Game of Temptation

dy in front-office negligence" by one retired coach, and "the most expensive girlfriend in p

a laptop balanced on my knees, and the live feed of Court Repo

below his numbers since the photo. Nine. You can call it chemistry, you can call it romance, I call it a red flag. Whe

st repeated, chuckl

n. My jaw ached

ace while commentators dissected the sideline cameras for evidence of a lovers' spat. The hallway video had been replayed so often that the

e rang.

. "Court Report has asked for an Apex representative to

lunteer

I couldn't place, something almost like appetite. "Tessa will meet you in the

e a team meeti

e meeting."

adjusted the camera angle with the grim cheer of a woman rigging a bomb. "They'll go after Kai's

ver def

t me over her

A retired point guard filled the second. A former general manager filled

x's rising star and, if the internet is to be believed, the

you,

Three-for-fifteen last night. Can you honestly tell t

through the nose, ou

ok at the numbers. You said

s a six-game stretch in January where he played through

cent from the field, which is above his career ave

nineteen possessions and created ope

defender on him and sent help every time he caught the ball. It wa

olan's smi

ot of numbe

e job,"

to correct me. I

oint guard le

s questioning the tape. They

t series of his career, and th

bing up my neck. "Let's be precise about what happened. Two strangers trespassed in a restricted corridor in the middle of the night and tried to photograph a woman in a T-shirt. My

tacking you

gym and two more studying film in a basement. He's the reason this franchise has a shot at a ring. I'd suggest you stop worrying about who

top

s dead quiet. Even Tes

at me, mouth slightly open, and t

lks. If she's half as tough in the n

ip of my answer had begun to circulate under a caption that made my st

, low whistle. "O

o m

Exactly enough.

oing to eat you al

, as if I had just stepped off a roof and discovered th

clearly watched the whole thing. His eyes met mine across forty feet of marble, and he didn't sm

d something

he interview requests and the sponsor emails and a sweetly furious voicemail from my mother, when a calendar notice slid to th

tachment, and m

into a new spreadsheet with a n

I had personally scouted and sign

promising young center out of Gonzaga, gone. All three had bee

ld, with a stack of high-value endorse

consolidating your portfolio to allow full focus on the

ree rows ahead, Kai was staring out the window at a patchwork o

ed to the one man who could ruin me, and the only thing standing between my entire career and Sect

ed with a tex

ssionate, but the audience loved i

d text, arriving

like someone with