On The Rebound
Alexandra Warren
On The Rebound (Nymphs & Trojans Book 3)
Copyright 2020 Alexandra Warren
Cover Art by Visual Luxe
Stock Photo from Depositphotos
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real locations, people, or events is coincidental and unintentional.
Contents
Synopsis
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Extras
Also by Alexandra Warren
Synopsis
“I’m not patient with a lot of things. But for you? I’ll wait a lifetime.”
With his entire career ahead of him as the starting point guard for the Tennessee Trojans, Kage Steele is feeling on top of his game. He’s got the talent, he’s getting the attention, and most importantly, he’s raking in more than enough money to have the entire world at his fingertips. But after a Summer spent enjoying the fruits of his labor, basketball isn’t the only thing on his mind coming into his second season since he can’t seem to forget about the gorgeous sports reporter he shared a moment with back in Sin City.
Bleu Taylor is living out her childhood dreams. As the offspring of a radio personality and a professional football player, using her voice to talk sports was practically what she was born to do. But naturally, that also means coming into contact with a lot of athletes, including the slightly younger, sinfully sexy point guard out of Nashville who she’d tried to forget about after breaking her own rule of not fraternizing with active players.
From the moment they locked eyes, Kage knew Bleu was something special. From the moment they kissed, Bleu knew Kage was a problem. But when they both find themselves on separate downward spirals regarding their lives and careers, the ability to rebound from those individual events becomes a lot easier once they finally decide to stop relying on self and instead choose to turn to each other.
Set in "The Athens of the South" Nashville, Tennessee, The "Nymphs & Trojans" series is a sports romance collaboration by Nicole Falls and Alexandra Warren that follows two fictional professional basketball franchises - the Nashville Nymphs Women's Team and the Tennessee Trojans Men's Team.
Book 1 - Shots Not Taken
Book 2 - One Last Shot
Book 3 – On The Rebound
Book 4 – Bounce Back
*Note: Each book is considered a standalone novel, but it is recommended that you read them all for the full Nymphs & Trojans experience.
Acknowledgments
to nicole,
we did it again.
#nymphsandtrojans4eva
One
I was obsessed with her.
She wasn’t the subject of the Sunday segment I was working on. Truthfully, I hadn’t even known who she was before I’d shown up to the gym today to film. But everything about her was just… goals.
The two gray French braids she wore her hair in, along with the cardinal red headband I could assume was a nod to her hometown teams.
The way she talked shit on the court.
The Kobes on her feet, and the obvious “Mamba Mentality” energy as she ran up the score on the other senior citizens, both men and women, who she was playing against…
I loved her.
And I understood why he did too. “He”, meaning the actual subject of my story and second-year Tennessee Trojans player, Kage Steele.
While the production details of my new show, Beyond the Bench with Bleu Taylor were being finalized, the sports network I worked for had given me the opportunity to produce a mini, bi-weekly version with a similar content style. And this week just so happened to send me to Nashville for a chat with the recent rookie graduate who couldn’t seem to stay out of my Instagram DMs no matter how many times I’d turned his ass down.
I respected his persistence, though. As a sports reporter, I often had to exude more of it than the average person to get what I needed out of players, coaches, and every sports-adjacent person in between. But just because I respected it didn’t mean I was giving him any extra play outside of the hour or so I estimated our interview would last. And then I’d be spending a few more hours, alone, condensing all of today’s footage into seven televised minutes.
Damn, I loved my job.
Ever since I was a little girl, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for a living. And growing up with a mother who worked as a radio personality and a father who played professional football, the best of both worlds was practically ingrained in me from day one.
The interview skills, the charisma, the overall talkativeness.
The grit, the competitiveness, and a borderline obsessive interest in sports...
Yeah, working in sports journalism was basically what I was raised to do. And now here I was, eight years into my career, watching senior citizens hoop while Kage served as their volunteer coach.
That’s what the segment - and my show - focused on. Highlighting who the players were as individuals along with what they did outside of their respective sports, hence “Beyond the Bench”. But I would’ve been lying if I didn’t admit how adorable it was to see the way Kage interacted with his team of especially seasoned athletes, being their biggest cheerleader while also taking his role as their coach very seriously.
He was up and down the half-court sideline, arguing calls with the referees, dishing out hi-fives, and just bringing a level of enthusiasm that I could tell the seniors appreciated. And I appreciated it too since it would make for a popular Sunday morning segment, one that would surely get shared everywhere online.
Having my name out there for professional reasons was never a bad thing.
But really, it was a win for all parties involved, including Kage who didn’t necessarily have the most… favorable reputation.
