After washing up, Wang Yi collapsed onto the enormous bed in his hotel room.
His phone screen lit up. Nicole had sent him a message.
"I watched the game, honey. You worked so hard."
A sympathetic emoji followed.
Wang Yi's fingers paused over the screen for a moment before he slowly typed.
"It wasn't that hard. We made it to the Finals. I'll see you when I get back."
He didn't mention Scarlett Kerr.
He wasn't deliberately hiding anything. He just didn't think there was any need to make Nicole, so far away at home, worry for nothing.
He'd always handled these brief encounters and fleeting feelings this way. They came and went quickly.
But Scarlett's clear eyes kept surfacing in his mind, unbidden.
And the words she'd said so earnestly and stubbornly: "It's my business if I like you. It has nothing to do with you."
Wang Yi rubbed his brow and pushed those jumbled thoughts aside.
Now wasn't the time to think about any of this.
The Finals were just around the corner, and the Pistons' man-made mountain, Antoine, was waiting for them in the East.
Without Doncic, the team was much weaker, and the burden on Wang Yi's shoulders was heavier than ever.
He closed his eyes and began repeatedly visualizing their defensive positioning and offensive plays against the Pistons.
His body hadn't fully recovered. His muscles still ached and felt swollen, but at the thought of the Finals stage, the fans' expectations, and the young teammates behind him, he forced himself to focus and ran through an entire set of tactical scenarios in his mind.
He didn't know how much time had passed before the sky outside gradually turned pale.
Only then did Wang Yi finally fall into a deep sleep.
It wasn't a restful one.