MYLES POV

The Donovans had a lovely and cozy wooden house, painted gray, with white windows. It smells of natural flowers, as it was situated in the middle of a garden in a quiet street in Georgetown. The facade wasn't anything opulent but it was a happy home that was being looked after. It had a small courtyard, behind the white picket fence. The house has two floors; on the first floor, there was a spacious living room with a comfy sofa set, a TV, and a bookshelf. Then a well-equipped kitchen, and a bathroom next to the room I settled in. There was also a hall where the staircase was, and a dining corner with large windows looking out to a beautiful patio. I don't know what was on the second floor, but I was sure it was as lovely as what I'd seen so far.

The place was everything I didn't have back when I was a child, and Mrs. Donovan, who insisted on being addressed as Mary, was one of the nicest women I've ever met.

She gave me a small tour while everyone was on the second-floor changing, and showed me some old pictures of Bray and Cali hanging on the wall of their beautiful hall.

"You will be surprised at the number of fans you have here. The people love you. Most wouldn't support the state's teams. You will enjoy your short stay, I am sure." She told me.

"Thank you, Mary."

When I had to answer a call, I excused myself and went into the room to talk with my mom. She was uncomfortable with the idea of staying with the Donovans.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"They are happy I am here. You should see the way they arranged the room for me." It was nice.

"Look son, I am glad you're close to Cali but her brother almost killed you the last time."

That sad reminder made me feel oppressed.
"That's not what this is about," I muttered.

"It is, Myles. You haven't moved on since then." Mom pointed out, as she was aware of everything involving me.

"Please let's not do this now."

"I am worried about you." She said softly from the receiver.

I sat on the bed and sighed.

"I will be fine."

"You decide to stay a two-hour drive away from me. I do not understand." She complained.

"I love you, mom and I will see you tomorrow." I told the worried woman and she retorted, "You better or I will come over with a matchet and chop off their heads. No kidding."

"I am pretty confident it won't get to that." I was laughing when I replied.

"I love you." She said, sounding more collected.

"I love you too."

"Who's that?" Brayden asked as soon as the call ended. It was startling. I looked in the direction of his voice and found him standing against the door frame.

"On the phone?" I confusedly asked.

"Yes, the one you're returning loves and all." He awkwardly remarked.

Okay?

"It's my mom."

He began strolling into the room after thoughtfully observing me with pinprick eyes.
"The one in a suit that took over Nelson's place?"

"Yup, that one."

"Uhmm." He said by the window and leaned against it.

"What?"

"Just odd. You said your parents died and now we see this young woman often and she's addressed as a mother."

Just when I opened my mouth to tell him to mind his business, Mary called from the hall, urging everyone to the dining table for dinner.

I grabbed my phone and buried it in my pocket.

"I just hope the secrets are over," Brayden said when he walked back towards the open door.

Funny how he would say that.

"Bray with you there were no secrets. You knew all along. The rest of the world, maybe not. But you knew from the start."

From the moment I was charged by the court, I had told him about the incident even before going to David. It was the start of our trust that he said I broke when I fell for his sister. We talked heart to heart. Brayden stood his ground and convinced David to keep everything private. I had thought of him as a brother and nothing more. There was no secret when it came to him until Cali.

On the table was when I thoroughly saw Cali after what could be over half of an entire year. She didn't change, she was just as gorgeous as the first time I saw her at the airport, with a lost expression on her face, holding her luggage. Her hair was long now compared to the last time we were together, and she was so quiet, she barely looked me in the eye even when she had to pass the potatoes.

"So Myles, can you tell us about you?" Ken questioned after we'd all served ourselves with Mary's delicious varieties.

"Even though it's on the internet." His wife joked and I smiled at the fact.

The table was lifeless, Brayden was only shoving meatballs into his mouth, and Cali was staring at her barely-touched food. I thought maybe a conversation would clear the tension in the air even if it was a topic everyone knows about me.

"I grew up in Los Angeles, around Venice. I went to middle and high school there. That place basically looked after me."

"Heard it's a warm environment," Mary commented politely next to her husband.

"It is. There are a lot of cultures to learn and things to see."

"Hopefully, one day we will take a vacation up there and see for ourselves," Said Ken.

"You will not regret it."

"How did you get into the NBA?" The man asked while we were digging into our meals.

"My guardian... The man..." As I stammered, my eyes met Cali. It was the only time she looked back, and it didn't last long. She bit her lip and dragged her gaze at her brother. So then I focused on answering Ken's question instead. "I was spotted while I was on my high school team."

That was plainly true. I was the best on the team back then, so three days after graduation, a man knocked on our door with a reasonable contract.

"It's hard to miss." Mary warmly smiled and I returned one.

"Cali is a huge fan. It was very recently she took down your posters. She and her late friend, Chloe, had known everything about you in their heads. Used to make Brayden jealous now and then." Mary commented with admiration in her tone, as her eyes were on her nervous daughter.

Among all that she had said, I became curious about one certain line.

"Why did you take down my posters?" I instinctively asked Cali without thinking straight.

She held her breath from across the table. Her eyes suddenly lifted to mine.
In the pool of anxiety, that was her eyes, behind the fright, I saw tough wishes and desires. Her struggles and despair.

The problem was clear, she wouldn't forgive herself for losing her friend, for losing us, and for every other mistake around her. She thinks too little about herself when it comes to confidence and refuses to see her worth in others. When the girl I was seeing there, was the most appealing human I've come across. Cali was clever and smart. Her beauty was undeniable. She had the kind of vibe that leaves a permanent stain around places she left and tends to make you miss her when she was not there.

The last months were hell for me. After getting attached to her and then deprived of that.

Right there on the table, I held her stare, trying to communicate profoundly from the heart, that I was sorry for what I put her through when Bray diverted with a remark that set her free from my question. He arrogantly blamed me, "Because you were very poor this season."

"That burns." My nose scrunched before I hurled back a comeback, "His shooting skill dropped badly this season even though he has unbroken ribs."

"Would your ego let you confess that you literally passed the ball to the opposing team and made us fail?"

"Remember you opened the season while I was on injury break?" I sneered at the irate man who was forcing a fake smile on his face. "See, you didn't set a good foundation. That's my job. I just had to be off the court and the team's dignity had to drop woefully badly."

"Dignity?" He retorted, scoffing with disgust. I sat back, folded my arms over my chest, and waited for him to speak out what was on his tongue.

Yes, he should please say it. I would sit at the table and watch him confess to everyone in there, including Cali, who had been traumatized for seven months, that I wasn't guilty of what he had spent over a year hating me for.

There was a silence around the table until Ken spoke something rational that made sense. He jokingly said in his mature voice, "I think it's just the time for other teams at least. You guys had the championship two times in a role. I would say let them have it too."

"That's actually true." Mary agreed, while Cali looked extremely uncomfortable in her seat.

I offered her a smile and she tried to return one but Brayden had to open his mouth again, asking her, "Where did you apply for college? Feed me in. I need to catch up on the past seven months."

"I haven't decided," She simply replied. Not even sparing him a glance.

Somehow I can tell, they weren't on good terms. He said it in the car earlier himself.

"You've been accepted?" He tried again desperately but instead, she shoved a pile of vegetables into her mouth and ignored him. I couldn't chew away the smile on my lip when I lowered my head.

Mary had to respond to Bray's hanging question. "She hadn't received a response yet. But soon she'll have a lot of choices to choose from."