Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“King!” came boisterous greetings from several of the guys.
Girls all but clambered over each other to sashay closer.
Fuck. This was not going to work.
He quickly backstepped, “Aw, wait. This ain’t the bathroom,” then pointed to the next door down and chuckled sheepishly. “My bad.”
They looked disappointed but waved him on.
One grinned and feinted a jump shot. “Nothing but net!”
Breck coughed a laugh and nodded, turning toward the staircase. His fake smile dropped the second he was out of their sight. He should be able to leave his goddamn house without having to worry about getting followed down the fucking street. Scaling the steps two at a time, he scowled and headed for his bedroom. He was going to have to duck out through his window. What a pain in the ass. Now Kai was really going to hear it. He pulled his cell out and looked at the time. 1:47 AM. That motherfucker had better be home.
Keeping the light off, he stalked into his room, shut the door, then marched to the window and yanked up the blinds. Luckily, his room faced the house beside theirs. It’d give him a much smaller chance of being spotted. Partiers always loitered around the front and back doors. Most smoking, others simply taking leaks behind the nearest bush.
Shoving up the window pane, he popped his head out and scanned the vicinity. Coast clear. He swiped his orange extension cord from the closet, then eyed his bed. Conveniently, it was located just to the right of his little escape route. He knotted one end of the cord to its leg, then quietly tossed the rest of it out into the night.
Not missing the irony, he smirked.
Just one more fast break to add to the evening.
Only with this one, an entire stadium wouldn’t be watching. Wouldn’t be cheering him on with deafening roars. This breakaway was exclusive. A one-man party. Just him and the darkness.
Cord in hand, he shoved his foot out the window, twisted and angled the rest of his body out. Carefully, he made like a rock climber and scaled his way down. He let go with just a couple feet left to spare, his feet touching down with a muted thump. Glancing around, he kept to the shadows, then stealthily cut through his neighbor’s backyard. Just like that, he was stalking toward Kai’s dojang like a pit bull with a purpose.
It was still cold out, being early March, the night air crisp as it filled his lungs. The sidewalks, however, basked in a deceptively warm soft glow, compliments of the old-fashioned lamp posts that illuminated the way. Lofty evergreens edged the path in other places. Sporadic brick buildings and shops as well. All the while, every couple of minutes a car would slowly rumble by.
He pulled his sweatshirt’s hood up over his head, far from in the mood to be spotted by drunk-ass admirers. He was busy at the moment, being pissed at a certain instructor, his mind incessantly looping back through memories of the game. Goddamn it, he’d been on fire. Alight in his element, commanding his army of five. One of his very best fucking performances of the whole goddamn season.
Until he’d spotted Kai.
Then it’d all gone to shit.
Kai, his annoying obsession—and potential demise. The only thing that could unravel not just him, but his future career.
A fact that made him fucking irate! At Kai, but most especially at himself. Why was he allowing such an irrelevant person to have such power over his brain? He hadn’t spent his whole life in training to have some sensei send it all up in flames.
His fists clenched inside his hoodie’s pocket just as his eyes locked onto the dojang up ahead. He knew that’s where Kai lived. In the flat above his business. Breck had looked him up online and found his address. He glared at the building’s first-story windows. All dark. No surprise there. It was nearly 2 AM. The windows above them, however, told a different story, a soft light emanating out from the ones in the middle.
Kai was awake.
Breck wondered what he was doing.
Not that it mattered. A minute from now, the man would be getting read the riot act.
Breck stopped across the street and glowered at those windows, heart vigorously thumping from anger-fueled adrenaline. And anticipation. Never fail, his body’s annoying reaction whenever in close proximity to Kai. Tonight, he was going to squash that reaction once and for all. His future, as well as the future of this season, completely depended on it.
Squaring his shoulders, he eyed the door— but then the building started tilting.
His body listed sideways…
“Shit.” He quickly righted himself.
He was even drunker than he thought.
Screw it. He was here, pissed and primed, and more than ready to rumble.
Steeling himself, he marched across the street and angrily pounded on the door. A couple minutes later, Kai’s dark form appeared on the other side of the glass.