Page 45 of The Playmaker
JAX
Islam the locker shut so hard the metal reverberates through the room. Of all the days for this crap to happen, it has to be game day against our biggest rival team.
All over the news are photos of my sister this afternoon coming out of her private school, going into her ballet school. Now the whole world knows where she takes ballet! Any crazy person out there could, I don't know, harass her now, just because they hate me or hate the Phantoms. This is a nightmare. The very thing I've spent eight years of my life trying to prevent.
"What can I do?" Hawk sits beside me on the metal locker room bench, eyes sincere. "Which reporter do I punch and which news outlet do I sue?" He cracks his knuckles like he means business.
I relax only slightly. "Avery. It has to be her." It all comes out then, the sex, the connection, me asking her to date me. "I trusted her. And the whole time she was using me." And that hurts more than I care to admit. The one time I let my guard down it has to be with a reporter…with her. I even thought I was starting to fall for her. It's all ruined now. I'll never trust anyone ever again.
The pain of her betrayal cuts deeper than any injury I've ever suffered on the field. I'd rather take a blindside hit from a 300-pound linebacker than feel this hollow ache in my chest.
He squeezes my shoulder. "Channel all that out onto the field. Let's win today."
He's right. I slam my hands together a couple of times, feeling the adrenaline surge.
"That's my man!" He stands up then frowns. "I think you should skip the pre-game interviews, what do you say? I can clear it with Coach. You need to focus."
"Agreed. I'll do post-game but not pre."
I decide to hit the jump rope in the gym while the guys are in the game day locker room to warm up and forget my anger at Avery.
Dumb idea.
She's rushing down the tunnel with a skinny guy holding a camera, obviously late for the press meet before the game. We lock eyes and I immediately turn and attempt to slip into the gym.
"No comment," I growl out when she somehow catches up to me. I see the camera guy shoot me a sympathetic look before going into the press meet.
"It wasn't me. That's all I need to say. And I think I deserve the respect of you listening to me."
I scoff. "Not happening."
"Jax! That audio file wasn't mine—you and I never had a conversation about... your sister. Think about it. I didn't leak this."
What the hell is she talking about, an audio file? Whatever. I'm done. I walk into the gym without another word, but her plea echoes in my head. There's something in her voice—desperation, sincerity—that I don't want to acknowledge.
We win the game. But not because of me. That's the second time in a week that Hawk has saved my rear end and saved the team. I owe him. My head's a mess. Coach won't letme do a post-game interview, so I angrily drive home, mad at the world.
I grip the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turn white. Eight years of careful planning, of calculated public appearances, of building an entire persona to keep the spotlight on me and off Riley—all of it undone in a single day. The one thing I've been terrified of since our parents died has finally happened. The vultures have found her.
I can't wait to see Riley. I hope she's not hurting...or scared. All the attention has to be overwhelming for her. I race inside and see my sister...laughing? Actually laughing and holding up her phone to Mrs. Mathews. She looks giddy.
She jumps up and hugs me. "Jax! You told everyone about me! I'm so happy! I'm not a secret anymore!"
She tries to do a twirl with me, but I'm frozen in place. I did...what?
"Riley, I didn't tell anyone anything. Are you okay? Did anyone try to stalk you or hurt you or...?"
"OMG! Today was the best day," she gushes. "Some kids asked to take selfies with me and then one of the moms at school asked if I could go do something called an 'appearance' at the children's hospital to make the sick kids smile! I want to go! Can I do it?"
Her eyes are so hopeful that I find myself nodding, numb. This is all too much. And she's happy about it, about...everything? It makes me question the years of hiding her away like she was too fragile to let out of her gilded cage for even a second. Was I wrong?
Have I been protecting Riley all these years, or just my own fear of losing her too?
"What did you mean, I told people?"
She thrusts her phone to my face. The news is running with a secretly recorded audio file. Earlier when I saw the story break, there is no source, no smoking gun on who leaked the info, so I assumed it was Avery.
Listening to this clip, now I know who did it. And she did it because she couldn't get what she wanted out of me: Giselle.
