Chapter 34
AVERY
Waking up with Rawley in my bed for the first time inspires unexpected emotions.
When I’ve slept in his, the temporary nature of our situation has felt intact. But when I wake up with him hugging one of my pillows, arm thrown over me, the whole situation feels more real.
It doesn’t necessarily make sense since this isn’t my permanent bed. Just my crash pad at Sarah’s.
It’s still mine though.
Whatever, you have fun with the guy, don’t overthink it. I shake off the feeling and let him sleep.
Padding my way into the kitchen, I see Sarah’s already made a pot of coffee. Brilliant.
“You get any sleep?” she asks, looking amused.
It’s too early to deal with teasing back. “Enough to make it for our flight today.”
“Good, and there’s another bag you might have to pack soon.” What does she mean?
A grin comes across her face as I look at her quizzically.
“Just across the wires. The coaches named the twelve reserves for the All-Star game, and you made it, Parker.” Her voice gets louder and more excited as she gets the news out.
“WHAT? Oh my god!” I’m wide awake now, and she jumps up to give me a hug.
I’m pretty sure our squealing session that follows is as loud as the fireworks last night.
“Congrats, Avery. It’s so well deserved. You’ve really turned it on lately. Not that I would expect anything less.”
“Thanks so much. Oh wait, let me go tell my family. And Rawley.”
I head back to the room, two coffees in hand. Rawley is now sitting up in bed, scrolling on his phone.
“Look at you, delivering exactly what I need.” He must see the look on my face then. “What is it?”
“I made the All-Star team.” I beam. “Just as a reserve, but still.”
“Shit yes!” He stands up, taking the coffees out of my hand to set them on the nightstand before pulling me into his arms.
“So proud of you,” he says into my hair. His arms fold around me, and I lean into his strong, warm body.
I press into his chest, and he kisses the top of my head. “Thank you. I’m so glad you were here when I found out.” The words emerge before I even think about them.
He doesn’t miss a beat though, kissing me hard on the lips. “Me too.”
I’m a little thrown off by how much I mean what I just said. My heart leaps at his excitement for me, and my head is giddy at being able to tell him.
Not just anyone, I realize. Being able to tell him.
You’re spending all this time with him, it’s natural. Don’t freak out.
Willing myself to chill out, I break out of our hug.
“Let me call my family.” He nods.
It turns out that in the last couple of minutes Mom heard, and she dropped the news in our large family group chat. It includes extended family like Wells, his sister Cara and their mom, Aunt Sandra.
MOM: AVERY MADE THE ALL STAR TEAM
The texts that follow make my heart warm all over, with my siblings and everyone else saying their congrats.
I call Mom right away with Rawley watching on, smiling and sipping his coffee.
Instead of hello when she picks up, I get: “AVERY OH MY GOD!” Her voice is as excited as her texts suggest.
“I knowwwww.”
“Making the All-Star team your rookie year is so amazing,” she gushes. “Wait, your dad wants to speak to you too.” She switches to speaker.
“Congrats, Avery. Your rookie year, so incredible.” He sounds a little overwhelmed and a lot proud.
“Thanks, Dad. I didn’t imagine it happening after the way the season began.”
“You did it though. And now you’re a starter, plus this…”
“NEW YORK, BABY,” I hear Jamie shout in the background, breaking up this more serious conversation. This year’s All-Star game is in Brooklyn.
Dad and I laugh at Jamie’s antics, and then he hands the phone off to Mom.
“Rawley’s here, Mom, so I should probably go.” He winks at the sound of his name.
“Okay, say hi for me.”
A knock on the door comes soon after we hang up, and Sarah’s voice comes through. “Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that I made eggs and pancakes, and left extra for you if you want to reheat them in a bit.”
I’m getting hungry, so I’m sure Rawley is too. “Awesome, thanks, Sarah.”
“I’m jumping in the shower, so just serve yourselves whenever.”
As I hear her pad off, I glance to Rawley. “I’m definitely ready for breakfast.”
“Same.”
Five minutes later, we’re chowing down at Sarah’s kitchen island, when I get a text.
“Oh, Aiden wants to call me,” I say to Rawley.
“Go ahead.”
“Okay, but stay quiet.”
He grins. Aiden doesn’t know we’re sleeping together, obviously. So many secrets.
When the call connects, he joins the crew offering congratulations.
“Well done, Avery. This season could not go better.”
I’m glad he feels that way.
“I also have some news of my own.”
“Great.” I leave it on speaker so Rawley can hear.
“FlashFuel has come in with a twenty-million-dollar offer. They want you to be the face of their ‘NextUp’ campaign.”
Holy shit.
Rawley’s eyes go big, and he gives me a thumbs-up.
“This is a no brainer, Avery. And now we’re pushing fifty million in deals. Getting you to the place you deserve.”
“This is unbelievable, thank you.”
“Just took a little creativity.” He pauses, taking a sip of something. “With how things have come together with Rawley and your deals, not to mention all your on-court accomplishments, I think Taylor and I can start planning the wind down of your relationship. I’m sure that will please you both.”
Oh. I look at Rawley, and he has an unreadable expression on his face, but it definitely doesn’t resemble pleased.
Either way, I’m not sure how I feel.
“Is it…are our reputations, or personas, or whatever, established enough to do that?” It seems like it’s been a blip of time, even with Rawley and me hanging out more often.
“I’m not worried. We’re going to be able to position you as a strong female role model. We’ll figure out something for Rawley too, on his own. It’ll be easier when the NFL season starts and in the meantime he has his own deals coming in.”
Rawley is what I’m focused on, and he doesn’t react to Aiden’s words.
“Point is, we’ve broken through the noise, established your brands’ values, and have room to be on the offense now.”
“Okay.” I don’t even know how to respond to that. Like Rawley and I are not people, not friends going through something together, fake or not.
“It isn’t something we need to rush, and Taylor will know best how to position it so there’s no negative blowback. And then we’ll focus on your individual brands going forward. It should be smooth.”
Nothing feels smooth about this discussion with Rawley here.
“Maybe things can ‘fade’ with his training camp and season obligations. Taylor will lock down the story.”
Seriously, can Aiden shut up now?
And then I think of Sarah—can she hear this conversation? No, the shower is still running.
“Okay, let’s talk about this another time, Aiden. Great news about FlashFuel, but I need to hop off to start my morning routine.”
“I’ll send the details to you and your mom.”
When I end the call, I lock eyes with Rawley. He looks a little…defeated?
“Sorry, that was awkward,” I acknowledge.
He focuses down on his plate. “This always had an expiration date, right?”
Two months ago, I would have taken his neutral affect as just a dude acknowledging his situationship may be ending.
But Rawley—he’s never emotionally muted, and there’s nothing sincere in his tone.
Before I can figure out how I want to react, he stands up.
“I’ll get dressed and out of your hair. I know you have to pack for your flight.”
I should stop him, say something—but I don’t know what.
“I’ll text you later,” is what comes out.
“Okay.”
Five minutes later when he walks out of my house with his things, he doesn’t even hug me goodbye.