Hollis watches from the upper concourse, and he never once tells Verity to stop. On the empty court she offers the winning team the relief only she can give, and every man she nurses feeds his buried fear that she might slip beyond his claim. She gives herself with soft defiance, needing to be more than the body that sustains the group.

In the locked supply closet afterward, he takes back what the team only borrowed. The door stays shut against the others, and the tension holds them at the edge, his possessiveness meeting her guarded need. Can he remain the one who sees her most completely when she nurses them under his gaze?