“Phileigh, stop that shit. I don’t care about the world seeing us. I care about the narrative they’re spinning… your privacy… your safety. The paparazzi will be swarming now that they know about us.”

She stared at me with concern flashing in her eyes. I knew it was only a matter of time before we were spotted together. I should have prepared us for this.

“You sure your mom will help?” she asked gently. “I know y’all are not on the best of terms.”

“I shouldn’t have waited this long to talk to her, but I’m still her son, and this is her job. She’ll help.” I nodded. “Besides, Ma is the best in the business. Why do you think I got one of the best images in the league?”

“One of the most boring images,” she joked, making me laugh.

“Damn, I’m boring?”

“I’m just repeating what those memes said.” She threw her hands up in the air.

“Boring, huh?”

I rolled on top of her, tickling her and landing kisses on her neck. Her soft laugh and moans egged me on. The sound of the doorbell ringing had me freezing in place.

“Your mom’s here.”

Phileigh pushed me off her, and I walked to the front door and pulled it open. Mom had a key, so I didn’t know why she hadn’t used it.

“The season ended ten days ago, and you already got yourself in some mess.” She walked in, looking like her well put together self.

“Hey, Ma,” I greeted her. Her face lit up at the sight of me.

“Hey, baby.” She pulled me into a hug. The way she squeezed me tight let me know she’d missed me as much as I had her.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have⁠—”

She held up her hand, halting my words.

“No. You were right.”

“Ma—” I tried to interject, but she cut me off again.

“No. I need to say this. I have been shut down. When it comes to your brother, I’ve been pretending I’m okay for so long that I almost believed it. I’m not okay, Kellon. Not fully. You know why I don’t stop the press from asking you about him? Because I don’t like to bring it up. I have a hard time saying, ‘Don’t ask my baby about his deceased brother.’” Her voice was shaky, and there were tears in her eyes. “I want to do better, Kellon. I want to get to the point that talking about Jeronee doesn’t make me cry.”

“Ma, I was too hard on you. I definitely wasn’t seeing your side in all this. I’m sorry I disrespected you. It’s not fair to ask you to be my emotional support when you also lost him.”