Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Javier looked at me for so long I thought I’d said something wrong. Then a smile tugged at one corner of his mouth, and he lifted his glass. “I like that.”
“To amazing futures, happiness, and hope.” Deke lifted his glass too. Davina followed suit, and we all met in the middle with a clink, then sipped right after.
Being around my sister and Deke made me feel a whole lot better. Seeing them together made me realize just how powerful love and hope could be. Those two things were what fueled them, what had created their bond, and what had placed them exactly where they were now. Committed and 100 percent in love.
As Javier pulled me deeper under his arm and I rested my head on his chest, I thought for once that I could have it too.
Hope. Happiness. And eventually love.
Once we made it through this battle, we’d be stronger and better.
Nothing would be able to stop us.
And I was very much looking forward to that.
Thirty-Eight
Octavia
“Tava, I want strawbebbies.” Aleesa sat in the grocery cart, pointing at the fruit section.
“Strawberries it is.” I collected two containers of them.
“And mangoes,” Aleesa added, grinning.
I snorted a laugh, turned for the mangoes, and snatched up a few.
As I placed them in a bag, my phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans. I pulled it out and saw a notification from Bobble. Davina swore this app was going to be the death of me, but it wasn’t my fault that celebrity gossip was so entertaining. It always shocked me, the things famous people did with their lives.
Normally, I’d have been quick to open the app, but when I saw the headline, my heart dropped to my stomach.
Not His Daughter? The Scoop on the Custody Battle Between Javier Valdez and Fashion Designer Rafael Acosta
“Fuck. No, no, no.”
Aleesa let out a sharp gasp. “Tava say bad word!”
“Oh, sorry, angel. Ignore me.” I opened the app, only to see an image of Javier in his basketball uniform. Of course they’d chosen the worst picture possible of him. He looked tired and sweaty in the image, and it was most likely one taken toward the end of one of his games.
I scrolled down a bit more and found an image of Rafael Acosta posing on the red carpet. He looked spiffy, neat, and put together. I didn’t like this at all. And something in my gut told me he was the reason Bobble even had the scoop on their custody battle.
How else would anyone know? No one who knew Javier was leaking this anywhere. It had to be Rafael, and he was most likely doing this to mess with Javier’s head, to throw him off, and to make him angry.
“Um, let’s get the macaroni and chicken and head out of here. I need to call your dad.” I tucked my phone away and gripped the handle of the cart, my heart racing.
I had to call him right away. If he found out on his own, there was no telling how he’d react.
Thirty-Nine
Javier
Deke, EJ, and I decided to spend the day practicing at Element.
Deke wanted to kill time before a flight to London, and I wanted to blow off some steam and forget about the upcoming hearing that I now knew was happening in less than a month. And EJ . . . well, he was just bored at the moment and had called Deke a few hours earlier to see what he was doing. As always, Deke had invited him.
Sometimes I felt sorry for EJ, I could not lie. He was always desperate for his life to be busy so he would not have to think about his reality. And his reality was that he was lonely. He was adopted, with no siblings; had White parents who did not understand what it was like being a Black man in America (despite his career and how much money he made); and had grown up very confused about his identity.
Although we teased him often (because, just like a little brother, he could be exasperating), we had nothing but love for him. And we never denied him whenever he asked to hang out with us.
Regardless of trying to blow off steam, my mind reverted back to Aleesa. I did not know when the hearing would be, but I knew it was coming, and I needed to be as mentally prepared for it as possible.
Deke and I played defense while EJ played offense. EJ managed to circle both of us and shoot a two-pointer. The shot landed effortlessly, and he ran backward, pinching the shoulders of his shirt and popping them upward.
“Told y’all. You can’t stop me! Who’s next?”
Deke dribbled the ball but said, “I’m about to wrap it up. I have to meet D before my flight.”
“You are pussy whipped, man.” EJ chortled. “Both of y’all.”