Terri shakes her head. "No. But Avery can’t catch a break lately. Ever since all that stuff went down last year, he’s become enemy number one."
On my other side, Noelle. She threads her arm through mine, locking our fingers together as if I'm her comfort person. She told me she had tobegAvery to let her be at the game.
She hasn’t seen him play all season, but I promised him I would stay by her side all night, no matter what.
"What happened last year, Terri?" I ask her.
Noelle flinches, and that’s all I need to know. It wasn’t my question to ask, and it sure as hell isn’t Terri’s to answer.
She squeezes my hand. When I glance over, she’s wiping a tear from her cheek like it snuck out without permission.
I swallow hard. I shouldn’t have said anything.
A whistle blows on the court, and it snaps my attention back.
"He hasn’t told you?" Terri asks, pulling my focus from the court to her. I shake my head, and she sips her beer.
"I need a bathroom break," Noelle quickly says, hurrying off into the crowd. But she rushes off too fast for me to tell her I’ll come with her.
"Nobody really knows." Terri gives a weak shrug. "Aside from Avery himself, probably Ryder and Orlando, too. IthinkNoellewas there, but it’s a very touchy subject for Avery, so no one really asks."
The guilt prickles my skin, knowing I put Noelle in what is probably a very uncomfortable position.
"Word is, it was a party celebrating the Falcons' win. Members had access to tickets, some fans too. When Avery, Ryder, and Orlando showed up, things got a little out of hand." Terri sighs, like she’s had to repeat those same exact words multiple times, but was never able to quite figure out why. "Press claims one of the Falcons fans said something that set Avery off, but I’ve known Avery for years." She shakes her head. "It just never seemed right to me that he would do that, you know?"
The Avery I’ve read about isn’t the one I’ve come to know. Mine is the one who calmed me down without even trying, who showed me his softer side, who didn’t push for answers I wasn’t ready to give.
Is he putting on a front for me, too? I hardly know the guy, so anything is possible.
And yet, even with everything I’ve just found out, I don’t believe for a second that he didn’t have a valid reason to do what they claim he did.
Note to self: see if you can get Avery Jones to open up aboutthatnight.
And if he doesn’t, keep trying.
"Are you okay?" I mouth to him while he sits on the bench before the final quarter, a towel slung over his sweaty shoulders.
He answers with a single nod, but I can tell he’s lying. One look at the empty seat beside me tells me all I need to know.
He’s worried about his sister.
And I’ve just let her wander off alone.
Noelle never came back after leaving to go to the bathroom. She texted telling me she wasn’t feeling well, so I met her outside and waited for her mom to come and get her.
Once Avery and I caught up after the game, he panicked, but I told him I was with Noelle the entire time, and that their mom picked her up from right outside.
Avery texted his mom after the game, and she let him know his sister was safe and at home.
"You met my Mom?" he asked awkwardly, unsure how he should react.
"Dawn seemed nice, and very thankful I walked Noelle to the car." I smiled.
"I just wish I could’ve been there." We walked out of the stadium hand in hand, and have been silent in his car since. He’s driving me to the airport so I can head to Atlanta for my next show.
Which means Avery and I will now be apart for a month.
Atlanta.
