Page 61 of Personal Foul
It was a tough night for him, things got heated on the court after he took an elbow to the jaw when going up for a rebound. He popped off at the other player, Corbin Savage. Neither of us are in the mood right now.
“Nah, man. I’m not, not at all.”
“Is this about the loss, man? We’ll take it. Savage doesn’t stand a chance against us in the playoffs, and they know it. We were off our game tonight, but we’ll come back better in the end.”
He’s right, but I don’t want to talk game right now.
“No, just a text I got. I’ll be better once we touch down in Miami, and I can tend to a few things.”
He nods, checking again that I’m okay. I adjust my headphones, scrolling through my playlist before stopping on Linkin Park. I shut my eyes, tilting my head back against the headrest, attempting to drown the world out around me.
It’s late when our flight touches down. By the time Jairo pulls up outside our apartment building, it’s after eleven-thirty. It’s a weekend, though, so most people in Downtown Miami are coming alive.
Pulling my suitcase with my gear along behind me, I hit the elevator through the parking garage. I’m focused on one thing and one thing only… getting to Sydney.
“So, wait, you two live together?”
The sound of her voice immediately catches my attention once the elevator reaches our floor. My eyes dart over to the direction it came from, landing on Molly standing face-to-face with Sydney.
Her long auburn hair is pulled up in one of those messy buns she likes to wear with her black-framed glasses. She doesn’t wear them often but seeing her now with her rosy cheeks makes my palms itch, yearning to touch her.
She must’ve heard the bell ding from the elevator, her eyes shooting over to me. I see a mix of anger and hurt, and I want to tell her to remember what I said the night at the gala. I want to remind her there’s nothing for her to worry about, to ignore whatever lies she’s spewed.
She knows me; she knows who I am beneath all the bullshit. She can trust me, even though I’m sure in her mind she has a list forming of all the reasons why she shouldn’t.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I spit out at Molly.
Her body jostles, not expecting the anger behind my words. I’ve never spoken to her this way. I’ve been mad, I’ve raised my voice when I learned what she was up to behind my back, but I never would lower myself to the place of getting so mad I took it out on her.
It’s different now. She’s messing with someone I love, and I won’t let her have her way here, too. I won’t lose Sydney because of her conniving bullshit.
“Did you get my text messages?”
Her lips curve in a smirk, crossing her arms in front of her. Sydney sighs, shaking her head. She leans against the door frame, rubbing her fingers over her forehead.
“Didn’t you get mine? I told you to stop contacting me. You’d think you would’ve gotten the point when I didn’t respond, Molly. What do you want?”
“Were you ever going to tell her about us?”
“What’s there to tell? There’s no ‘us’ anymore, Molly. Everything that happened is in the past, where it’s going to stay. I’m done with you, with this.”
She drops her arms, stomping her foot, letting out a heavy breath. “What is it you see in her anyway? I mean, seriously! Look at her, she can’t possibly be good enough for you.”
Her arms fly around, motioning to Sydney. She’s dressed in a black dress with matching heels. Her makeup looks smudged beneath her eyes, and the longer I stand here, looking at her, the angrier I become.
“How many times are you going to make him say it?” Sydney pushes off the wall, stepping out into the hallway.
Her red robe is wrapped around her body, cinched at the waist.
“He wants you to leave!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, little orphan Annie,” she mocks.
I’m fuming at the nickname. When TMZ broke the news of my relationship with Sydney, they had to spill how she was adopted, referencing her dad as being my head coach.
It’s because of me she even has connections down here, and once I find out how she figured out where I live, it’s going to be a cold day in hell for whoever it was.
“Listen here, Molly. I’m not going to say this again. Whatever your reason was for getting on a plane and flying down here, it was pointless. We are done! We were done when you thought it was a good idea to use me and steal my money. There’s nothing you could say to change my mind!”
Sydney’s eyes bulge at the mention of her stealing from me.
Not giving Molly a second more of my time, I shoulder past her and step toward Sydney, muttering under my breath, “I guess there are some things we need to talk about.”
She steps back, holding the door open and letting me enter. I deposit my suitcase near the door and step in close to her. I wrap my arm around her waist, pressing a kiss against her forehead.
Molly’s eyes narrow into slits, anger seething watching me disregard her like yesterday’s newspaper.
“It’s too bad all that makeup can’t cover up how truly ugly you are.” Sydney plasters a fake smile on her face, before muttering, “bitch” as she slams the door in Molly’s face.
