Towel off fast.
Don’t even look in the mirror.
I already know what I’ll see.
A guy who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.
I try to study.
I really do.
Laptop open.
Notes pulled up.
Highlighter in hand.
I read the same paragraph three times.
Don’t absorb a single word.
Because my brain keeps looping back.
That moment on the court.
That step I almost took.
That life I almost chose.
I slam the laptop shut.
Done.
I grab my phone.
Don’t think about it.
Just hit the contact.
Leo.
It rings twice.
Picks up.
“Vale,” he answers, easy, like nothing’s changed. “You alive or did California finally humble you?”
I huff out a dry breath. “I’m losing my mind.”
There’s a pause.
A shift.
Leo hears it.
“What happened?”
I start talking.
