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  Foul Play

  Vixen Kane

  Copyright © 2020 by Vixen Kane

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Also by Vixen Kane

  Standalones

  Carnal Pledge

  Foul Play

  Contents

  1. Grayson

  2. Becca

  3. Grayson

  4. Becca

  5. Becca

  6. Becca

  7. Becca

  8. Becca

  9. Grayson

  10. Becca

  11. Becca

  12. Grayson

  13. Becca

  14. Becca

  15. Grayson

  16. Becca

  17. Grayson

  18. Grayson

  19. Becca

  20. Grayson

  21. Becca

  22. Grayson

  23. Grayson

  24. Becca

  25. Grayson

  26. Becca

  27. Becca

  28. Grayson

  29. Becca

  30. Becca

  31. Grayson

  32. Becca

  33. Grayson

  34. Becca

  35. Becca

  36. Grayson

  37. Becca

  38. Grayson

  39. Becca

  40. Becca

  Epilogue

  Thank you!

  Also by Vixen Kane

  About the Author

  1

  Grayson

  The ball slapping on the court echoed throughout the gymnasium. Sweat dripped from Noah’s chin onto the polished wood as he crooked his arm and shot the ball from the three-point line. It flew through the air, and judging by the swish and the faint smile that curved his lips, he’d made the shot.

  “The fuck is he still doing here?” Alec asked.

  We were standing behind plexiglass in the concession area watching Noah. The other three starters on the Tigers basketball team were with us, and as of today, Alec wasn’t one of them. Noah had taken his spot.

  “What does it look like?” Dylan asked, ignoring the fact that Alec’s question was rhetorical. “He’s practicing.”

  “It’s ten o’clock,” Alec shot back, throwing his hands up by his side. “Who the fuck practices until ten o’clock on a Wednesday? How is the gym even open?”

  “Maybe he’s banging the janitor,” Levi joked. His chuckle faded when he looked to each of us and noted none of us were smiling. And why would we be? It was freezing outside, and we’d spent the last few hours waiting around on Noah to leave the gym.

  The hose we’d cut in his car would’ve leaked the water hours ago. It would’ve overheated on his way home, and we’d have been parked in that same spot waiting on his piece of shit Honda to drive by.

  But he wouldn’t leave the fucking gym.

  I pushed off the plexiglass. “It’s time to improvise.”

  “Yeeeess,” Dylan cheered, bouncing up and down and nudging Levi in the shoulder.

  “Fuck this guy,” Alec mumbled, striding to the side entrance for the court. Noah’s head snapped our way as he registered the noise. We’d been standing in the dark, and he’d been too caught up in whatever it was he was trying to prove to notice us before.

  “Gray, hold up.” Jax gripped my arm, stopping me from following the others.

  My face ticced as I turned back to Jax. “What?”

  “We don’t have masks, we don’t have the dark, we don’t have shit. We go too far, and we’re all screwed. Think about it for a minute. What if he tells Coach?”

  “He won’t.” I shrugged off Jax and continued toward the entrance. The others were already on the court, and Alec was saying something to Noah that I couldn’t quite make out. “Besides, we’re just gonna scare him.”

  Jax sighed behind me, but he followed me onto the court. He knew me well enough to know that both of my responses were lies. I had no idea if he’d tell Coach, but it wouldn’t result in us getting benched. That’d be suicide for our season, and I was willing to run a few extra laps if it meant this little shit was out of our lives. At five foot seven, he should’ve never made the team in the first place.

  “So here’s what you’re gonna do, you pee wee motherfu—”

  “Alec!”

  He spun my way and raised a questioning brow. I glimpsed Noah’s expression—nervous. Good.

  The ball was now in Alec’s hands, and I lifted my palms to signal for him to pass it to me. He chucked it toward me, and I caught it before tucking it under my arm. “Is that how we congratulate the new starter?”

  “What? Fu—”

  “Have a seat,” I gritted, pointing to the same chairs Coach had benched him on earlier today after he’d missed a wide-open shot. That was when Coach gave Noah the position. In front of everyone. In the middle of practice. It was humiliating, not just for Alec, but for me. I was the team captain, and I was supposed to have a say in decisions like that.

  Alec cocked his head and angled his jaw. He was close to exploding. You could almost see the steam coming from behind his eyeballs. He mumbled something under his breath and stomped toward the sideline. Dylan and Levi exchanged a look, but neither said anything.

  “So, Noah,” I dribbled the ball as I traipsed over to my spot at the tip of the three-point line. “You ready for Friday’s game?”

  I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He glanced around to my friends, turning back to me just as I shot the ball and waited for it to slide through the net before giving him my full attention.

  “Yeah, I am.” He jogged over to the ball, then up to the three-point line before sending it through the air and sinking another shot. The kid was good, I’d give him that.

