My Best Friends Brother

Chapter 78

JOSH'S P.O.V.

I've never been more grateful that Aleah got us seats in the front row than I am right now, my legs are so like fucking Jelly that I definitely wouldn't trust them on the stairs.

Brie gave me her 'where the fuck have you been' look when I dropped down into the seat, but I ignored her, attempting to share Aleah's bag of Cheetos, but she only let me have two before making a play to break my wrist for getting another. This girl and her fucking food when she's pregnant.

The opposing team is already on the court, they look in good shape, but they're also clearly nervous. I have a feeling this isn't going to be too much of a challenge for the Bulldogs.

"I'm so fucking jittery, is it bad that I kind of hope Milo fucks this?"

"Yes." Me and Brie answer in unison.

I know that things aren't easy for Jayce right now, he's slowly losing his ability to do something that has always made him special, but today isn't about him, it's about Miles.

The timing isn't great with him being so severely injured and in pain, but this record was going to be broken one day and he shouldn't be such a fucking child about the whole situation. He's always been seriously fucking competitive but the way he's glaring over at the locker room doors you'd swear his brother was about to win custody of his fucking firstborn not beat a scoring record.

The doors swing open and all the players spill out, I built a pretty decent bond with most of them during camp, and a lot of them smile over at me as they make their way to their line up position. Eli stands closest to us, spotting me and waving before his eyes fall to my right at Aleah and then finally onto Brie, who he doesn't hesitate to wink at before returning his attention back to the middle of the court.

"That guy is worse than I was at his age." Me and Al look at each other and burst out laughing at Brie's clearly insane comment. She's kidding right?

"Bitch, nobody was fucking worse than you at his age. If we were seventeen right now, you'd be playing inie, meenie, miney, mo to figure out which one of these guys you'd be shoving onto the back seat of the bug tonight."

Brie grabs at her heart, her jaw falling completely open as she stares at her best friend.

"How dare you! I would never lower myself to banging a Westbrooke high basketball fucking player! Even on my most desperate days... no offence Josh." But I hardly hear the words coming out of her mouth as the final players make their way onto the court, the captain being the last one to enter as Miles and Leanna step out together, joining the line up next to Eli. "Although I might have made an exception for mini Thompson... Damn that boy looks good, who would've guessed he'd turn out like this."

Is she fucking kidding me right now? I love Brie but that's e-fucking-nough of that. It's bad enough every other person in here is looking at him like a weekend take-out.

"Ewww Brianna! That's my fucking brother! You can't look at him like that! Josh, tell her."

"He ain't my brother..." She shrugs, wiggling her eyebrows at me but like fuck am I getting involved in this conversation.

The principle walks into the middle of the court and starts to talk to everyone through a static charged mic, Miles looks completely focused, not even smiling when she mentions that he may very likely be about to become a new Westbrooke high record holder. Although I don't miss the way that Jayce rolls his eyes, or the giggling band of schoolgirls behind us who seem to fall over themselves every time he so much as runs his hands through his fucking hair.

If only they knew where those hands were ten fucking minutes ago...

Miles takes off towards the middle to meet the opposite team's captain, I don't recognise him so I don't think this was one of the teams that was back at camp. They shake hands and break apart quickly, everyone getting into place in time for the first whistle.

He can do this. He will do this. But even if he doesn't, we have all night tonight for me to make him feel better...

.............................................

I'd forgotten what a fucking rush this is. Obviously I watched them all play games at camp but this one actually means something and every time the ball is in Miles' hands I can feel my heart pausing to see what happens next.

When he hit that first basket the whole room erupted, Coach tried to hold back but I saw him give a little fist pump to the air before immediately screaming at them to get back in formation.

The first half of the game didn't go the way most of us were expecting though, the other team's defence was better then any of us predicted but their offence is definitely not the strongest. The scoreboard sits lower than I think either team are particularly satisfied with as we race into the second half.

Eli captures the ball almost directly in front of us, it would have slipped through the fingers of anybody else on the team but those albatross length arms of his made easy work of the catch before hurling it over at Luke. Luke's father sits on the opposite side of the court from us, it's not hard to see why the kid feels the need to be cocky to cover up his lack of confidence, all the man has done is scream at his son, berating him and giving counteractive sets of instructions from what Coach has given, instead of any signs of encouragement.

At one point even Jayce walked over and told him to shut his mouth before he cost this team the match. Clearly the guy didn't like this, but Jayce has a good six inches on him and even with a busted arm he's still seriously intimidating.

Miles is trying to hide it but I can see it in his eyes - he's in pain. Every time the ball finds its way into his hands, there's not the same level of strength behind his throws there usually is, and he seems to be more concerned with maintaining the win for the team than actually getting this record for himself.

He truly is a captain, not putting his own wants and desires above that of the players around him. He had the chance to score about three minutes ago but when he pulled back he almost instantly flinched, instead choosing to pass the ball off to Leanna to guarantee a score instead of risking him giving their team a miss.

Now we're down to the last ten minutes and all the confidence I had in him taking this record with ease are beginning to fade...