Not that it showed up on the court. His first season with the Trojans had been mostly productive outside of the fact that they didn’t win the championship. But off the court, there’d been a handful of eyebrow-raising moments; things I planned to press him about after the game was over even if his answers never actually made it on television.
That was part of what made me good at my job, though. As much as I enjoyed bringing sports-related stories to homes across the country, enjoyed all that came with clips of my work going viral, my interview style was based on pure curiosity. And the genuineness that came with that was what seemed to make the athletes more comfortable, able to open up to me in ways they didn’t necessarily like doing for other journalists who were clearly only there for a controversial soundbite or quote.
I wasn’t about that.
Would I take it if it happened organically?
Sure.
But I wasn’t here to probe and prod an athlete into saying something to fit my narrative. I wanted them to be able to tell their stories, their way, and for it not to ever feel like a hassle to talk to me because not only was that not enjoyable for them, it wasn’t enjoyable
for me either.
According to the joyous look on Kage’s face as he approached where I was sitting, it seemed like I wouldn’t be having any problems with that today. And as I lifted myself up from the bleachers to meet him halfway, I waved my camera girl, Natalie, over to join us while complimenting, “Good game, Coach. Though I gotta say, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ms. Jeanine is called in to get tested for performance-enhancing drugs tomorrow.”
Laughing, Kage insisted, “Shit, all their old asses are taking some kinda drugs. Blood pressure meds, a daily aspirin, Viagra…”
“Anyway,” I interrupted, watching as Natalie quickly got Kage mic’d up before I asked, “Should we get started?”
“It’s your world, baby,” he replied, biting his lip to ogle me in a way that made my camera girl giggle.
Meanwhile, I found myself rolling my eyes amusedly, quick to remind him, “This isn’t that type of party, Mr. Steele. Show me some respect.”
“My bad, my bad,” he admitted. “I just… damn. With all due respect, you are lookin’ good as hell today, Ms. Taylor.”
“And now that that’s out of the way, we can get started,” I replied without acknowledging his compliment, giving the signal to roll the camera as I asked Kage, “So tell me more about how you got involved with the Silver Spartans?”
“Well I’ve always had a thing for older women,” he said with a teasing smirk that would’ve had me rolling my eyes again if it wasn’t for the camera. “So when Ms. Jeanine approached me asking if I’d be interested in coaching their team, I couldn’t say no.”
After seeing how aggressive Ms. Jeanine was on the court, I could easily imagine her keeping that same energy to get her way off the court too. And as I nodded along, Kage continued, “It’s been fun as hell, though. And super inspiring too. Watching these people who’ve had a love for the game for longer than I’ve been alive just makes me more anxious to get back out there.”
“That makes you sound really young,” I giggled. “Which I suppose you sort of are. But this upcoming season, you’ll no longer be the new kid on the block. How has this offseason been different than the one going into your rookie year?”
“Going into my rookie year, I was just excited to be drafted, excited to have a little money in my pocket, excited to have achieved my dreams of making it to the league. But this offseason, I’ve been… enjoying the fruits of my labor a little bit.”
He and I both knew “enjoying the fruits of his labor” was putting it lightly. But because of the wholesome nature of the segment, I didn’t press him on it, instead asking, “Which included following your sister team, the Nashville Nymphs, pretty closely, correct? Some might even say you were their good luck charm?”
The adorably bashful smirk he responded with made it hard for me not to smile too as he answered, “I wish I could take some credit for their success, but I watched how hard they worked day in and day out to win that championship. Selena, Mikayla, Talia, the whole squad. They really set the standard for what it takes to get the job done, and I’m grateful cause it put some much-needed pressure on my squad to do the same.”
“I like that,” I commented, only making Kage grin even harder as I told him, “It’s refreshing to hear your appreciation for the women’s league, but we both know there’s a lot of people who don’t share in that sentiment. What would you say to them?”
“Honestly… fuck ‘em,” he answered with a shrug that made my camera girl snort as I shook my head amusedly.
“Now you know good and well we can’t put that on T.V., so let’s try this again,” I insisted, taking an extended pause that I’d use for editing purposes before asking, “What would you say to the people who don’t share in your appreciation for the women’s league?”
Taking a second to give my question some real thought, he eventually answered, “I think it all boils down to who that hate is coming from. Real basketball fans appreciate seeing the game played the way it’s intended to be played no matter who’s doing the playing. And honestly, as far as fundamentals go, the women got that shit on lock.”
Before I could correct his language, he edited himself, “I mean... the women are way ahead of the men in that regard. That’s why they always win in head-to-head shooting competitions.”
