His For A Year: The Basketball Lord's

♠ Austin Hames ♠

"Good day sir." My driver scurried towards me, head bowed as he reached for the traveller's bag on my hand. "I hope it wasn't stressful sir."

I didn't bother replying.

Instead, just moved past him to my car whose door was opened by a guard and closed once I was in.

The driver rushed to keep my bag in the boot of the car, before entering the driver's seat.

Once the car started, we were soon leaving the airport and on the road.

As he drove past the city, my thoughts wandered to how long it had been since I was here.

Three years? Four? I couldn't recall.

But of course, that was expected from me, being the world's best basketball player.

I had to play over eighty games a year, and got short breaks which I wouldn't want to spend travelling from other States to New York just to spend time with my family.

But don't get me wrong, I love playing basketball.

Sadly though, at the age of thirty, I sensed I was nearing my retirement.

Not that basketball players retired so early, it was just that, for me, after the ankle injury two months ago, I wouldn't deny that my skills had been deteriorating.

And now, I'd been given a six month break to heal completely.

That meant I wouldn't be able to finish in the NBA.

Sad, but a good would be coming out of it.

Thankfully, I had a second option.

Apart from being a basketball player, I was the successor to one of New York's biggest companies, and after thirty years of my life, I could finally take over my father's company.

Also, after three years, I could finally see my family.

So now here I was, a few weeks from the holiday and finally a few minutes away from seeing my family, not sure how they'd react to meeting me.

***

♠ Kim Stans ♠

"Girl, don't tell me you're going to be single again this holiday?" Katie greeted me as soon as I collapsed on the sofa.

"Good afternoon to you too." I retrieved my phone from the pocket of the black jeans I had on.

"I don't like the idea of my friend being single every time." She continued, making her way towards me.

"I'm way too busy to even consider having someone as a date." Which was true and she obviously knew that.

She took a seat opposite the couch I was sitting on. "Still, I feel like it might help your writing if you're able to feel what you write."

That made me chuckle, because I was sure she had to be joking.

I was great at writing even without feeling what I wrote.

As the world's best romance writer, I had my own secrets... I did not believe in love.

Love was just something best kept as fantasy, but certainly not worth feeling. It never ends well.

Never.

And my parents' relationship had helped to fuel my thoughts on love.

They had gotten a divorce the day my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and she left us, not even caring that it might actually have a cure.

When he survived it, I knew then and there that love didn't truly exist.

Which was why I decided to help those who didn't have a happy ending by creating stories where they could feel what isn't real.

I might never have fallen in love, but I was able to create people that'd do so.

"I really need to not be distracted during this holiday and you know why,"

"Okay, so have you thought about what sport you'd be writing on?" She asked, seeming to understand that I wasn't interested in the love discussion any further, but knowing the friend I had, she'd certainly bring it up again.

"I was thinking basketball,"

The holiday was supposed to be a holiday. But for me, it was going to be work-filled.

I'd written almost all genres of novels except one. The sports genre.

That was expected from someone like me who knew nothing about sports.

But then readers just had to start craving for the sports genre and so tons of writers are feeding their hunger.

And if I don't want to lose my readers to them, I had to submit a one to my publishers two weeks after January.

"Why basketball? You know nothing about it." She said what I was already aware of. "Why not football? You could ask your dad a thing or two about that."

"Yeah," I leaned back against the couch, "but Suzy's already writing on that."

Her expression shifted to disgust at that name.

Susan Kurt was twenty six years (a year older than I was) and the second best writer worldwide, but that didn't mean she couldn't be the first at any time.

We were rivals and although I rarely ever saw her, the little times we actually encountered each other was always chaotic.

When my publishers had told me to write about sports, I'd told them I couldn't since I knew nothing about it.

But when I found out Suzy was going to write a football romance, my blood began boiling.

If she was to write it, there was no way she wouldn't end up being the best writer, so I had to write something about sport.

