Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Justin tossed a wave at me as I approached my condo building, and I waved back. “Heads up,” he said with a smile. The smile meant someone that I actually liked was visiting.
“Thanks, Justin.”
“Hey,” Justin called, and I stopped next to him. “You okay?” He studied my face, his peppery eyebrows stitching together.
I studied his black vest and the gold name tag at the heart of it, and for a split second I wished I could be like Justin. Living an ordinary life with a happy wife and family he’d built. Smiling through each day as if he had everything he needed in the world. Maybe he did.
I’d thought when I got into the NBA, it would solve all my problems. If anything, all the money and the fame had made things worse.
I forced a smile and capped his shoulder. “All good, J.”
I walked away, before he could look at me a second longer, and took the elevator up, the key to my condo already in my hand. I unlocked the door, and as soon as I stepped inside, Zeke dashed across the penthouse and threw his front paws on me.
I closed the door, rubbing his head and giving him a good scratch behind the ears. I noticed all the lights were on and the curtains were drawn, despite it being dark outside, and sitting on the sofa was none other than my sister Whitney.
She’d gotten the key to my condo a few weeks ago so she could feed Zeke while I was traveling. She also needed a place to crash in ATL for a couple of days while searching for properties to renovate, so I offered her mine. That was weeks ago, though, so I didn’t understand why she was still lingering around.
“What are you doing here, Whit?” I dropped my keys onto the counter and let my gym bag hit the floor. The black-and-red T-shirt peeked through the open zipper, and I tried not to frown at it.
The general manager had gotten the players shirts with our numbers on them that we could take home. The number seventeen stared up at me. I lowered down to zip the bag and hide it.
“How about a Hello? How are you? I miss you, sis?” Whitney stood up, walking around the couch and folding her arms. “Me and Camille have been trying to call you for weeks.”
“I know. Got busy,” I told her, heading to the kitchen to pluck a Gatorade from the fridge.
“Too busy to talk to your sisters?”
I closed the fridge and cracked the bottle open, keeping my back to her. When I didn’t answer, Whitney met me in the kitchen and grabbed my arm, twisting me around gently to face her. She studied my face for so long I had to back up.
She was reading me. She and Camille were good at that. My mom too.
“You messed things up with her, didn’t you?” she asked in a low voice. There was no judgment in her tone. In fact, she asked the question as more of a statement, like she already knew the answer.
“Not now, Whitney.” I stepped around her to sit on the couch and turn the TV on. I tapped the Netflix button, but Whitney stepped right in front of the TV and blocked my view. “Whitney!”
“Deke, I told you not to do it!”
“It’s whatever,” I muttered.
“Look at you, bro. You’re hurting. I can see it all over your face! I told you not to get involved with her, but you never listen! I’m not trying to make this an I told you so moment, but, Deke, even I could’ve seen this coming from a mile away. Is that why you asked me to take the lake house off the books? ’Cause Camille said the day after that is when you stopped answering the phone.”
I looked away.
Zeke trotted my way, whining as he rested his head on top of my thigh. With a heavy sigh, Whitney moved from in front of the TV to sit on the couch too.
We sat this way for a few seconds, quiet and still, until Whitney spoke again.
“I never thought I’d see you fall in love,” she murmured, and my eyes flickered to hers quickly before dropping to Zeke’s head. “I saw it the night of her rebranding party. I saw the way you looked at her, the way you spoke to her. I saw you searching for her when she disappeared after your speech. I’ve never seen you care about any woman like that other than your family.”
My throat thickened when I met her eyes again. I expected her to be staring at me with pity but there was only sympathy.
I closed my eyes, letting them cool before I opened them again and clicked on my Netflix profile.
“Yeah, you’re right. You warned me, but I pushed for it anyway. It is what it is.”