Page 85 of Playbook
“Nothing.”
“Okay. Then just open it.”
I do, and that uneasy feeling I had at seeing her name spreads and intensifies.
Brogan,
My name is Sabrina. I’ve been trying to contact you via text, but I must have the wrong number. I think I’m your sister.
TWENTY-THREE
Archer looks up from the letter to gauge my reaction. I think I’m too much in shock to feel anything else.
“This has to be a joke, right?”He tosses the paper to the counter. He looks…mad.
I shrug, not trusting my voice yet. The guys are still carrying on in the other room, fifteen feet away.
He picks up his phone and while staring down at the letter, taps out something on the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling her. I want to tell this lying piece of shit that it’s not fucking funny to?—”
I jump up and take the phone from him, hitting end before he finishes that sentence or calls some random person. Not random…my sister. Maybe.
“You don’t know that she’s lying.”
It doesn’t seem possible, but I can’t outright dismiss the possibility.
“It’s too much of a coincidence. Now that you’re a professional football player with some success and notoriety she pops up out of the blue?”He shakes his head, face made of stone.
“She’s not just popping up.”I let out a breath.“For the past few months, I’ve been getting texts.”I pull out my phone and show him.“There were more, but I deleted the first couple.”
He’s quiet as he reads through them.“Why didn’t you say anything?”
His mask falls, and I see the surprise and pain that I kept it to myself.
“Because…”I run a hand over my hair.“The stuff with my parents had just happened and I didn’t want you to get worked up all over again. I thought it was just another scam.”
The words taste bitter. Another scam like my parents loving me and suddenly wanting to be in my life.
“Do you think they’re behind it?”
I shrug. I didn’t until now. It would make more sense than a sister suddenly appearing.“What do you think?”
“I think that if you really had a sister out there, you would have heard from her before now.”
“Yeah.”It makes sense. The timing is suspicious.
Archer takes the letter and crumples it up.“If she contacts you again, we can go talk to a lawyer. We’ll file a restraining order if we have to.”
I nod, knowing he’s probably right. The lengths people will go to take advantage of others astounds me. How low do you have to be?
“You hungry?”Archer asks, back to his light, cheery self. Though his brow is still furrowed.“I was going to order some pizza.”
“Yeah. I’m just gonna take a shower. London and I were out in the sun all day.”
“All right.”He watches me closely, then comes over and hugs me. “Love you, brother.”
