For a second, it was like time stood still. The moment that most guys usually look forward to--introducing the girl that they're crazy about to their family, and there I was about to shit my pants because there were mine, my mother and stepfather staring at me like they were owed something.

If it weren't for V quickly picking up on my uncomfortable demeanor and gravitating towards Elodie, I would've definitely lost my cool sooner, rather than later.

Channel the rage, I used to always tell myself, but lately it had turned into helplessness, a sinking feeling that would drown me if I let it, because with Elodie in their custody it wasn't like there was anything that I could really do, only sit by and watch and make sure that Jay kept his hands to himself, unlike what he did with me.

The champagne flutes were filled, lights sparkling and bouncing off of them and the flash photography going off like strobe lights around the room, laughter filling every empty pocket of quiet while mindless chatter ricocheted off of one conversation and bounded off another.

"V, it's probably time for me to go and..."

I nodded towards her father, where he was talking animatedly with his hands to Johnson Pierce, a longing to meet one of my childhood basketball idols cementing itself in my chest as the man's laugh pierced the rest of the morning monotonous conversations around us.

She looked at me nervously, just coming out of a conversation with Elodie about getting us something to eat, when her brown eyes filled with understanding.

Dark brown curls framing her delicate face, Virginia stood up taller and closed ranks with me, her form fitting outfit momentarily making me lose my focus as it went directly to her body, but the clearing of my mother's throat pulled my attention from her, my mom's outfit more suitable for a Sunday church service than a college charity basketball game.

"Eli-"

"Come with me, please?"

I didn't care that I'd interrupted my mother, though the downward turn of her slightly wrinkle marred face showed her displeasure. I just couldn't find it in me to care that I'd upset her, not after the things she'd refused to shield me from growing up as her child.

While my mother had given me my green eyes, I had wished throughout my childhood for the darker chocolate brown eyes that my father sported, the warmth in them that I could only relive through photographs since his memory had faded. Brown eyes so welcoming and happy, full of light, almost like Virginia's eyes, though hers held a slant at the corners pointing towards her Native American heritage, there was still a similarity, almost in their energies.

"Of course," she said without hesitation, jumping slightly at my touch on the small of her back, almost like I had shocked her out of a reverie, but then again, if she'd touched me without warning, I wasn't sure my reaction would be any less powerful. She had the power to do that to me, something no other girl had, like she was predetermined for me, from the moment we met.

Thoughts like that gave me peace, like my father and her mother were looking over us, guiding us towards each other with more than one aspect keeping us together- her father, even if the truth about him was uglier than I could've ever imagined, her music, her job at the courts...it was like it was all just one big cosmic sign pointing us towards each other, a giant blinking sign screaming in capital letters that this was the girl, she is the one.

Those thoughts while normally more terrifying than the heart stopping moment when the ball was coursing through the air towards the basket, rolling on the rim and waiting to tip in or out of the hoop, instead had the opposite effect, especially when it came to Virginia Bruins.

"If you'll excuse us, we need to meet with my family," V said effortlessly and with more grace than I could've mustered in the moment, but I had a feeling it was more for Elodie's sake than my parents, their eyes showing understanding and nodding, acting like model parents, but I wasn't sure if they caught the side eyed glare V threw their way as we turned towards her father.

I couldn't hide my smirk as the protective side of Virginia peeked through, even if it was just a small glare, but the act warmed up my cooling blood, and yet did little to calm my racing heart as we approached her family and Johnson Pierce.

I couldn't figure out which emotion was stronger--the hatred that was swimming in my veins towards every single person in her family, or the excitement and childlike happiness that flooded to the surface about meeting one of my heroes.

Dark skinned and head shaved in a modern pattern, Johnson's head popped up as we strolled closer to the group, and his eyebrows shot up as Mike finally spoke up.

"And here's the man I was telling you about. Johnson, this is Eli Shepherd, my new protege, you could say. And of course, Virginia, my daughter."

My idol stepped forward and shook my hand. I could barely breathe, let alone force myself to remain calm.

"An honor to meet you, Sir."

His laughter was booming.

"Sir? Damn, I am getting old, huh? And what about you, Virginia? I was worried I'd forgotten your name over the years when they introduced your other sister, Sara. I guess I just didn't get the invite to the wedding, then?"

I stiffened as V's smile halted on her face, but as always, she took what the man had said in stride. Her effortless composure shocked even me, but I had seen past the surface, had seen her at her breaking point and coaxed the demons out of her at her lowest, so I knew that this was merely the calm before the storm.

Sara and Jared were in the background of the conversation, along with Kara who stood directly behind Mike's wheelchair in case she had to wheel him away in a hurry, but they were dressed impeccably.

Sara was in a cocktail dress that matched the more showy girls, and Jared was wearing dress pants and a suit jacket not dissimilar to my own, whereas Kara was dressed in a modest red dress. They were like an ad for an all American family, V was the only one who hadn't got the memo. It was like they were trying to kick her out of the family, already.

Luckily, they hadn't spoken a single word since we approached.

"Not at all, but Sara is my sister in everything but law. Lovely to meet you, Mr. Price."

"You forgot already, huh? We've met before, but you were much younger, maybe twelve, or thirteen? You were trying real hard to get your old man to let you sing the national anthem at one of our games. I was all for it, but-"

"But you weren't ready for that, and I wasn't in control of those things back then, anyway. Virginia, you look nice tonight."

The downward turn of his mouth told me that he actually didn't believe what he'd said, and the way V's eyes narrowed on her father and her chest began rising rapidly and her hands clenching and unclenching by her sides was a sign for me to steer the conversation to a different, more easygoing conversation.

