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When it had become clear that I’d had some talent when it came to playing basketball, a high school coach had taken interest in me, and by the time that I’d hit my senior year of high school, I’d had full offers to college to play ball. Even now, whenever I thought back on that time in my life, I still couldn’t believe that I’d gotten out of Hammond, Illinois. Hammond had been a town that’d just needed to be razed and forgotten about, and it still was.
Nevertheless, I hadn’t been the only one that had gotten out. My four best friends had also been accepted to college to play sports, and it was hard not to believe in God when miracles like that happened in your life. Five friends from a shitty town, all with horrible parents, had managed to break free from a cycle that never should have existed in the first place.
Atlas Braylon was a goalie for the Seaside Acers, Titan Miller was a star forward for the Highland Wolves, Sebastian Havoc was a catcher for the Torrent Eagles, Raven King was a star receiver for the Bratton Spartans, and I was a point guard for the West Corral Devils. We were scattered all to hell in Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, California, and Texas, but we were still tight as ever. The media called us The Loyal Five because our friendships had come to light during Nova’s college graduation. We had all taken a picture together, and I still wasn’t sure how, but the picture had become a famous sports image that people still referred to when talking about us.
As for Nova, she was the director of ?STAR, a charity foundation that we’d founded, geared towards helping children only. Though we had all managed to escape our horrible childhoods, our mental and emotional baggage had followed us, and so we did our best to give back, desperate to save as many children as we could, though it was impossible to save them all.
I’d also been grateful that Sebastian and Nova had ended up in the same city, Sebastian being there for her in a way that the rest of us couldn’t. If I slept at night, that was due in large part to Seb for loving Nova enough to make sure that he’d always been there for her. Though we had a group text that we used all the time, and though Nova had a calendar with all of our schedules, keeping us all connected, there were times when I missed my sister so much that I could barely breathe with it. However, I wasn’t the only one. Nova was special to all of us, and you just had to look at our phones to know that.
Along with pictures of her everywhere, Raven called her Little Star, Sebastian called her Starlight, Atlas called her Twinkle, and Titan called her Sparkly. I was the only one that called her by her name. Usually, the guys only called her by her name if the conversation was serious or they were whining to her about something. Nova looked out for us just as much as we looked out for her, and I thank God that she had survived her senior year of high school none worse for wear with us all gone.
Pulling up to the Devils’ arena, the sight still caught me unawares sometimes, and I knew that it was the same for the others. Raven had escaped gambling-addicted parents, Sebastian had escaped neglectful parents, Titan had escaped abusive parents, Atlas had escaped pure evil, and I had managed to escape poverty with a side dish of mental abuse. By the grace of God, we’d done it. We’d gotten into college, and those years of hard work had made us superstar athletes. Dreams really did come true, though I still struggled with that reality sometimes. Sometimes, I’d wake up, worried that it’d all been some sadistic dream of showing me what I’d never have.
That was probably why I’d always been the calm one. Having had to raise Nova, I really hadn’t had a choice. I was calm, practical, and did my best to think before I acted. That being said, Raven was probably the most serious out of us all. He had taken on the father role early on, and we had always let him be that for us. Even though we were all the same age, Raven was the one that you called to help bury a body. As for the others, Sebastian was the funny one, Titan was the wild one, and Atlas was the dangerous one, which made hockey the perfect sport for him. Granted, he came by his demons honestly, but still.
With the exception of Atlas, Raven had also set the example when he’d gotten his first paycheck. Though our parents hadn’t deserved it, we had all purchased brand-new homes for them, paying off our debts in their eyes. As soon as escrow had closed, they’d all been cut off, though Raven’s parents had still tried to keep in touch with him. Granted, that had all come to an end a while back after Raven’s father had been involved in an underage sex scandal.
I sat in my car, giving myself a few precious moments before the madness set in. Professional sports towns were different from other cities around the world. Having a hometown professional team did something to the fans that was borderline insane. The energy was crazy, and it was out of this world whenever a team brought home a championship. It was almost as if they owned us, though the same could be said about us owning them. Nothing was more exhilarating than the energy of our fans.
