Page 21 of High Baller

“I won’t say another word.” He gets off of me and walks over to the door. “What time are we leaving for the airport?” I hear him ask.

Getting off the couch, I walk to his side. “Nice to see you again, Derek.” I smile as he walks into the kitchen area.

“So, are we a couple?” Derek asks. I raise a brow at him. "You'll realize soon enough, that when you date him, you’re kind of dating me too. Where he goes, I go." He walks off into the kitchen.

"Would you like me to get you a drink?" I say, turning to Trey. “There's a line that he stays behind, right?" Before he can answer, I turn to see Derek looking through my cupboards. "What are you doing?"

“I’m making sure that there is nothing here that might hurt Trey in any way.”

I glare at him. “I’m going to only tell you this once, Derek, and Trey might as well listen to this too,” I say, my voice raising with anger. “Any drugs come in my house, if any drugs are anywhere that I am, I'll break this. If Trey takes any drugs, we'll be done. Finished. Drugs for me are a big no. You could say they’re my breaking point.” Derek’s going to make sure that I’m right for Trey, so I get where he's coming from.

“I like her, I think she's going to be good for you. Might keep you out of trouble.” Derek gives me a wink, “Can I get some coffee, please?”

“Of course.” I turn to Trey. “Two things. One, there’s a line, right, and two, I’m not stupid. I know there are sports people out there that take drugs. You’re not one of them, are you?” I stare at him for a few seconds, he looks at Derek, then back to me.

"There is a line for Derek and he’s only messing with you. I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, I took them before, but I’ve not taken any for a while now." Trey’s voice breaks a little for me to be worried.

“How long’s a while?” I counter. "A year? A month?”

“The end of the last season so, June. This won’t happen again,” he assures me, but I’m not sure what to say about his admission.

I notice Derek watching me, and get back to the task at hand. “Would you like milk and sugar?” I ask him.

"Just sugar, please," Derek answers as he takes in his surroundings.

“Shorty, are we okay? I promise it's not going to happen again, I swear." Trey walks over to me and wraps his arms around my waist from behind. "I like you, I like you a lot, and I promise… No drugs."

"Okay." I don't know him well enough to say anything, but he sounds like he means it and I have to believe that he won't. It has to start with trust, so for now, he has mine.

“We leave in an hour, thank you,” Derek says as he takes the coffee from me and sits on the couch. "You have a nice house.” Trey walks out into the garden as his phone rings, and Derek watches him. He leans forward in the seat as though he doesn’t want to be overheard. “I'm going to be honest with you now. I like you, but most importantly, Trey really likes you. I can already say that he'll do anything to make you happy. But, my question is, will you do the same for him?” Derek looks behind him, seemingly happy that Trey's still outside. “His family won’t like you.” When my mouth drops open, he puts his hand up and shakes his head. “Not because you’re not nice, it’s because you’re white. I'll help you, I'll back you up, but I need to know that even if things get hard with them, or how much the press bad mouth him sleeping with this girl and that girl, and believe me it will happen, I need to know you'll have his back.”

I watch Trey talking on his phone outside, and I wonder to myself, is it going to be worth fighting with his family? I already know it’s going to happen, thanks to Derek. Maybe with my work life, I might not even have to see them that much.

"Derek, have you got something to tell me, because Ma has just been yelling at me?" Trey sits down on the chair near Derek. I move to sit next to Derek, but Trey pulls me towards him, so I sit sideways on his lap with one arm around his neck and the other at my side.

“It’s just another girl trying to trap you. I’ve got it sorted. Well, unless you did sleep with her five weeks ago.” Derek studies me. He knew this conversation would happen in front of me eventually, and he’s testing me to see how I'd react to this.

"I didn't sleep with anyone five weeks ago,” Trey replies with a shake of his head. “It's been two months since I slept with anyone.”

I look over at Derek as he watches me. “So, how long have you been friends?” I ask, wanting to break the conversation away from the press. “It must be nice to have someone watch out for you all the time.”

“School,” Trey replies. “Derek's the only one I trust. If he says something is a bad move, I won’t make it. I bet you and Calvin are like that.”

“Yeah, we are. I hope you have my back now, as I'll have yours," I tell him.

“I’ve got your back.” Trey tips his face up and gives me a kiss.

I turn to Derek, and he gives me a smile and a wink.

We spend the next hour just chatting, and I listen to them talk about their time growing up, how Trey got into basketball, and how Trey took Derek with him every step of the way. I think that really is a true friendship there. No matter what, they'll be there for each other, and I hope that one day, I'll have that, too.

Chapter 6

Trey

I’ve only spent half a day with Sky, but it’s not enough. I’d rather be with her every day. She's in Seattle for the week now, and Calvin told me that when they’re done there, they'll be coming down to stay in LA for two weeks so that Sky can spend her birthday there. I need to talk to Calvin and suggest we go somewhere for the weekend, Las Vegas or something. I want to make sure with him before I do anything, as I don’t want to get in the way of what he has planned for her.

“You still want the pool party?” Derek asks as we sit in the car on the way back home.