Fast Break (Brooklyn Monarchs 1)

DeMarcus took a steadying breath. “You’re right. I am afraid of losing control.” He met the gaze of every man in the room. “But if that’s what it takes to win, I’ll give it up gladly. Now, what’s the plan?”

“He told me he’d win games to prove he cares more about the team than Gerry’s threats, to prove that my team means more to him than his image.” Jaclyn set her glass of iced tea on the restaurant table. She looked across the white embroidered tablecloth to Violet. “We lost to the Wizards almost a month ago—February twenty-sixth to be exact—and haven’t won a game since.”

Violet gave a sympathetic wince. “I know. That’s a twelve-game losing streak. Now you’re back at the bottom of the division.”

“We’re almost at the bottom half of the conference. And this is how he shows me that the team matters more?”

“You mean that you matter more.”

“What?” Jaclyn gave her friend a sharp look. They were sharing lunch at their favorite Chinese food restaurant. As upset as she was, they might as well have gone to a fast-food drive-through.

“Sweetie, this isn’t about Marc and the team. It’s about Marc and you. You’re not being disloyal to your grandfather if you put your needs above the team’s once in a while.”

“Vi, that’s absurd. Of course it’s about Marc and the team. He’s the head coach.” Jaclyn drank more iced tea.

“Yeah. And for three months, he was your lover. And, judging by the looks of that man, those were three glorious months.”

Jaclyn flushed. “That relationship is over.”

Violet leaned forward into the restaurant’s table. She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Why is that again?”

Jaclyn scowled at her former teammate. “Are you trying to annoy me?”

“You’re being ridiculous. You broke up with Marc because he didn’t tell you what Gerry was up to?”

Jaclyn shook her head. “It’s more complicated than that.” She released a sigh. She’d had two weeks of sleepless nights since making her decision to break off their relationship. It probably seemed a lot easier to DeMarcus and Violet than it had been in fact.

“Then explain it to me.” Violet’s tone was somber. Her violet blue eyes were sad. “Explain why, if this was a good decision for you, you’re so miserable.”

Jaclyn dropped her forehead into her palms. “Vi, it was hard keeping our personal and professional lives separate. I was afraid to hurt his ego by questioning his player decisions.”

“You’d have to tiptoe around any head coach’s ego.”

“What about my ego?” Jaclyn sat straighter. “After the reporter left his office, he should have called me immediately. Instead he went to see Gerry.”

“Yeah. Well, how eager would you have been to tell your boss that your other boss has accused you of doing drugs?”

Jaclyn gave the other woman a baleful look. “Whose side are you on?”

“Yours.”

“It doesn’t sound like it.”

“Well, you’re a little deaf right now, sweetie. But that’s understandable.” Violet leaned forward again. “Listen. Marc should have told you Gerry was blackmailing him. No doubt.”

Jaclyn interrupted. “Exactly. If Andrea hadn’t come to us, it would have been a horrible situation for the team.”

“No. It would have been a hard situation for the team. But everything would have worked out in the end. On the other hand, it would have been a horrible situation for the team if your head coach really had been doing drugs.” Violet nodded. “Right? That would have been bad.”

Jaclyn opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Violet nodded again. “Yeah, you hadn’t thought of that, had you? And, yeah, he went on a bit of a losing spree since promising to take you to the play-offs. But, you know what, Jackie? These aren’t the dark ages when women stayed home wearing corsets while men went on quests for us. He shouldn’t have to take you to the play-offs for you to let him love you.”

Jaclyn’s body warmed with that visual. Still, she fought against her friend’s very valid points. “We’d finally started to win. Now we’re losing again.”

“Listening to you, no one would think you’d ever played on a professional sports team much less that you’d been the MVP of the WNBA. Teams get into slumps. You and Marc just need to figure out why the Monarchs are in a slump and how to get them back out. The season’s not lost yet.”

Jaclyn stared at her sweating iced tea glass. “What about our relationships? Can we really work together and be together?”