Since she'd chosen football, I had to go with another famous sport. The first thing that came to my head was basketball.

But then there was just one problem. I hated sports and knew nothing about it.

Like she could read my mind, she asked, "what do you plan on doing then about your lack of knowledge?"

My shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I could learn."

She let out a chortle, earning a glare from me, "you want to learn? You want to learn about sport?" Another chortle.

I rolled my eyes, knowing she was right since I was terrible at sitting down for hours trying to learn something.

And if it was about sport, I'd certainly fall asleep.

"Do you have any better option?" I asked with a roll of eyes.

She shrugged, "maybe you could date a basketball player," before I could offer her another eye roll, she added, "just for fun."

"No thank you," I'd dated tons of people just for fun, but, "where on earth do I want to get a basketball player?"

Her lips curled upwards, as she nodded, her coffee brown hair moving with that motion. "I know one you can date."

Of course she did. "And where would you find one?"

"You can date my brother." Her gaze shifted to whatever was over my shoulder. "Oh here he is,"

Rising to my feet, I pivoted to see the figure walking into the house.

He strode into the parlor, his tall frame commanding attention. His sharp jawline, prominent cheekbones and piercing black eyes, made him look like a sculptured masterpiece.

He possessed broad shoulders and powerful build that seemed to fill the doorway.

His eyes locked onto mine, and strangely enough, I felt my heart skip a beat.

A slow, confident smile spread across his face, filling the room. His eyes seemed to sear holes into my soul, the intensity making me feel naked.

I'd almost forgotten about Katie's presence till she said, "Austin!"

"Austin!" Katie scurried to her brother, throwing him into a big hug. Jeez, standing beside him, her five foot nine self looked way shorter.

He wrapped his arms around her back, tightening the hug.

"Hi, it's been so long. Why haven't you grown taller?" Woah, how was his voice so deep and masculine?

She released him from the hug, playfully smacking his shoulder. "You've still not stopped using your height to intimidate me, huh?"

The side of his lips hitched upwards a little as he let her go, his gaze shifting to me.

I stared at the two siblings and the similarities between them. Apart from the fact she took over her mom's hair color and he took over his dad's, they were similar in every other way (well, except height).

She turned to me, waving me over which I did, staring at her brother in surprise.

My surprise was very much justifiable.

I mean, I'd known Katie for three years and never heard a thing about a brother from her.

If it wasn't for their extreme similarities, I'd have denied they were related.

Not wanting to even imagine how short my five foot seven self would be in front of him, I stopped at a distance.

He offered me an expression devoid of emotions while Katie grabbed my shoulder, pulling me closer.

"Austin, this is my best friend Kim, and Kim, this is Austin, my brother." From the way she said it, there was no one that needed to tell me she was trying to join us both.

But she should know better than to do that, because I certainly wasn't interested in anyone.

Especially not my best friend's brother.

"Hi-"

"I'll be driving to mom and dad's place in an hour," he cut me off, turning to Katie, "I just wanted to greet you before heading there. You think I can rest here for the meantime?"

What? My brows furrowed.

Did he seriously just cut me off? He just acted like I wasn't there.

What the f*ck? Even if he was Katie's brother, I certainly didn't like him at all

"Yeah, I guess," she turned to me, obviously noting how annoyed I must be, "don't you want to say hi to Kim?"

He glanced back to me, his gaze sweeping past me like I was just somebody. "Hey," then walked past me, the strong scent of his cologne dancing around my nose while he just- left.

I glared at Katie who offered an apologetic look. "What a nice brother you have there."

The sarcasm was evident in my tone, as I ensured to be loud enough for him to hear.

I mean, how the heck could someone be so rude to just ignore another person like that. What was wrong with him? "I'm really sorry for his behavior," she rolled her eyes, "that's just how his assh*le self is."

"How come I'm just finding out you have a brother?" My hands flew to my hips, letting her in on how annoyed I was at the moment.

