All Chapters of The Girl He Never Knew : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

NOAH'S POV The bar was loud and messy. Music pounded through the speakers, glasses clinked nonstop, and the air smelled like spilled beer, fried food, and too much cologne. We’d taken over the entire back section of the place, two long tables shoved together with chairs stolen from everywhere else. Half the team was still laughing too loud, retelling the same plays like they were legends already.I sat near the end of the table, nursing my second beer, trying to let the victory sink in. We’d played like shit for three quarters and then flipped the switch in the fourth. Barely scraped the win, but a win was a win. Still, something in my chest wouldn’t settle. My eyes kept drifting toward the door like I was waiting for someone who probably wasn’t coming.“Bro, did you see that last three I hit?” Marcus was saying, leaning back in his chair with a cocky grin. “Swish. Nothing but net. I had three girls waiting outside the locker room after. One of them had these long-ass legs, man. Told

NOAH'S POV The scouts were here.There weren't just one or two but three of them. They wore suits that cost more than my entire wardrobe, had clipboards in hand, and eyes that measured everything from my footwork to the way I tied my shoes. They’d been following me around campus all day like quiet shadows. Watching my warm-ups. Taking notes during drills and also, whispering to each other during film review.This was it.The moment I’d been working toward since I was twelve years old. The draft. The future. Everything my coach had drilled into me, everything I’d sacrificed for, plus everything that was supposed to define me.But all I could think about was her.Elena sat on the bleachers near the baseline, her legs crossed, notebook open on her lap like she was just doing her job. But I knew better. She was pretending to take notes while the whole world felt like it was closing in on me. Her hair was pulled up messily, a few strands falling loose around her face. She looked focused a

NOAH'S POVThe gym room smelled like iron, sweat, and the faint rubber burn of mats that had seen too many battles. Clangs of plates echoed off the walls as guys pushed through their last sets of the day. Laughter mixed with grunts, the usual post-practice chatter that usually settled after a long day of heavy lifting.I finished my set of pull-ups with muscles burning, and dropped to the floor, wiping sweat from my face with the bottom of my shirt. My eyes scanned the room out of habit — checking on the call me but, making sure no one was pushing too hard after the tough practice Coach had run us through. But my gaze kept landing on Jax.He was spotting Marcus on the bench press, but his attention was somewhere else. His eyes flicked to his phone again, resting on the floor beside the rack. He checked it for the third time in ten minutes before Marcus even finished the rep. When Marcus racked the bar with a heavy clang, Jax forced a laugh and clapped him on the shoulder, but the smil

NOAH’S POVMy sneakers screeched against the hardwood of the court, a sharp, piercing sound that ricocheted off the steel rafters and drilled directly into my skull. "Again!" Coach barked from the baseline, his whistle clamped between his teeth. "Blue line and back, Hale! Look like you actually want to be in the tournament tomorrow!"My lungs were on fire but the physical pain was the only thing keeping me from completely snapping. I slammed the ball onto the floor, catching it on the rebound, and sprinted.I needed the burn. I needed my muscles to scream and my vision to blur at the edges. I was trapped. Every single wall I’d ever built to keep myself safe had just turned into a cage."Yo, Captain! Heads up!"The voice cut through my haze just as I hit the three-point line.Jax. He caught my chest pass, his sneakers sliding on the glossy floor as he spun and dropped a casual layup through the net. He was grinning, his dark curls damp with sweat, completely unbothered by the fact th

NOAH'S POV The knock on her door was soft and I knew she had heard it by all means.I stood in the dimly lit hallway of her dorm building, blood still drying on my hoodie, my split lip throbbing with every heartbeat. My knuckles burned where they’d split open against Jax’s face. I shouldn’t be here. I should’ve gone back to my own room, iced my hand, and tried to forget the way my friend’s words had cut deeper than any punch.But I couldn’t stay away. The door opened. Elena stood there in nothing but an oversized t-shirt and sleep shorts, hair messy like she’d been tossing and turning. Her eyes widened the second she saw me with the blood on my lip, the bruise blooming along my jaw, and the raw splits on my knuckles. For a split second, something soft and worried flashed across her face. Then it hardened into that familiar fire I craved like oxygen.“What the hell happened to you?” she demanded, her brows furrowing obviously not liking the sight of me on her doorstep.I didn’t answer