  He turned to me and sighed. “Listen, I get that you guys are pissed, but I didn’t ask Coach to do what he did. I earned that spot, so—”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” I gestured toward the others on the court. Alec sat with his arms crossed over his chest, shooting daggers at me from the bench. “We all think so. We want to make sure you’re ready though, ya know? Run through a few plays. See what you can do without Coach around.”

  I shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal and raised my hands for Jax to toss me the ball he’d rebounded. I caught it and started to dribble. “Fifty-three split.”

  Jax, Levi, and Dylan immediately got into position to carry out the play, while Noah hesitated. I was surprised the others hadn’t hesitated as well. We hadn’t planned this. We’d planned on scaring him while we were wearing masks. Rough him up a bit. He probably still would’ve known who it was since we planned to threaten him if he didn’t quit the team, but so? He couldn’t prove who we were, and the extra protection made Jax feel better.

  There was no hiding now.

  Noah jogged into position, and I slapped a hand over the ball to start the play. Shoes squeaked on the floor, and I passed the ball to Levi as he spun from the imaginary defender. He jumped to the rim and dunked the ball.

  “Nice,” I said, clapping my hands. Noah retrieved the ball and passed it to me. “All right, forty-eight slide.”

  We ran through several plays, all of which Noah seemed to know well enough. If I remembered correctly, he hadn’t stepped foot on the court in any of last year’s games, so it wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d spent the entire summer practicing. He was right—he’d earned the spot. Too bad I didn’t care.

  “All right, Noah, this one’s coming to you. Thirty-nine split.”

  I slapped a hand on the ball and waited for him to take his ey
es off me to spin from the imaginary defender before I chucked the ball toward him. It slammed into his face, and he stopped mid-turn. His hands covered his nose and his eyes closed as blood seeped through his fingers.

  “Keep your hands up, Noah. Jesus.”

  “Come on, Noah, I thought you wanted to be a starter,” Levi taunted, giving him a shove as he stood up straight. His eyes watered from the impact to his nose, but he shook his head and bounced up and down.

  “You wanna try that again?”

  “Yeah,” he said, jogging to the starting position. “Let’s go.”

  I slapped a hand on the ball and watched as he sprinted to his spot, much more intensity in his strides than before. He spun with his hands up the whole time and met my eyes as he waited for the pass. His hands were up by his face, waiting for me to chuck it there again. Idiot.

  I flung the ball, aiming lower this time, and it slammed into his groin. His jaw dropped and his hands cupped his nuts as he crumbled to the floor, dry heaving on the court. Alec’s laughter echoed in the gym, and Levi and Dylan joined in. I walked to stand over Noah with the others following behind me.

  His eyes were closed, and a line of spit dribbled from his mouth from his gagging. Alec stepped into the circle and landed a kick to Noah’s stomach, silencing the laughter. Noah whimpered and curled into himself more.

  Alec bent down and gripped Noah’s hair, pulling his head back with a sharp tug. His eyes shot open and pain mixed with anger in his expression.

  “Do you honestly think you’re better than me?”

  “Fuck you,” Noah seethed. He’d barely gotten the words out before Alec yanked his head back to the court, slamming the side of his face against polished wood. The thud echoed in the gym once, then twice, and when there was a third, Jax gripped Alec’s shoulder and jerked him back.

  “He gets it,” Jax said, giving Alec a shove. “Let’s just get out of here.”

  “Stop being such a pussy,” Dylan sneered.

  “Enough.” I took a step closer and held out my hand to Dylan, who had his fists clenched at his sides. Noah was whimpering in a pool of his own blood on the floor, hands cradling his junk. He clearly wasn’t a fighter.

  I kneeled next to him and wrinkled my nose as the smell of blood hit me.

  “You’re going to tell Coach that you’re too nervous to start on Friday, and you’re going to miss your shots in practice for the rest of the week. Is that understood?”

  He only whimpered, but I took that as a yes. It was a bit more pathetic than I’d hoped for, but whatever. I wasn’t about to feel guilty for this kid’s mistake.

  I stood and nodded toward the exit. The five of us started out of the gym. “Be a starter next year, kid,” I called over my shoulder. Fuck, I wouldn’t even make him quit the team. He could give up the position, and that’d be it. The season was halfway over anyway.

  “Satisfied?” Jax gritted at Alec when we stepped outside.

  Alec had his hands balled at his sides, his back stiff with tension. “We’ll see tomorrow.”

  2

  Becca

  “Five hundred dollars?”

  My heart tore itself from my chest and plunged to the floor. Five hundred dollars. How the fuck were we supposed to pay the rent?

  “If we have to tow it, that’s the minimum fee. Lots of things can cause a car to overheat, though, so I can’t give you a close estimate on the final price.” I didn’t respond for several seconds, and the man on the other line cleared his throat. Power tools and clanking metal sounded in the background. Roy’s Garage was the last place I had time to call before I had to leave for school, and according to the owner, they had a discount for people with kids who went to Cutler High.

  Lucky me.

