"All I know is it’s coming. She couldn’t say when, just that it won’t make you look good. And that I need to prep a statement."
I can’t have Noelle’s name anywhere near this.
I won’t.
"I’ll say whatever you tell me to."
***
Ever since I was drafted into the NBA, I’ve been on the top ten lists.
In the first three years of my career, I was one of the top ten rookie players to watch. Over the last three years, I made it to the top three for players overall.
Ryder took the crown, with me in second place.
But that list wasn’t just about what you did on the court. Sure, stats mattered—but so did the kind of guy you were away from the sport.
And until the end of last season, I was good with holding second.
When we lost the championship to the Falcons, sure, I was bummed, but I was happy for them. I know what it takes. They deserved it.
Hell, I had friends on that team I wanted to celebrate with.
I’d told Noelle about the after-party and said she and Leah should come. But Leah had plans and couldn’t make it.
When Ryder, Orlando, and I pulled up to the Cherry Bar, we got waved through the thick red ropes like we were VIP, too.
One look around, told us guys from all over the country were there to celebrate the Falcons. Suddenly, I didn’t care that we weren’t the champions. That we weren’t the ones being celebrated.
Noelle said she’d find her own way there—that I didn’t need to wait. She got there forty-five minutes before I did.
The first thing I did when I got inside was look for her.
Something in my gut felt off.
I’d asked around, but no one seemed to know where she was.
I called her twelve times. Each time, her phone went straight through to voicemail.
Then I saw some young guy coming out of a back room, doing up his belt buckle, and the top button on his shirt, before pulling his Falcons jersey back over his head.
I knew it then.
I fucking knew.
I told Ryder to keep an eye on him, to not let him out of his sight. And when I ran to the room he’d just come out of, I wanted to kill him.
But I couldn’t.
My sister.
Noelle.
On the bed.
Unconscious.
Wearing nothing but her underwear.
