Written in the Scars(29)

“I was hoping you’d be at the high school.”

I let out a long breath. “I’m actually going to head over there in a bit.”

“You are full of surprises today, Whitt,” Jiggs says, whistling through his teeth.

“Yeah, I called Reynolds this morning and asked if he’d care if I came by tonight.”

“He isn’t gonna care,” Cord laughs, stealing the ball from Jiggs. “That’s your team.”

It is my team, to me anyway. It always will be. I’ve watched most of these kids come up from elementary school, participating in the kiddie clinics and summer camps. They’ve grown from toothless faces to men ready to strike out on their own and I feel a vested interest in making sure that happens.

Besides my life with Elin, there’s nowhere else I love to be more than with the team. Resigning felt like the right thing to do. I couldn’t walk without a f*cking limp, couldn’t show them how to do the skills I needed to teach them. Not being able to give them one-hundred percent wasn’t acceptable and admitting that in front of them, letting them see me broken, wasn’t tolerable either. So, I tucked tail and ran.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Jiggs says, “I’m glad you’re going. But what changed? The last time I talked to you the question of you going back to coaching was up in the air.”

Elin’s face darts through my mind, the taste of her lips against mine. The feeling of her body wrapped up against me.

Everything was launched into perspective. Even though I don’t have answers on how to work everything out, I know there’s no other option, no matter how long it takes or how hard it is.

“I saw Elin last night,” I say simply.

“So you got some *?” Cord grins.

“We aren’t going to talk about f*cking my sister,” Jiggs interjects, throwing up a shot. “I have limits, *s.”

Laughing, I rebound the ball and press it against my hip. “I had relations with my wife.” Glancing over my shoulder, I catch Jiggs’ eye. “Sound better?”

“Can we just say you talked to her? I can read between the lines.”

Chuckling, I pass the ball to Cord. “But I didn’t talk to her. Not yet.”

“Ah, so you just got down to the point—”

“Shut. Up. Cord,” Jiggs grimaces.

“I’m gonna deal with the boys first. Apologize for bailing like I did, maybe see if Reynolds needs a hand this season. Then I’ll go see my wife.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Cord says. “I like it.”

Jiggs turns to look at me. “I like it too.”

“I expect her to be pissed and for this to take some time, but she’s ready to work this out. I mean, she made me leave last night after we talked,” I smirk. “And that’s fine. I can handle that. I feel good about it today. Clear.”

Cord’s face lights up. “It’s about f*cking time.”

“I—”

The sound of gravel crunching behind me cuts me off. We all look to the entrance of the park to see Pettis’ car pulling in.

“What the f*ck does he want?” I spit.

“His rights terminated, maybe,” Cord laughs, an anger palpable in his tone. “Hopefully.”

Pettis gets out of the car.

I’ve hated this f*cker since high school. He’s a year older than me. When I took the starting point guard position on the basketball team away from him my freshman year, things got heated. When Elin chose me over him, things got worse. They never recovered.

The chip on his shoulder has my name on it. We’ve gone head-to-head on just about everything, even our jobs in the mine. Seeing him pull up with that look on his face sends me into high alert. This look is one I’ve seen a million times over the years and it never—never—ends well.

“Hey, guys. Need another player?” he asks cheerfully.

“You can’t be f*cking serious,” Jiggs laughs.

Pettis makes a face like Jiggs is crazy. “You’re an odd number. We can go two-on-two.”

“The only two-on-two that will happen around here if you don’t leave is two fists hitting you in the face,” Cord promises.

Pettis laughs and steps up to the court. “How are ya, Whitt?”

I eye him carefully. There’s nothing pleasant or coincidental about this run-in. While I’d really like to just dribble his face down the asphalt after the incident at Thoroughbreds, for some strange reason, I want to hear what he has to say.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Pettis says, sighing dramatically. “I’m sorry. You know, not everything is meant to be. Just keep your chin up and you’ll find—”

“What the f*ck are you talking about?” Jiggs asks, walking so that his shoulders are lined with mine and Cord’s.

Pettis flinches like he’s caught off guard. “What do you mean?” His eyes grow unnaturally wide, putting on a show for me and my friends. His hands come up in front of him in some form of defense.

His sight is set straight on me. He makes sure I’m paying attention, a smirk hidden beneath his false surprise.

My alert mode flips straight into kill mode. Although the source of this little meet-and-greet is still unknown, what I do know is that it’s going to end with me wanting to end him. Period.