Taylor lowered herself to the floor and sat cross-legged on the side of the coffee table opposite the sofa. She helped herself to cheese, crackers, and a cup of wine. If someone told her just an hour ago that she would be anything but pissed at such an interruption, Taylor would have called them a liar. But this is exactly what she’d needed today.

“Hey, did either of you see the trailer for the new Beyoncé special on Netflix?” Samiah asked. She picked up her phone and swiped across the screen. “It dropped on Twitter earlier today.”

Taylor shook her head. “I’m avoiding social media. I haven’t looked at Twitter or Instagram since yesterday. I was forced to go on Facebook to post about my pop-up yoga class tomorrow morning. I can use some students. Hint, hint.”

London stared directly at her as she bit into a green olive. Based on that raised eyebrow, Taylor figured she shouldn’t count on her friend to show up tomorrow.

“Turn it to ESPN,” Samiah said, still looking at her phone. She pointed at the television. “Turn it on now!”

“No.” Taylor shook her head. “I’m avoiding TV too. Especially ESPN.”

“Jamar canceled his workout. He’s giving a press conference right now.”

“What!” Taylor picked up the remote and stabbed at the power button. “What channel is ESPN?”

“I don’t know!” both London and Samiah screeched.

As she scrolled through the channel guide, stark terror seized her chest. God, had he been hurt? Is that why he’d called it off?

“Is there anything explaining why he canceled it?” Taylor asked.

“No, just a tweet from that Alec Mooney guy. He posted a picture of the empty parking lot at the UT practice facility. It says ‘Micah Hill of Hill Sports Management announced that Jamar Dixon’s scheduled tryout event would no longer take place.’ His follow-up tweet says that Jamar will be making a statement instead.”

What could have caused him to call it off at the last minute like this?

After what seemed like endless scrolling, Taylor finally found ESPN. She involuntarily flinched at the sight of Jamar sitting at a white folding table; various pieces of football equipment were assembled behind him. He was reading from his phone.

“—wasn’t the easiest decision, but it was the right one to make. Going through with this workout would have put me at risk for an even more substantial injury. I decided it wasn’t worth it. I now know that I don’t have anything to prove to anyone. Including myself.”