A sigh left her, "I'm sorry I kept it from you, it's just..."

"It's just?" I asked when she trailed off, obviously searching for the right word.

"It's just," she stared at me apologetically, "everytime I tell anyone who my brother is, they always want to befriend me so they can actually meet with him. It's kind of tiring to see my friends always acting extra nice so they don't offend me, because they want to meet Austin, and I guess I just wanted a real friend so I kinda lied to you."

"And you thought I'd be one of those who'd gawk over a celebrity?"

Why would she even think that? Especially a sports celebrity? When I literally knew nothing about sports.

"I know, I'm sorry, I just didn't want to ruin our relationship at all," she took my hands in hers, "come on, don't you think you can just let this roll over your shoulder?"

As much as I'd have wanted to stay annoyed at her for such a lie, I knew she had a sensible reason to (though I was still a little annoyed at why she didn't tell me a year after or even two).

"Okay, I guess I'll just let it slide."

With that, she giggled, throwing me into her arms. "Thanks girl."

"But there's no way I'm dating that brother of us," I said once she'd released me from the hug, "I'm certain he doesn't even like me to want to date me because I want to learn about basketball."

That dude would probably have forgotten about my existence already.

"Still, I think you should consider dating someone this holiday. It might just help you a lot with your book."

I shrugged, "I'll consider it."

***

"Okay, so you can do this Kim," I convinced myself while dropping my laptop on the pillow I'd placed on my lap.

It wasn't going to be that hard.

I mean, all that's needed is determination. And no one is as determined as I was at the moment to learn about basketball. Because I was certain if I could write this book in a very detailed manner, it could end up being the best of all my books.

Turning on my laptop, I went straight to Google, typing 'how to learn about basketball'

Now, it wasn't going to be hard.

It wouldn't.

I clicked on the first website which sent me straight to a YouTube video of an Indian woman telling us about the world's best basketball players.

The first name that popped up on the screen was Austin Hames.

It was weird how he was the world's best basketball player and I'd never heard a thing about him.

The woman continued listing their names, so I had to resist the urge to just fast-forward all her talks, leaning against my pillow.

If I really wanted to write about basketball, I should know about the famous ones and what made them famous.

"Devin Xander," the woman said, wearing a soldier uniform as she stood in front of my mirror, "took two shots and..."

"Hey," a bird flew to me, shaking its head in disappointment, "how do you expect yourself to learn if you don't have the brain to."

Suddenly, I felt the urge to fight for myself by smacking it. "Suzy, you can't tell me what to do."

Suzy rolled her eyes. "Don't you dare bark at me. I'm way better at writing than you are."

"How dare you? I can write and I'm going to write about basketball." I defended myself.

"You can't learn it this way, you moron," she rolled her eyes, "you need someone to teach you."

"I can do that," Austin said, but he looked so much like my sixth grade math teacher, "I'm great at basketball."

"... and Tyrese Haliburton threw the..." the woman's voice caused me to jerk my eyes open.

Did I seriously sleep?

Rubbing my eyes, I checked how long the video had been playing.

Twenty two minutes?!

My eyes widened in surprise.

Did I seriously sleep for that long? And what the heck was that dream about?

♠ Austin Hames ♠

I had expected my mom to be elated so it wasn't a surprise when she'd thrown me into a tight mama bear hug as soon as I walked into the house.

Nor was I surprised to see my dad just sitting on the couch, devoid of any expression, while he stared at the newspaper he was obviously not reading.

No one needed to tell me what was running through his mind, because that was what was obviously going on in every other person's mind.

"I've missed you so much." Mom said for like the umpteenth time since I got here.

All I did was nod, because truthfully, I couldn't continue with the same reply of 'same here'.

"You've been gone for four years and you're not acting like you missed us one bit." Katie crossed her arms over her chest.

Since I wasn't sure how to reply to that, I just offered her a small smile, watching her shake her head.

Now that they were both done with their greetings, everywhere went silent.

