Page 33 of The Saint

My gaze roved over them, face scrunching up into a grimace. I could see the laughter on the tips of their tongues. I could see all the doubt in her abilities building in their eyes.

But in the back of my head, I could see what their faces would look like when she whooped some ass.

“Doubtful,” I offered, and for a split second, they were all bravado. But then that word hit their brains, and feathers ruffled like only feathers could.

“The fuck, man?” Jermaine said with a whine.

Tyrone raised his chin, narrowed his eyes at me, and let a crooked grin settle on his lips. “All right then. Let’s see what you got, little girl.”

Her shoulders tensed, and I placed a hand upon one, lowering my face to her ear. “Focus. Stay steady.”

“I got ya,” she murmured, shaking me off. “You.” She pointed at Jamal, then Dion and Reggie. “You big enough men to play with a girl?”

Jamal slammed the back of his hand against Dion’s chest, then extended it toward my girl. “Let’s do this.”

I wasn’t sure who I felt more sorry for: Tyrone and his crew, or Jamal and his. All I knew was, it wasn’t Jael.

As the afternoon sun beat down on the court, Jael handed them the ass whooping they so sorely deserved. She slipped her way under their arms, zipped between their bodies, stealing the show. Even Tyrone, our NBA-bound star, was getting his workout.

They underestimated her from the beginning. They didn’t believe a little thing like her could pack such a punch. But she’d always been pure muscle. She’d always been stronger and faster than she looked.

And she’d always been a bulldog, refusing to give up.

“Fuck, man,” Jermaine grumbled from the ground where he’d fallen as Jael’s final shot fell through the net. “Rolly, the hell you’d find this chick?”

I rushed to the court, pulling Jermaine from the ground as Jael celebrated her three-point victory with Jamal, Dion, and Reggie. Jermaine stumbled and damn near fell to the ground again when Jael spotted me and came running my way.

She jumped and I caught her, holding on like it was life or death. Breathing in the smell of her. Sweat, the trees, the underlying scent of soap. My world rocked and I felt heavy. I felt grounded and right. And when she pulled back, out of the embrace, as she looked down at me with those jade green eyes, the steel cage around my heart cracked.

“You did it,” I said in a whisper as her lips curled ever so slightly.

“‘Course I did,” she said with a wink, and I chuckled as I set her down.

Tyrone strolled over, looking like he’d been playing all day, not just a single game. “You’re good.”

Her spine straightened as she looked up at him. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

His face cracked into the widest smile. “Where’d you find this one?” he asked me.

Jael looked at me over her shoulder, her smile failing as her brow pinched. And damn her for making me feel like I’d hurt her, when all I’d ever wanted was to be at her side.

With a hand on her shoulder, I tugged her closer to me, not bothering to look at Tyrone when I answered. “She’s been following me around since we were in diapers.”

That secret smile flashed as she huffed out a breath, and my own breath faltered. Then she punched me, fist to my stomach, hard enough to knock that breath from my chest.

“Please.” She turned to Tyrone, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at me. “This boy followed me everywhere.”

I tried.

Lord knows I tried.

“Damn, David,” I groaned, rubbing at my stomach. “Know your strength.”

She laughed at me, and as I saw her shoulders shaking, I couldn’t help but laugh with her. I pulled her to me, wanting to retaliate, to pin her to the ground and dig my fingers into her side like I used to when we were kids. To hold her to me, digging my hand into her hair as I breathed her in.

To hold her, arms wrapped around her tight, hand in hand, wrapped up in her.

“Who’s this?” a familiar voice asked, and we all looked over to find Gil with his hands stretched around the basketball, eyes squinted against the sun.