Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

CARTER

Smiling faces pass me by as I make my way to my class. I can't believe this is my last year at Green Spring University. I've spent the past three years here working my ass off to be the best basketball player I could be while also getting my degree. My momma made me promise her that I'd graduate before declaring my eligibility for the NBA, and I'm on track to making my word true. If things go according to plan, I'll have my degree in hand, and my best friend and I will be signed to an NBA team by the end of June. Nine months to go.

"Yo, C, wait up," a familiar voice calls out, and I turn to see my best friend, Brendon, standing there with that permanent grin of his lighting up his deep, russet face. It's a look I've become accustomed to seeing, showing off his perfectly straight, bright white teeth. His ebony hair is styled in an artfully disheveled way, the kind that takes more effort to achieve than it would appear to. It's a stark contrast to the normal super short buzz he's worn in the past. But if I'm being honest with myself, longer hair really suits my best friend, making him even more handsome.

"Hey, B. How did breakfast with your parents go?" I check once he reaches up to me.

"Same as always," he replies with a shrug. "You'd think they would be sick of me by now and want nothing to do with me, but they still insisted on keeping our tradition of family breakfast for the first day of school."

I chuckle, shaking my head at him. "You know you're super lucky to have amazing parents like yours, right?"

He laughs and nods. "I know, but I really wanted to catch up with you this morning. I can't believe we spent the entire summer apart. I missed you, man."

This was the first summer we've ever spent apart. If life wasn't such a dumpster fire, we would have been together like normal, but instead I had to spend the entire time in Florida helping Momma clear out Grandma's house and settle her affairs. I thought it was going to be the most depressing summer ever, but it turned out to be better than I expected.

I missed my friends like crazy, but it was good for me to spend some time away. Over the past few months, I learned a lot about myself, and I'm not sure that would have been possible if I had stayed in my same routine.

Brendon and I met in kindergarten and became best friends by the second month of school. I still remember the day that he stood up to my bully for me and then declared we were now best friends. His lisp at the time made the declaration even better. Even at five years old, Brendon was a protector and problem solver, which is something I've always admired about him. Especially being more of a shy guy myself, at least around strangers. Once I've known someone for a while, I will come out of my shell and am a pretty outgoing person, but that doesn't happen overnight for me.

"I missed you too," I tell him as we walk down the hall to our class. "If your Instagram is anything to go by, you had a great summer."

Brendon's smile grows, and his amber eyes glimmer with joy. "It was killer! Although it totally would have been better with you around." He bumps his shoulder into mine, and I roll my eyes, but it's impossible to stop my grin. "How was your break? You went radio silent on the socials."

I lift my shoulders, trying to figure out how to answer him. We never went more than a few days without texting, so he already knows the majority of what went down, and now is not the time to share the things I've been keeping to myself.

"It was better than I thought it was going to be, but I didn't get up to anything crazy," I finally say as we get to our classroom.

"You didn't do anything other than what you told me in your texts?" he questions while we take our seats.

His intense stare causes my cheeks to burn as memories of my summer pop into my head. A hot, warm, mouth marking kisses down my neck, my hands gripping tightly to the pale muscled arms beneath me. Quickly, I turn away to rummage through my bag until I'm certain my face will no longer give away what I'm thinking about.

Brendon has no idea how loaded his question is and that's probably because I've never been known to keep a secret from him before. It's not like I'm purposefully withholding this from him. It's just I have no idea how to bring it up. I wasn't expecting my summer to be so eye-opening, and I'm nervous to retell exactly what went down.

"Did you do something crazy, and this is just your way of trying to even the playing field?" I counter, deflecting to the best of my ability.

Brendon throws his head back, laughing. The sound is loud and joy-filled, and it brings a smile to my lips. "There's only one thing I didn't tell you about, but it's more of a show than tell thing," he tells me, piquing my interest. "You'll have to wait until tonight to find out my secret." He winks at me, and I stick my tongue out at him like I'm five years old again.

I want to argue that I hate it when he keeps secrets from me, but how can I do that when I'm also withholding information?

Thankfully our professor starts the class at that moment, commanding our attention and allowing me a moment to forget about how awkward I feel. I'm going to have to tell Brendon everything that happened this summer sooner rather than later, or this anxiousness is going to eat me alive. Maybe we'll get a moment alone tonight. Then I'll be able to confess my secret.