Well, except for sex.
Granted, I wasn’t having much of that these days, what with that stupid deal that we’d made with Sebastian. Thanks to Titan’s little mishap back in the day, we’d all always been careful about sleeping around, but denial was like anything else. If something was available to you, you could either take it or leave it. However, the moment that someone told you that you couldn’t have something, then that’s when you wanted it the most. Plus, if Atlas and I felt like we were suffering, then I couldn’t imagine how Titan must feel. That dude never kept it in his pants, so he was probably going through withdrawals like a certified heroin addict.
At any rate, we had a game tonight, and though we were playing our best ball yet, the novelty of stepping onto that basketball court hadn’t worn off yet; I wasn’t sure that it ever would. I was a professional basketball player in the NBA, and I was good at what I did. While I wouldn’t necessarily agree with the analysts that I was a phenom, I knew that I was good at what I did. If anyone was a phenom at what they did, it was Sebastian. Yeah, we were all good at what we did, but Sebastian’s MLB stats were insane.
My phone chimed with an incoming text, and when I glanced down at it as it sat in my cup holder, I saw Nova’s name flash on the screen, a quick good luck looking back up at me. I had no idea how she kept us all straight, but she did. I was also pretty sure that none of us had ever started a game without her ‘good luck’ text to kick it off.
I could feel those sentimental emotions trying to make an appearance, and I didn’t have time for that right now. I needed to get on the court and kick some fucking ass, and then I could call my sister to see how she was doing, though I already knew the answer to that. Nova was happy, and I just hoped that she stayed like that forever.
Grabbing my phone, I shot back a quick text.
Me:Thanks
Nova:I’ll b watching (thumbs up emoji)
I grinned at that. Nova had to be the only female on the planet that knew everything about basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, and football. She always watched all of our games, and there really was no one more important to me than my sister.
Chapter 2
Sinclair~
Ihad to be a glutton for punishment; that could be the only reason. Though I loved my job, I could have chosen any other field on the planet, but I’d hadn’t. I had chosen to go into sports therapy, proving that I needed to have my head examined.
I blamed my parents.
Since I needed to blame someone for my stupidity, I blamed my parents.
My father, Nathan Hansen, was a pediatrician, and my mother, Emily Hansen, was a psychology professor. Together, they had raised me to be fascinated with both the human body and human mind. Though most people would view that as a positive thing, I often had my doubts about my chosen profession. Yeah, every day wasn’t a bad day, but emotional and mental baggage was a real sonofabitch, and I had tons of both.
Now, my father wasn’t just a general pediatrician. Nathan Hansen specialized in childhood muscular medicine, and if your child was having trouble with basic motor skills or had been unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident, my father was the doctor that got them walking again, talking again, playing again. If there was ever an advocate for children’s health, it was my father.
As for my mother, her study of discipline was in how the mind truly performed miracles when it was a case of mind-over-matter. Emily Hansen really believed that our minds had the power to control our entire bodies if we could just master it over our emotions. While I appreciated her dedication, humans needed to be in touch with their emotions to keep from becoming anti-human. At least, that’s how I saw it.
At any rate, between them both, they had often brought their work home with them, and I’d fallen in love with the study of the human mind and body. So, when the time had come, physical therapy had been the career that had called to me. However, instead of helping regular people, in a moment of weakness, I’d gone into sports medicine, and I’d been too stubborn to correct the error of my ways.
Then, like most people, the checks had started rolling in, and I had assuaged my regret with the comfortable lifestyle that I had become accustomed to over the years. I was twenty-eight, owned my own home, paid my own bills, and had a clean debt history. Yeah, I’d been blessed enough to have my parents pay for college, but the rest of my life had been mine. The second that I’d gotten my degree, I’d been doing it all on my own, and I was proud of that.
The only downside?
