STEFANI: Rawley Battle, did you lie to me?
Asinking feeling hits me. I was avoiding writing Stef about the Avery updates, but I probably should have done it at the same time as my siblings.
Too late now. Plus, tonight I make my first appearance at the Surge game.
You don’t owe Stef anything.
But I’m not going to ignore her message. That doesn’t feel right either.
RAWLEY: No, things just changed.
There’s no response for a minute, and a little twist in my stomach won’t come undone. I fill out my explanation.
RAWLEY: Avery and I just kind of happened. It doesn’t have to affect our friendship, right?
STEFANI: Everyone is talking about it. I can’t believe I had to find out from a social media post.
STEFANI: I just wish you had told me.
Twist, twist.
RAWLEY: I’m sorry.
There’s five minutes of radio silence. And I’m surprised to find I’m more impatient for her to respond than worried she’s still mad.
Finally, another message loads.
STEFANI: Apology accepted.
STEFANI: So I need to tell you about my audition…
“Looking sharp,”Connor says dryly as I walk into Landon’s living room later that afternoon.
He arrived from Princeton yesterday, all done with his freshman classes.
As planned, I’m wearing Avery’s number eight jersey over some joggers for her game.
“Just supporting ‘my girl.’” I use finger quotes since he knows the truth.
“All while making sure about a thousand cameras catch you. You couldn’t find a shirt to fit underneath?” His voice is laced with sarcasm as his eyes roam around my bare arms.
I flex my biceps. “And hide these babies?”
Connor scoffs. “Just keep them away from me.”
In reality, I’d gotten very specific instructions on what to wear from Taylor, and Avery’s jersey was delivered to our door overnight.
“Don’t be intimidated, baby bro.”
“Yeah, it’s not that.” He shakes his head, now chuckling. I love breaking down his snarky side, getting him to genuinely laugh. The kid is always spun so tight.
“Okay, we good to go?”
“Yeah.”
We get to the arena, and I follow the directions to a private parking lot, where the security guard waves us on. From there, the Surge staffer from our interview, Kayla, greets us. I introduce Connor, and she points toward a hallway.
“I’m going to walk you out and lead you to the courtside area.”
