Nash jogged back, and kept moving, he cut right, then went left. “See how good your aim is!” he roared at Luke.
The ball came in with the accuracy of a missile, and Nash jumped, opening his hands in an attempt to catch it, but it sailed through. Landing, he turned to watch Simon Nicks receive it in the face. He fell back, and his camera landed in his lap.
“Hey, watch it, asshole!” He rubbed his face, nose red.
Nash’s smile was in no way sweet as he ran up the steps to meet him. Once there, he leaned in, pushing his face close. “You need to head off now, shithead, or that will just be the pregame. You leave her alone, or you’ll be answerable to me, and it won’t be pretty.”
He left while the man was trying to find words. Reaching the court, he felt a tug on his shirt. Looking down, he saw Pearl from the Ryker Roadies.
“What was that about?”
“Yes, I’d like to know too,” Luna’s friend Hugo asked.
“Just letting that dickhead know she’s not alone.”
Hugo nodded his approval, the frown on his face easing slightly.
Nash had been told plenty of times how ruthless the seniors in this town could be when someone pissed them off. He wondered if he planted the seed, whether they’d do the rest.
“That guy is paparazzi and hassling Luna, Pearl.”
“The hell you say!” She shot the guy now examining his camera a look. “She gave me her face oil. My skin’s as smooth as it was when I was ten now.”
Nash looked at the cheek she touched and thought it looked no different, but he kept that to himself. Hugo also remained silent.
“I can see that.”
“You leave him to us now, Nash. Get out there and do your best.”
“Not get out there and win?”
“I want the girls to win, sorry.” She walked away.
“Nice work on threatening that asshole, he’s been making Luna’s life hell for years,” Hugo said, preparing to follow. “FYI, you hurt her, you’ll be sorry.”
You had to admire someone saying that, Nash thought. It was exactly the kind of thing he’d said to anyone who came near his sister over the years.
“Why did you let that ball hit Simon?” Luna stood behind him when he turned. Hands on hips, eyes narrowed. “That guy is not someone you should mess with.”
“Warms my heart you’re worried about me.”
“Heart? Please,” she muttered, walking away.
For some reason, that made him smile.
The game started. Their opposition was Luna, Piper, Rory and two others he didn’t know. SRR won the tip-off, as Ford was taller than all their team, but he could tell right off his team was too scared to touch or play rough with the women, and because of that they were down in a matter of minutes.
“Piper!” Luna shrieked, then fired in a ball any quarterback would be happy to get. Piper took it in the air and threw it into the basket.
“Well, shit,” Ford said.
“Wise up,” Nash said. “They’re beating us because we’re letting them.”
“Letting us?” Rory glared at him. “We ain’t letting you do squat; you’re just useless.”
“Got get ’em, baby!” Jack roared from the next court.
Nash watched Luna run the sideline and saw Pip take the ball. He followed, tracking her, then when she went up, he intercepted her and blocked the ball. Ford got it, fired it to Davie, and they scored.