A Game Worth Watching Read Online Free Page B

her, expecting more of an explanation for why she refused to step on
the basketball court with a bunch of girls as her teammates. She knew he
wouldn’t move past the ridiculous idea, but she couldn’t tell him the whole
truth: girls scared her. She’d seen plenty of movies and overheard enough girls
at school to know the truth about them. Girls could be your best friend one
second and your worst enemy the next. They revealed secrets during moments of
distress and sacrificed bonds of friendship for boyfriends and popularity. They
used and humiliated people for their own personal gain. They claimed to care
about you only to flee in the middle of the night never to return. Girls
couldn’t be trusted, and Emma refused to be thrust into the middle of their
drama, knowing she’d only get hurt in the end. Joining the girls’ basketball
team would be like entering piranha-infested waters. No thank you.
    Riley
wouldn’t understand. He’d accuse her of overreacting and tell her not to always
expect the worst in people. Maybe he’d be right, but he didn’t know what it was
like to be hurt, unloved, and abandoned.
    She
took a deep breath before plunging ahead with an answer to satisfy him. “I’ve
been surrounded by guys my entire life. I can’t just cross over. It would be
like going to a foreign country without speaking the language or appreciating
their culture.” Aside from the whole girl phobia thing—or maybe because of
it—Emma was as bad as a guy at understanding her own species.
    Riley
studied her profile. “It could be good for you.”
    “Says
the guy with the perfect life.”
    “My
life is not perfect.”
    She
rolled her head in his direction, her eyebrows raised in question. Unlike most
of the kids at school, Riley didn’t flaunt his lifestyle, but that didn’t mean
he couldn’t hold his own against any of them. He had plenty of money in the
bank, two great parents, a huge house, and a nice set of wheels. Plus, he was
an all around nice guy, and everyone loved him. Truth be told, Riley Ledger had
it good, and he knew it.
    “Okay,”
he finally conceded. “Compared to your life my life may seem perfect, but only because you have
enough problems for the both of us.”
    “Exactly,”
she said. “Which means I don’t need any more, especially not in the form of a
girls’ basketball team.”
    Riley
hopped off the log to stand in front of her. She hated when he peered up at her
with his blue eyes, looking all innocent and trusting, like there was nothing
in the world he wouldn’t do for her. It only made it more difficult for her to
stand her ground.
    “You
can fight me all you want, Em, but the truth is you’ll never get a college
scholarship to play on the boys’ basketball team. This could be your shot.”
    The
mere mention of college put her on edge. “My shot for what? College isn’t for
people like me. It’s for people like you.” He knew the limitations she faced
with no money to pay for college and no support from family. Education wasn’t
exactly a high priority for her. As much as she wanted to believe Riley, it was
hard to think seventeen years of nothing would miraculously unfold a future of
possibilities for her.
    Leaning
against her knees, Riley rested his arms in Emma’s lap and looked up at her.
“What’s so different about you and me, huh? And don’t you dare say anything
about household income because you know I won’t buy it.”
    Emma
didn’t respond. She didn’t want to rehearse how the world treated them
differently or how she was so much less than him. Of course, Riley didn’t see,
or maybe he chose not to acknowledge, how the two of them were from two
different worlds. Just because they were friends didn’t mean the future would
bring similar paths for them. It had always been her expectation that Riley
would go to college and earn some fancy degree while she stayed behind to
perfect her would-you-like-fries-with-that speech for a living. Household
income wasn’t