1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two by unknow
Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 1001 Dark Nights, bundle, J. Kenner, Kennedy Ryan, Darynda Jones, Heather Graham, romance
Publisher: 1001 Dark Nights Press
Published: 2023-12-18T18:30:00+00:00
Chapter Twenty-One
Takira
âWhatâs up, Tee?â my brother asks, sounding like half his attention is on our conversation and half elsewhere.
âYou got a sec?â
âAnything for my little sis,â he says, still sounding absentminded.
âWhat did I interrupt?â I find myself smiling in spite of his distractedness.
âI was drawing up some plays.â
âItâs summer. The season wonât start âtil the fall. Youâve got some time.â
âTrue, but I canât stop thinking about what we might do next year. We got a great group of guys.â He sighs. âAnyway, lemme stop. My baby sister is on the line. Big-time stylist to the stars.â
Thereâs no mockery in his voice, only pride, and the tightness in my chest eases. Heâs been through a lot; heâs put us through a lot, but when it comes down to it, heâs still my big brother who I loved more than just about anything growing up, even when he was a jerk. In spite of it all, heâs still my Trini twin.
âI donât want to hold you.â I clear my throat. âSo Iâll get right to it. Iâm seeing someone.â
âAhhh,â he says, teasing, knowing. âBoy or girl?â
I release a shallow, nervous laugh. âBoy.â
âWell, tell me about him. He must be special. You never bother telling me about the jerks you meet on Tinder and shit.â
âYou, uh, you know him, actually.â
âFor real? Know him like a celebrity out there in Hollywood, or know himââ
âPersonally. You knew him back in the day.â Impatience with my own stalling rushes the words out of me. âItâs Nazareth, uhâ¦Naz Armstrong.â
My words reverberate in the silence that follows them.
âWhat the fuck, Tee?â he explodes. âYou shitting me?â
I flinch. Even braced for his disapproval, Iâm still shaken by his anger. âNo, I ran into him in LA andââ
âAnd out of all the guys you couldâve fucked, it had to be him? The one who took my place? Ruined everything for me? Is that it? Wanted you a baller?â He expels a harsh breath. âMy own sister. Chasing clout and giving up ass forââ
âFuck you, Cliff,â I say, my voice low and lethal in a way I reserve for him when heâs showing his ass. âI love you, and itâs been hard to watch whatâs happened to you since that game, but you made those choices. It wasnât Nazâs fault. None of it. You hit that coach. You started using. Accept responsibility for it.â
âYou have no idea how it feels to have everyone turn on you.â His voice hardens, sounding so brittle Iâm afraid it will break. âTo have all you did your whole life count for nothing because of one bad call.â
Iâm not sure if he means that refâs bad call, or his bad decision-making in the wake of it, but I let him go on.
âAnd you donât know how it burns,â he says, the words seething from hundreds of miles away, âto see someone you know is less talented get it all. Get the scholarship that was meant for you. Get drafted instead of you. Win a ring instead of you.
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