My arm slipped around her waist, and while I had done it almost absentmindedly in a way to calm her down, bringing her face upwards to get her to focus on me and not her father, the unexpected chuckle from Johnson Price brought our attention back to him.

"So, you're coaching your daughter's boyfriend, huh? What's that like?"

Johnson took a sip of something in his cup, brown eyes sparkling with amusement as Mike's eyes narrowed, much like his daughter's had only moments before.

"Well, he wasn't her boyfriend at first. He's a good player, more dedicated than any other player on the circuit right now and trust me, I looked. How many hours do you clock in the gym a week, son?"

I bit the inside of my cheek as he spoke that word. Not 'boyfriend', because not even V had flinched as it came out of her father's mouth, so even though we weren't really defined in a relationship, we weren't denying it, but it was the other word that got me. 'Son'. Being called that by someone other than my actual father had always gotten underneath my skin, and I was never sure why.

"I'm there at dawn, practice until about nine when I go to classes, then four I'm in the gym again until midnight every weekday, then I try to make it to coach's for the weekends. I'm not always working out at the gym, sometimes it's watching tapes, or doing long periods of stretching, ice baths, PT, I just kind of live there."

Johnson let out a low whistle, just as our school coach caught my eye from the corner of the room, tapped his watch on his wrist and jerked his head to the door, purple track suit swishing as he strode away to find the rest of the players who'd been invited to meet with the big wigs.

"I think that's my cue, actually," I said reluctantly, just as Johnson held out his hand for me to shake once more. I really wanted to ask for him to sign something, get a picture, anything, but my inner fan had to reel itself back in.

"I'll be here," V said lowly, eyes pleading for me to somehow help her out of this situation, and damn if I almost dropped everything just to steal her away and get us both out of there, away from her mentally abusive and controlling father, her family that was anything but a family to her, and escape to where we could explore what it would really mean to be a couple together, but then the world came crashing back down and understanding flashed on her face.

She knew what had to be done.

She was so fucking strong, stronger than I ever could've been in that situation, and I had to leave her there, a fish in a tank full of sharks.

Fuck. I really didn't want to leave her, but I was already running behind.

I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her temple, eyes closing for a millisecond while I soaked up the smooth warmth of her skin against my lips, hand squeezing the roundness of her hip, and I wanted to be anywhere but there int hat moment, away from all the prying eyes and photography, reporters, toxic and questionable 'family' members...

"Do us proud out there, son," Mike said, and completely ruined the moment. My body immediately missed Virginia the second I pulled out of her embrace, but it was time.

"I'll try my best, Sir."

And then I was walking away, throwing Elodie our secret signal from across the room and cracking a smile when she returned it, not daring to look at my mother or Jay. My life wasn't about them anymore, and I refused to let them ruin another thing in my life.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and there was a text from Virginia flashing on the screen.

Sweat was dripping in my eyes. The salty liquid poured down my forehead and blurred my vision, but still my feet kept pounding on the shiny wooden flooring.

Colors blended together- white, gold, purple, red. All the colors of the two opposing teams, and still, Matthew Thornberry had yet to grace the courts. Halfway throughout the second quarter, the score sixty-eight to fifty-nine, and--shit, make that sixty-eight to sixty-two. They'd just scored a three pointer, all while I was busy thinking about the asshole still sitting on the fucking sidelines.

Adrenaline pumping, I had forgotten how quickly games could change up. One moment of distraction and a strong lead turned into a nail biter, and with my hands dribbling the ball, I blocked out the screaming fans, the raucous multitude of conversation, laughter, camera flashing and announcers and only focused on my feet in front of me, ball dribbling in between steps.

One step, two steps, three steps. I passed the ball to my left to Patrick, who wasn't paying attention. Fuck.

His eyes were on the sidelines, like he was searching for someone, but he snapped out of it when he saw the ball in his peripheral vision. He had barely gotten ahold of it when a member of the other team, a mammoth of a player near seven feet tall, fouled right into him.

"What the hell?"

I leaned down to reach a hand to Patrick, but he swatted it away, hands through his sweaty red hair to get it out of his eyes.

"I could be asking you the same thing, man. The fuck were you looking for, a pot of gold? Focus."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Captain."

"We can have attitude later, bro. We're in the middle of a fucking game."

"It's just for charity, it doesn't even matter."

I got very close to him, chest to chest, eyes blazing so he understood just how much it wasn't just a game.

"There are people up there in that box tonight that could determine the rest of my future in the NBA. Get your head out of your fucking ass before I reach in there and personally pull it out myself."

"Calm down, Eli. It's fine. It's just Maddie-"

"I don't see Maddie in a uniform, so she shouldn't be in this game with you. Twenty more minutes, that's all we need, then you can go whine about your girlfriend for however long you like. Deal?"

Patrick's eyes narrowed as we lined up on the foul line but eventually he nodded, taking the ball from the ref and dribbling the ball a few times before shooting the ball and making it into the basket, nothing but net.

One more shot and it was textbook perfect form, and in went the ball, Heisinger's team catching it on the rebound and immediately calling for a timeout.

I looked up in the press box and found V's eyes on me, and her attention was almost enough to pull me out of my adrenaline fueled focus, but then it was time to listen to coach and in what felt like seconds, we were back on the court.

Only difference?

Matthew Thornberry was straight across from me, a cold mask of barely unrestrained rage in place where nothingness had used to be, and I didn't know if it was the small slip of a smile that grew on his face upon seeing me that made me just a little scared, or the fact that he had the power to ruin my relationship with V in just one conversation that had me near pissing my pants.

The whistle blew, and he was the first to move.