Chapter four
453 Words
She’s fast.
Not just physically—though she can shoot and move better than most guys I’ve seen at court—but mentally. Sharp. Too sharp for her own good.
Every word she throws at me? Calculated. Honest. Dangerous.
And for some damn reason, I can’t stop circling her.
Emily.
She wasn’t supposed to stick in my head.
She’s dribbling again, all focus and fire. Her bottom lip caught between her teeth, hair tied up messily, one piece curling near her ear.
I haven’t moved in the last five seconds. Not because I can’t.
Because I don’t want to.
She spins, comes close, flicks her wrist—miss.
“Lucky,” I say.
“Or maybe I’m just distracted by your oversized ego.”
I smirk.
I can feel her heartbeat in the air.
This isn’t just a game anymore.
“You didn’t ask if I play,” she says quietly, catching the rebound.
“I noticed. That day in the psych lab. The way you stand. You’re someone who’s used to moving. Controlled chaos.”
Her brows rise slightly.
“You studied me?”
“No,” I lie.
But I’ve been studying her since the moment she stood up in class and challenged me like I was nothing.
Like I wasn’t Dante Valtieri.
Like she could see past all of it—my name, my reputation, the noise.
It unsettled me.
And I liked it.
She steps forward, ball tucked under her arm.
“You’re not even trying.”
“I don’t want to break your ego too early,” I tease.
She scoffs, turning away.
And I—
I move before I can stop myself.
One step. Two.
I reach out and gently grab her wrist.
She freezes.
“Why do you keep running?” I ask.
“From what?”
“From letting someone in.”
The gym lights cast gold over her skin. She looks up at me, something in her expression shifting—barely.
Vulnerability.
A crack in her usually perfect walls.
“Don’t do that,” she whispers.
“What?”
“Talk like you know me.”
“Maybe I do.”
“You don’t.”
But she doesn’t pull her hand back.
And I don’t let go.
We’re breathing the same air now.
So close I can see the flecks of gold in her brown eyes.
I should step back.
But I don’t.
“If I win,” I murmur, “you tell me something real about you.”
“And if I win?”
“I’ll tell you something I’ve never told anyone.”
That gets her.
She blinks, swallows, then nods.
“Okay.”
The ball bounces once between us.
Game on.
- Writer