  “Do,” I cleared my throat, “do you by any chance accept installments?”

  The man didn’t miss a beat. “Sure, sweetheart. We can do a three-month payment plan if it comes to that. Just let us know where the car’s parked, and we’ll get it taken care of by the weekend.”

  I sighed and raked a hand through my hair. It’d taken me a year to save up for this piece of junk, and it seemed like it was going to be more expensive to fix than it had been to buy. I should’ve just bummed rides until I could afford a better car. Damn it.

  My phone vibrated, and I pulled it back from my ear to see a text from Madison flashing across the screen—outside your house.

  “Okay, it’s off Garriott road. My brother was driving it, so I’m not sure exactly how far down it is from the high school, but he said about five miles.”

  “And it’s a blue Neon, right? 2000?”

  “Yep, that’s it.”

  “All right, we’ll get it taken care of. I’ll give you a call when it’s ready. Take care, hon.”

  The line died and I shoved the phone into my pocket, ignoring the buzzing from Madison calling me. “Noah!” I yelled, flinging my bag over my shoulder and traipsing from the room. I banged on my little brother’s door. “Madison’s here, we have to go!”

  His door opened, and as I turned to walk down the hallway something caught my eye. My jaw dropped and eyes widened. “What the hell happened to your face?”

  His blond hair was almost long enough to cover the butterfly bandages that held together a nasty cut by his eyebrow, but there was no hiding the faint purple around his swollen nose. It didn’t look broken, but he’d definitely taken a hit. Who the—

  “Caught an elbow during a pickup game. Don’t worry about it.”

  I was already moving his hair back to get a closer look at the cut before he finished talking. He swatted away my hand and flinched. “Leave it alone.”

  “How many elbows did you catch?” My eyes narrowed to slits as I examined the rest of his face.

  “It was a street game. It’s no big deal.”

  “Then let me see it,” I said, leaning closer and ignoring my phone vibrating my pocket.

  He evaded me and shot me a glare. “Stop trying to be my mom. I said I’m fine.”

  My hand paused a few inches from his face, and I let it drop to my side. My heart still lying on the floor in the other room squeezed, and pain filled my chest.

  His hard expression softened, and I quickly righted myself, clearing my throat and nodding toward the other end of the hall. A horn blared outside. “We have to go.”

  He shifted his bag higher on his shoulder and followed me through our apartment. Neither of us spoke as we made our way to Madison’s Volvo, but that wasn’t surprising. We’d been through this before, and he was right. I had to stop acting like his mom. Our mom had died when Noah was six, and I’d naturally taken on the role of caregiver while my dad worked sixty-hour work weeks to support us. But Noah was sixteen. He didn’t need me to look out for him, cook his meals, buy his clothes, drive him to school. Hell, most days he was the one who drove. He wasn’t a baby anymore, and I had to stop treating him like he was… but, damn, it was hard.

  I paused with my fingers grazing the handle of the Volvo and turned to Noah. “Just promise me you’re looking out for yourself.”

  He nodded and gave a sad smile. Whether it had to do with the mention of Mom or where he’d gotten the busted face from, I couldn’t be sure. “Promise.”

  I jerked open the door and slid into the passenger seat while Noah climbed into the back. Madison’s eyes were glued to her phone, and her fingers tapped the screen. “‘Bout time,” she muttered.

  She tossed the phone in her console and tore out of the parking lot, gunning it for the road. I relaxed into my seat and closed my eyes, not at all offended by Madison’s bad mood. She was the furthest thing from a morning person.

  “Sorry, I was on the phone with the mechanic.”

  “They gonna be able to fix ol’ faithful?”

  “For the low low minimum price of five hundred dollars, yes. But they won’t have it done until this weekend. Think you can give me a ride to and from work?”

  She sighed and pressed her morning coffee to her
lips. I’d spent enough nights at her house to know that wasn’t her first cup. I was surprised she didn’t snort the stuff in the morning. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

  She handed the cup to me, and I let the hot liquid splash against my lips. I swallowed a sip of the bitter black coffee, cringing as it burnt my tongue, and handed it back to her. I was more of a caramel latte girl.

  “Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

  “Just make sure you remember me when you’re off saving the world, and we’ll call it even.”

  I rolled my eyes and smiled, leaning my head back against the seat. I stared out the window at all the dead trees we passed and resisted the urge to write on the fogged glass. Madison hated when I did that.

  Noah was quiet in the backseat, and I twisted to see him staring out the window, earbuds in. He glanced my way and tilted his lips for a moment before going back to the fascinating view of dead plants whizzing by.

  When we got to the school, Madison swerved into one of the only remaining spots, and we hustled to the main entrance. The quiet courtyard had my heart beating faster. Even in Winter, there were always a few stragglers hanging around before the bell rang. I resisted the temptation to check the time on my phone, and instead hurried to my first period, which was AP Biology with Mrs. Kurt. Madison and Noah took off in the opposite direction toward their respective classes.