...Until suddenly he drops the ball straight through the net.

The sound from the crowd is deafening, everybody jumping to their feet, stomping and clapping whilst screaming his name. For just a moment he lets it seep through his concentration, glancing around at all the admiration before finding my eyes. It couldn't have been hard, I'm so fucking proud of him I'm pretty sure I'm beaming.

The other Coach calls for a time out after one of the defenders slips and goes down awkwardly on his ankle, so everybody gets a chance to breathe.

"He's matched him... one more fucking basket and this is all over. Maybe that's a fucking good thing... He deserves this." Aleah says, although the slight tremor of misgiving in her tone is actively clear.

We all look over at Jayce standing next to Coach. He doesn't look as angry as he did earlier, almost like he's accepted his fate but has decided still not to be happy for the person achieving his own dream.

Grow up Jayce, seriously.

The Coach from the opposite team calls over their captain, whispering something in his ear. The guy looks back at him confused, but when his Coach nods he nods in response, before returning to the court.

Miles smiles over at me, far enough away most people wouldn't be able to tell exactly where he's looking but we both know. He doesn't even realise how fucking talented he is, whatever he decides to do, he's going to be amazing at it.

The whistle blows to continue the game and almost instantly the captain of the opposing team launches the ball full force at a distracted Milo until it smashes directly into his shoulder.

There's a universal gasp from everyone in the crowd, the captain trying to plead with the ref that it was an honest mistake but clearly it fucking wasn't. Miles hits the floor, clutching his shoulder with his face contorted in absolute agony. What the fuck?! I launch up from my seat on instinct ready to race towards him, when Aleah captures my wrist and pulls me back, looking up at me with confusion.

"What are you doing? You can't just run on there, he'd kill us." She looks just as worried as I am when Coach, Jayce and the medic from the side-line all race towards him. Eli is already on his knees next to where he lays trying to get him back into a sitting position, the same look of fear mirrored in the faces of the rest of their teammates.

What kind of fucking Coach makes his players do something like that? The guilt is pouring off of the captain from the opposition but it's a bit fucking late for that now. I notice Luke making his way across the court before squaring straight up to the boy, I can't hear what he's saying to him through the noise of the crowd but his body language and the way he's spitting his words lets me know that he is fucking raging.

I hate this. I fucking hate this.

I should be with him, if everybody just fucking knew about us already then nobody would give a shit that I was on that court with him.

The black hole in my stomach grows exponentially when I realise that one of the cheerleaders has split herself from the group and is now holding her hand on the back of Miles' neck whilst trying to get him to breathe through the pain. Zoe, someone no-body has an issue with being there with him...

The medic starts to check him over, everybody taking a step back when asked, except for Eli and Zoe who refuse to leave him. They managed to get him back up onto his feet and walk him over to the bench directly next to us. Gameplay stops as everybody waits with bated breath for the outcome of the assessment.

"Well? Is he good?" Coach asks as the medic lifts and manipulates Miles' arm in different directions. The shock of the initial pain appears to have died down but you can still tell that it really fucking hurts.

"I'm fine Coach." Miles protests as the medic begins to apply pressure to different points of his shoulder.

"Is he?" Coach asks again with clear frustration in his voice at the need to repeat the question.

The medic steps away, staring down at Miles and running their finger around and around their temple.

"It's not broken but it's not perfect either. I'd rather he sit the rest of the game out and ice it but I understand why he wants back on there, really this one is on him."

"I'm fine Coach. I want to play." I know that he's in pain but he also knows his body better than anybody else, he wouldn't risk a long term injury this close to college, if he thinks he can play then there's no fucking arguing with him.

"Okay, but-"

"No." Jayce's voice booms so loudly it appears to echo off of every wall in the building, silencing the rowdy crowd.

Miles raises himself to his feet, letting go of the clutch he's had on his arm since the impact.

"What the fuck do you mean no? It's not your fucking decision."

Apparently his words mean nothing, Jayce doesn't budge an inch, continuing to look down on Miles like his opinion is completely irrelevant.

"No. You're injured, you're not going back out there."

"Jayce, I think-" but Coach is cut off again as Miles retorts at his brother.

"It's my fucking decision and I'm going back on there. Stop pretending you give a shit about the injury, we both know I'm good for ten more fucking minutes, so let's not try and say this is about anything else other than you needing to keep your name on that fucking wall for a little while longer."

Jayce's jaw clenches so tight that I'm not entirely sure he'll ever be able to open the fucking thing again, his teeth grinding together in an attempt to force back the will of his brother but there's no shake in his conviction. Miles standing firm and strong in an equal show of strength.

"You're not going back out there and that's fucking final."

I don't know what he was trying to achieve by saying that, but if there was any hope of Miles not walking back onto that court then he just fucking exterminated it.

Miles smirks, looking directly into his brothers eyes.

"Fucking watch me."

I realise what's about to happen before anybody else, tearing my hand out of Aleah's hold and trying to get between them, but I'm too fucking late.

Jayce's good hand comes out and smashes directly into Miles' already injured shoulder.

He screams.