in their eyes, she had a feeling they were even giving her the green light to coach them to lose.
 

Her throat clogged up.

No. Fucking. Way.

Praying KC would understand the risk she was about to take, praying she was doing the right thing, she began to draw her next play on the board. “We are going to kill this,” she muttered. “So fucking pay attention because if you do exactly what I say, we’re going to make the whole world sit up and understand CU means business.”

Another whistle, signaling the end of the timeout, and she hurriedly finished her instructions. “Got it?”

Nods all around.

Even as her heart broke a little at what she had just done, she couldn’t stop her lips from curving. “Then you’re going to fucking kill it, aren’t you?”

“HELL YEAH.”

She laughed, because this time they had all spoken in English.

But her laughter faded as soon as the clock started ticking again and the battle between Northwest and CU resumed. This time, the defense was at its stickiest, forcing her rookie point guard to improvise.
 

Good job, Vasyl,
Lace nodded as she took note of the new positions he had set up for the team.

He passed to Alexio, who faked before passing it back to Vasyl. By this time, the freshman was on the other side of the court, allowing him to dribble then pass the ball under his legs to Drew.
 

Her small forward circled around, waiting patiently while Damian and Ivan fought for control inside the paint. The two were double-teamed and even triple-teamed, Northwest scrambling to prevent Drew from passing the ball to either of the two.