My foot taps in agitation. “I’ve never known you to turn down a meal, Finn.”
The muscles along his back flex, stiffening. That moment—thatfractionof pause all I need. I have his attention.
“You gotta be starving after all those layups, yeah?” Sucking on my bottom lip, I say one of the few things I know will get a response other than food. Flattery.
His eyes flick my way on a snort before going back to his bag and the sharp tension in my gut loosens the smallest amount.
A half snub may be good enough for most people, but I always play to win. I zero in on him. Determination has my shoulders rolling back.
“Sure, Eli blocked most of them, but hey, you put in a great effort, right?”
A glimmer of satisfaction pulses from my eyes while his turns hard. Absolute and disgusted.
Perfect.
I scratch at my chin. “Coach only corrected your footing, what… four timesthispractice?”
His eyes widen before narrowing back to those familiar slits of annoyance. My body hums with adrenaline. Food and compliments are only the start.
The perk of knowing someone your entire life is you learn their quirks, their defensives. Gaining Finn’s attention had only been half the battle.
I hear a sound beside me, and I don’t have to look over to know it came from Eli. He knows exactly what I’m doing. Finn, on the other hand, too hotheaded to realize.
All I have to do is mock his ballhandling skills a little and…
“Alright, fuckface—”
Stepping forward, he throws a pointed finger in the air, cutting off his own voice and my grin turns serene.
He’s never been one to disappoint.
“I didn’t see you doing much better out there. Where’syourball control point guard?”
In a messed-up way, this feels good. Finn calling me out, in a twisted way, is progress. He may be yelling at me instead of talking to me, but I’ll take what I can get at this point. Anything is better than nothing.
An advantage, no matter how slim the margins, is still a gain.
Besides, I’ll need both of them on my side if I’m ever going to get Rory to forgive me when we find her. Because we will. We have to.
Finn shows his teeth. “Nose behind toes,captain,” he spits.
He’s insulting my ballhandling skills. Keeping my hips loaded and straight. Not leaning forward so far. Balancing your position on the court is what makes all the difference.
My mouth quirks before flattening. I can’t come off too eager or all this will be a waste.
Did I like getting insulted? Fuck no, who did? But if this is the only way he’s willing to talk, well, then I’d listen until my ears turned as blue as my balls currently are.
“Must have been pregnant out there because it seemed to me like you missed two whole periods.” Chest heaving as his fists lock to his sides.
I should be insulted, but my head falls back on a laugh instead.
I can’t help it, much to my own shock. The sound just bubbling out. Where does this kid come up with this stuff? Honestly, where?
When my voice does finally settle, a small bit of airiness cakes inside my chest. Knocking loose some of the pressure.
I may feel a fragment lighter, but Finn’s agitation has only grown. If he were a pot, he’d be boiling over instead of being at a slow simmer.
Insulting him further when I shrugged off his insults and dogged on his passion in one solid swoop.