Nodding, I playfully inquired, “So what you’re saying is that Selena Samuels would wash you in a three-point shootout?”
“We both saw her during All-Star weekend. That girl is a monster,” he answered with a bit of a chuckle before continuing, “I didn’t crown her as my favorite player for nothin’.”
“Oh, so that really wasn’t about the massive crush you allegedly have on her?” I asked teasingly, knowing I wouldn’t put him on blast about something so personal in the final cut of the segment.
But to make sure of it, Kage slickly responded, “Off the record, no. It wasn’t. I really respect her game. She just so happens to be fine as hell too; no disrespect to Big Dre.”
Unknowingly, he’d given me a perfect segue into my next question. “Speaking of Dre, we recently learned that DeAndre Leonard will be leaving his role as assistant coach for the Nymphs to join the Trojans coaching staff, but there was a bit of controversy between you two this past summer. Care to tell us what that was all about?”
Again, the question was more about my personal curiosity than something I cared to share with the public unless Kage wanted to use this platform to set the record straight.
He didn’t, though, instead stepping closer to me to quietly answer, “Off the record, I got in my feelings and got talked into doing some childish internet shit. But we’re good now. I’ve grown.”
“Crush on Selena. In his feelings about Dre. Yeah, that checks out,” I thought, bringing the energy back up once I responded, “Okay, so let’s run that back. As the huge Nymphs supporter that you are, I’m sure you noticed first-year assistant coach DeAndre Leonard on their sidelines. But we’ve recently learned that he’ll be leaving his role with the Nymphs to join the Trojans coaching staff. How are you feeling about the new addition?”
“I’m geeked about it, honestly. I mean, we all know what happened the last time he was with the Trojans. But it’s clear he’s in a better place now. And not only that, but he also comes with a wealth of knowledge and now championship experience in both leagues. You really can’t beat that.”
He was right. And I was glad to hear him put some respect on Dre’s name even when I teased, “That’s a pretty profound answer coming from the person who tried to defame him.”
Smirking, Kage defended, “What can I say? We can’t all be as perfect and polite as you, Bleu Taylor.”
Perfect and polite.
From the public eye, I suppose that was a fair assessment. But the truth was, building that reputation hadn’t come easy. Everywhere I turned, there was someone trying to knock me down a peg, calling my professionalism into question, accusing me of sleeping my way to the top. And then there were the people who just generally didn’t respect women working in sports in any capacity, forcing me to grind ten times harder to prove I wasn’t just here because of my pretty face even if Kage couldn’t take his eyes off of me.
I didn’t even bother calling him out on it, instead sticking to the script when I said, “Let’s switch it up. This offseason, we learned that one of your teammates, Nikolas Verette, is an incredible vocalist. Do you have any hidden talents you can share with us?”
Like I’d offended him, Kage made a smacking sound with the back of his teeth before insisting, “Niko ain’t the only Trojan who can sing.”
The way he was acting about it made me giggle as I pressed, “You can’t say things like that unless you’re prepared to back it up for the viewers, Kage.”
“Aight, so what you want me to sing?”
“I don’t know,” I laughed. “Whatever your go-to song is for when you tell people you can sing. Everyone who says they can sing has one.”
Because he knew I was right, he nodded. “Aight, aight. I’m
a little rusty, but here we go.” Then he cleared his throat and closed his eyes to belt, “I see us in the park…”
“Oh, you better not mess up Stevie,” I warned, instantly recognizing the opening line of Stevie Wonder’s “Knocks Me Off My Feet” as Kage continued into the first verse. And honestly... he didn’t sound half bad.
Was he as good as Niko?
I wouldn’t give him all that.
But if I was the lead choir director at the church, he’d probably get the second solo. In fact, I found myself snapping along as he got into the chorus, vibing to his acapella version until he grabbed my hand to join him in a little two-step that somehow ended with me being spun into his arms.
Great for television.
Bad for me since… has he looked this good the entire time?
Don’t get me wrong, I was very much aware of the fact that Kage Steele was easy on the eyes. I mean, the honey-roasted skin with a face of scattered old scars that told me he didn’t back down from any fights growing up. The mid taper fade and the extra strong jawline that had a nice little five ‘o clock shadow goatee situation going on. The muscle that screamed professional athlete, and the tattoos that turned that same muscle into a canvas…
Simply put, it was hard not to notice how handsome he was. Still, I wasn’t expecting to be so affected by it, doing my best to shake it off as I gently extracted myself from his hold and admitted, “Okay, so that was way better than I thought it’d be.” Then I turned directly towards the camera to add, “But Stevie, we cannot pay you for that, so please cut us a break.”
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