Page 43 of Five Things I See in You

The next day, we go to the training complex to meet with Tessa and Drummond. There’s no practice, but most of my teammates have stopped by to collect their things before vacation.

Iris is waiting outside the locker room.

“How’s the witch?”

“Not good. Though if you ask her, she’ll tell you she’s got everything under control.”

“Yeah. She’s great at that,” Iris grumbles. “Give her a hug for me. A proper one, okay?”

Drummond meets with us, her phone facedown on the desk.

“We’re issuing a press release. We’ll confirm when Jordan left and what our records show. No interviews about this.”

She doesn’t promise it’ll fix anything.

Afterward, Tessa takes me to her office and asks me to sign a release allowing the board access to certain documents. She sits with me and explains what’s included: Valeria’s records, the report on the locker room crisis, and the dates when Jordan stepped away from the program.

“Take your time reading it, please. Everything will be handled confidentially, of course, but some of your personal information in there is… sensitive,” she says, pausing before the last word.

“If it helps Jordan, go ahead. I don’t care if the newspapers report that I had a panic attack in the showers.”

“It won’t be in any newspaper,” she assures me.

My hands are shaking when I leave. I sit on a bench until I can take out my phone without dropping it. Luckily, Iris and Zoe come outside with me. There are reporters at the entrance, and one approaches the moment he sees me.

“Noa, what do you have to say about the scandal involving the psychologist?”

Iris steps between us.

“Man, listen to this guy. ‘Scandal.’ That’s a nasty way to put it, isn’t it?”

Zoe touches her elbow, trying to quiet her, but there’s no stopping Iris now.

“Jordan looked after this team for six years. She helped me a lot, and I can talk about that whenever I want because it’s my story. She’s the best sports psychologist we’ve ever had, and she left before anything happened between her and Noa. Calling it a scandal is a bit much. That woman left her job with the Emeralds for love. I wish every scandal was like that. Anyway. Now you know. We’re cool?”

The reporter stares at her, looking a little alarmed.

“Drummond’s going to call you,” I warn her.

“Yeah. That’s why my phone’s staying off all day,” she says, walking me to the car.

Chapter 26

Jordan

The hearing notice arrives by certified mail while I’m making breakfast. I open the envelope in the kitchen and check the date twice.

Two weeks from now.

Noa comes in with her gym bag over her shoulder and stops when she sees me.

“Is that it?”

I hand her the letter. She reads it without taking the bag off her shoulder.

“What do you need?”

“Nothing. I’ve got everything…”