Book IV of the UNC Series
Carter Blake has a bone-deep hatred for the world-and especially for the people in it. All he wants is to keep his head down, focus on school and basketball, and avoid the mess of human connection. After enduring years of...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
My phone rings for the millionth time, and I glare down at it when I spot the unknown number often associated with Inez. I've been ignoring him since the weekend.
After Andre's verbal lashing, it's time to change things and prioritize the more important things in my life. Starting with Carsen and Ryan. I know Carsen hasn't contacted me about what I said to Ryan, but I have no idea why. I expected a reprimand, yet I have heard nothing from either of them.
Although he hasn't reached out, I can't keep delaying the conversation. I'm at a loss for words to explain what transpired. I planned to wait until I could articulate my thoughts properly before confronting them, but it's clear that this isn't beneficial to my situation.
I have to apologize to Ryan and explain how I truly feel about her. Meanwhile, with Carsen, I feel like I need to start from the beginning. I have to recount the night of Dad's accident; Mom's verbal abuse afterward was far more damaging than Dad's accident, leaving deep emotional scars that still ache.
I have to explain how Inez is blackmailing me, how he's still using Mom as a pawn, and even with all the help and resources Carsen has offered her, Mom still willingly goes to Inez for everything.
How she took the easier path and drank more. How she would rather be numb to the pain. In the process, she completely ignored me when Inez forced me to take part in fights to help her. And she knew what Inez was making me do.
And the one time I was selfish and said no, Inez hurt Addie and Olive. So now, I can't even get out if I want to because I have to protect Addie. I can't have Inez anywhere near her.
I have to tell him how Mom is using his unborn child as a surrogate for Dad, how even if he has a girl, she's going to mould this child into Dad's reflection and gain him back through this child.
Carsen needs to be aware of all of this, and I need to do this soon. I can't keep putting it off.
Pocketing my phone, I shove my shoulder into the wooden doors of the locker room. Loud, excited chatter reaches my ears as I step inside, but the noise dies as soon as I turn the corner. I lift my gaze to meet each of my teammates' eyes. There's betrayal and hurt in every single one.
They won the tournament this past weekend, securing the bid for the playoffs, but I let them down by not showing up. They counted on me as their teammate, and I didn't even let them know I wouldn't be there until they got on the plane without me.
I blink slowly as my gaze roams over each one of them before my gaze settles on Andre, who completely ignores me. Hunched over his bent knees, he clasps his fingers together as his knuckles tense and strain.
As if feeling the heat of my gaze on him, he slowly lifts his head before he meets my stare head-on. Despite the heat of anger in his eyes, there's also indignation and resentment. He watches me as if I'm not someone he recognizes, as someone who isn't a friend. He regards me with contempt. This is what I had wanted for so long. I wanted him to respect my wish to be alone and avoid a barrage of questions.
