He had yet to let go of her hand since they sat down beside each other.“You’ll have to get used to my brothers. They’re very much like our dad, ...nd he’d never back down from anyone’s challenge. We’ve seen Cheyenne run a few races near our home and he really is very fast,” Kia turned to whisper, her lips just inches from his ear.“I too have some money, would you advise me to place a bet on Eli’s horse?”“If you’re going to bet, bet on Eli. He’s too much like our dad to let a horse of his lose a. He was the real Burt now! There was no escaping that! He was Burt!Over and over he kept thinking that and in the base of his skull thewarmth spread and the ticking went on until he realized what washappening and stood up with a jerk, alarmed.The more he dwelled on his position here and how identical it was toBurt's, the more that reinforced and accelerated the change - the more itreally turned him into Burt, mind and soul!He almost felt like crying but he forced himself to stay calm. He. Jim was holding an empty glass, and wore an expression of concern mixed with anger."Jonathan you little bastard you drank yourself into a goddamn stupor!"I simply groaned in response. My head was pounding. I had never been this drunk before. I tried to sit up, and the dull throb behind my eyes broke into a splitting blinding pain. I dropped back down to the floor with a grunt.In the back of my mind I realized my chair had tipped over."Is that broken glass Jonathan? Goddamn! This is a mess." Jim. Malissa worked for the team's Public Relations & Marketing Departmentand often traveled with the team. The veterans had asked her to comedown to the locker room and be available to help the rookies as theyput on the women's clothes.Malissa had to help all the other rookies get dressed. She had leftthe locker room to take a break while the coaches were dealing withMike. She was on her way back to help Mike when she saw him gettingdressed. Something had told her to stop before Mike could see.