Todos os capítulos de BETWEEN US AND THE COURT: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 7

Axel's POV.My alarm went off at five in the morning, but I had already been staring at the white ceiling of my bedroom for two hours.The condo was completely silent. No maids knocking on doors, no business calls echoing from my father’s home office, and no passive-aggressive comments from my mother about my posture or my life choices. Just me.I didn't want to transfer here. But I didn't want the life my father had planned for me either. If he had his way, I'd be at a private academy across the country, wearing a tailored blazer and learning to take over his business.Basketball was the only thing I'd ever fought him on. So I chose this place instead. My father still gave me an allowance, just enough to get by, but he'd cut it down enough to make sure I knew who was in control.He didn't understand. The silence was the only part of my life I actually liked.It was the noise outside that terrified me.By the time I reached the campus parking lot at seven-forty, my stomach was already

Axel's POV.My hands were still trembling at my sides.Nobody noticed. To everyone in the gym, I probably looked completely relaxed—unbothered and cold. That was the curse of my face. Whenever my chest felt like it was caving in from panic, my expression just turned completely blank. Like a stone wall.In reality, my heart had been pounding for twenty minutes.Every single time Ethan stepped into my space during the scrimmage, my brain short-circuited. When he put his forearm against my hip on defense, pressing his sweaty chest against mine, the heat of his skin burned right through my jersey. He was so close I could smell him.And then he had barked right into my ear: "Right here, pretty boy. Let's see what you've got."Pretty boy.The words sent a shiver through me. It wasn't an insult, and it didn't make me angry. His furious voice made my breath catch, and I almost lost my dribble. Nobody had ever talked to me like that. People either spoke to me politely because of my family’s na

Axel's POV.My phone vibrated on the bench for the fifth time in twenty minutes.I didn't need to look at the screen. The caller ID was always the same: Dad.Every call was an interrogation. Did you speak to the academic advisor? Did you submit your application to the finance program? When are you moving back into the main house? He couldn't comprehend why his only son was wasting his life in a public high school gymnasium instead of preparing to manage private equity firms.He didn't know that basketball was the only place in the world where my head went quiet.When the ball bounced, when sneakers squeaked against the floor, when plays unfolded in clean, geometric lines—all the noise in my skull stopped. The suffocating anxiety that made it impossible for me to order food or talk to my classmates vanished whenever I stepped between the painted lines. I didn't want scouts. I didn't want a scholarship; my family had more money than I could spend in three lifetimes. I just wanted to pla