I didn't need anyone to tell me it was time to greet my dad, Chris Hames.

With a throat clear, I sauntered towards him. "It's been long,"

His gaze lifted from the newspaper. "I don't know if you expect me to be blissed out at the sight of my son coming back for Christmas."

The way he said it made me feel like some kind of prodigal son or whatever.

But I didn't respond, giving him room to continue. "Still, you're home single because of whatever you claim to be doing where you're not going to see a potential wife."

Now, the topic that was always discussed whenever I got back home.

It wasn't coming as a surprise. In fact I'd expected it, and so my reply had been prepared.

The same I always gave every time he brought up the conversation.

I was way too busy to focus on a stable relationship, but they didn't care about that.

All they wanted was for me to get married.

Especially after my what happened with my previous fiancee.

"Li-"

"I know what you're going to say." He cut me off, dropping the newspaper beside him on the couch. "You're too busy to date and you're still young."

He scoffed. "Enough of that b*llsh*t already. You said that three years ago and the year before."

I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at how dramatic he was being at the moment.

"You know," he continued, seeming oblivious of how uninterested I was in this conversation, "I had you when I was your age."

He was going to start telling the story he always told whenever I arrived.

"Which meant I was married a year before that and had been dating four years before so-"

"Dad please, I just came from the airport and I'm too exhausted for this conversation." I cut him off, knowing if I didn't, he could talk for hours and not care about how tired I was.

His brows pulled in dissatisfaction. "Do you still plan on playing basketball after your six month break?"

I ignored the irritated edge in his tone.

He had never liked the fact I had decided to become a basketball player when I'd graduated as the best graduating student in business and finance.

But being a basketballer didn't mean I didn't want to take over my dad's company.

I mean, I'm the only successor to the company (since Katie had said she wasn't interested in business), so I'd be dumb to not want it.

"It depends on how my ankle heals." Though I was starting to fear it might not be soon enough.

At least I had a second option of the company and all, so that was what I'd focus on.

"You'll never have a girlfriend," he stared ahead, his face becoming expressionless, "which means you'll never have a wife and you won't give me a successor."

My brows drew in confusion. "What are you saying?"

He leaned back against the couch, crossing his leg over his knee. "Since you might end the company's name without offering it an heir, I've decided to give the company to someone who would."

"Huh?"

"I realized that for as long as you're a player, you'll never get a girlfriend and so I'll give it to your cousin, Justin."

With that, my body tensed and my jaw hardened.

Justin Andrew was just a year younger than I was and was undeniably the one person I hated the most.

Although we were cousins, we certainly didn't share that type of family love.

While my dad owned a company, his dad owned one that was just a little lower than mine, and that obviously infuriated him a lot.

If dad was to give him the company, that'd ruin my life.

Not only would I end up jobless after retirement, but I'd also give him a reason to be better than I was.

And that was going to be terrible.

"You can't do that." My fist clenched, trying to suppress the irritation boiling in my blood.

"Yes, I can." He turned to me, still maintaining the indifferent expression. "I'm supposed to be retired at my age, but because of who my son is, I'm here still working to my bones waiting for you to retire."

"Justin is ready to take over your position," he continued, only fueling my anger, "and he's my nephew and also really trustworthy."

"You can't do it." I repeated through gritted teeth.

"If you're able to have a girlfriend," he quickly added, "a stable relationship of at least a year, then I'll let you have the company but look at you."

He shook his head. "You don't even have anyone so how can I trust that you'll have a successor.

"I've made up my mind that you'll stay single, so I'm giving the company to Justin."

And he did sound like he'd made the decision after much contemplating.

There was nothing I could say that'd change his mind. Even if I promised to have a girlfriend, he still wouldn't listen.

Except...

I drew in a breath, relaxing my shoulders and releasing my hands from the fist.

"I wanted to say this to you later, but I guess I'll have to say it now," with that, curious gazes turned to me, "I have a girlfriend."