The Bad Boy and the Piano Girl (Book #1)

Chapter Fourty One: Ryan

Score after score after score. The whole team bring their A game and I couldn't be prouder.

The half time whistle blows and we're leading by 12 points. I make sure to pat each player on the back, giving them a well deserved 'good job'.

I clap my hands together. "Alright team, gather round. Next half I want Stan on the si-"

"Knight." Coach interrupts my pep talk.

"What's up, Coach?" I walk over towards him.

"I need you to come with me right now."

Noticing the serious tone to his voice, I nod along, daring not to reply. I follow him into the locker room where I'm met with my parents and two men dressed in suits.

I extend my hand forward to the men. "Landon Knight nice to-"

"We know who you are, Mr Knight." I read his name tag 'Daniel Keely'. Holy shit. He's one of the NBA scouts!

I mentally high five myself, knowing I'm probably going to be offered a place on the team.

"I just want to say thank you in advance. This is a dre-"

"What are you doing!" Coach gruffs quietly, making me stop.

"Mr Knight, care to explain why you're in possession of performance enhancing steroids." The man holds up a bag containing the small bottle and two injections I took away from Ryan.

"Fuck." I curse. Why did I put them in my locker of all places? "This is a huge misunderstanding sir."

"Oh really?" The other suited man raises an eyebrow, clearly not believing me.

"This is stupid. I didn't even use them. You can do as many checks as you want, I'm clean." I defend, crossing my arms.

This just makes the men laugh. "You were still in possession of them. How do we know you weren't planning on using them in half time?"

I run both hands through my hair in frustration. "Please. You have to believe me they're not even mine!"

"So whose are they then?"

I look over to the door to see Ryan stood there. "Ryan!" I desperately exclaim. "He'll explain everything!"

"Get in here, Thompson." Coach ushers him in.

"What do these look like to you, son?" One of the men holds up the bag to him.

Ryan shrugs. "Medicine? I don't know."

My eyes widen at his oblivious behavior. Surely he wouldn't throw me under the bus like that...

"So you've never seen these in your life?"

He glances at me for a moment and I smile, knowing my best friend would never let me suffer for something I didn't do.

"No sir. Cross my heart." He replies, looking down.

"He's lying. Ryan why are you lying?! Tell them!" I exclaim in disbelief at Ryan's actions.

"Dude, stop throwing the blame on me for your own mistakes! I'm not a cheater like y-"

"Son of a bitch!" I lunge forward, tackling him to the ground. I use my skinny arms to throw a series of punches at his face, surprisingly making him bleed. Ryan manages to get in some punches too before the security guards wrench me away from him.