Game On (A Bad Boy Sports Romance) (8 page)

“Sorry it’s so late, I just couldn’t wait until morning to see you,” he said, shaking his head sadly. He lifted up a little glass tumbler of a brown liquid that smelled like bourbon. “Want a drink?”

I shook my head, even though my body urged me to say yes. It had been a whirlwind of a week and I could have used some liquid encouragement to keep going, but I had to refuse. For now, at least.

“So here’s what I found out today…”

He launched into an explanation of the contract details, how Paul and Janet were, in fact, scheming to cut him out of a huge chunk of profit. They essentially wanted to use him like a prized dog or pony, trotting him out into the spotlight for product endorsements he really didn’t care about at all just for the prize money. He asked me to help him look over future contracts and help him and his lawyer fight the matter at hand. I wasn’t sure how exactly a lowly cub reporter like me could help, but I agreed all the same. I was along for the ride now, for better or for worse. I just hoped his troubles wouldn’t cause him to blow off our interviews.

“It’s like they just see me as a cash cow. I mean, I should have expected that going into this sport at the national level. But still, I let myself trust them all this time. I can’t believe what a naive idiot I was for thinking they had my best interests in mind. They’re only out to get theirs and they couldn’t care less about screwing me over on the way,” he said, staring down into his nearly-empty glass. Suddenly he glanced up. “Are you sure you don’t want a drink?”

I bit my lip, considering what might change between us if I broke my number one rule-- again. But then again, I wasn’t really here to interview him anyway, was I? We were just two people discussing a rough patch in his career. No big deal.

“You know what? Yeah. I think I do,” I replied, sitting up straighter. He gave me the first smile I’d seen on his face all night and I felt a warm tingle in my heart at the sight of it. What was going on here? How could I be so moved by even his slightest word or gesture?

Kieran hopped up and walked over to an old-fashioned, carved cherry-wood bar and poured me a generous glass of the same thing he was drinking. “I guess it’s too late to ask if you even like whiskey,” he commented with a sheepish smile as he handed me the glass.

“It’ll do,” I assured him, taking a teeny tip. I never drank liquor straight, but when in Rome, I would do as the hot, charming footballer did.

He sat down next to me, both feet planted on the floor as he swirled the liquid in his glass absentmindedly, staring at the glossy wooden floor. “What’s up?” I asked, frowning. He suddenly looked so downtrodden and confused.

“I’m thinking of how to word what I need to say next,” he said softly.

“Oh,” I said, feeling the butterflies flitting around in my stomach. His tone and demeanor had shifted so drastically and now I had no idea where he was going from here.

Finally he looked over at me askance, his blue eyes luminous in the low lamplight. He looked so handsome I couldn’t even breathe for a moment while I waited for him to continue.

“You probably already know. I’m not very good at hiding my feelings around you, and I think we both know why. I am starting to really, really like you, Dani.”

I sat in stunned silence, a million conflicting thoughts ricocheting around in my mind.

Kieran went on, ruffling his fingers back through his blond waves. “I don’t know if I’m just not used to how different you are or what, but I can’t be suave like I usually am. You’re not like every other woman who just wants my money or my fame. Dani, you’re different, and you make me different from who everyone thinks I am, too.”

I took a long swig of my drink, scrunching up my face at the bitter taste. Kieran laughed gently. “Sorry to spring that on you like that. I just didn’t know how else to say it.”

“Oh, you’re fine. It’s just that… Kieran, I--”

He held up his hand and shook his head. “No, you don’t have to say anything at all. I don’t expect you to. I just needed you to know how I feel because it’s getting too hard to hide it from you,” he explained good-naturedly. “Anyway, last night I never got to answer some of your questions.Wanna pick up where we left off?”

Too shocked to protest, I simply returned to what I did know how to do. I got out my notebook and pen, tucked my hair behind my ear, and prepared to keep interviewing Kieran as though he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell on me. The rest of the night went by easily and quickly, the two of us falling right back into our usual banter. It was nearly two in the morning when he finally walked me back out to my car. To his credit, he only lingered a little, never overstepping my boundaries with physical contact. He simply waved and watched me pull away into the night, my mind running in a million directions.

              I wasn’t expecting good news the next day when my phone lit up with Jayda Washington’s number. I couldn’t explain it at the time, but then again, maybe I had just known from the start that anything pitched to Paul and Janet would come back to haunt me one way or another. So I braced myself as I answered the call.

              “Hi, Ms. Washington.”

              “Good morning, Mr. Michaels. Your tone tells me you have a feeling about why I’m calling.”

              “Lay it on me.”

              “Well, I’ll be frank with you,” she started, and I could hear the clacking of a computer in the background. “Our counter-offer was rejected. They were rather firm. I won’t share some of the strong language they used in their response, but I sincerely hope you weren’t holding out for some potential for friendly negotiation. I don’t think that was ever in the ballpark for them.”

              I smiled taking a deep breath. It was a good morning to get into a fight with someone, I figured. “None of that’s a surprise, hate to say. Thanks, Ms. Washington. We’ll be in touch, but I’m going to go have a word with them myself.”

              “I can’t recommend that in good conscience, Mr. Michaels,” came her hurried response, sounding somewhat concerned, “that might escalate the situation beyond what you’re capable of.”

              “I know,” I said simply before hanging up the phone and heading for my car.

              I appreciated her dedication to me. I could tell by the way she spoke and wrote in her emails that she seemed to genuinely care for my case and everything at stake in it. Maybe she just had a personal distaste for people like Paul and Janet, and that was something I could appreciate more and more as time passed.

                         I pulled up to Janet’s office again, and this time, I didn’t see the secretary’s car in the lot. Instead, I saw Paul’s sports car at a crooked angle next to Janet’s. That wasn’t a good sign.

                         I sat in my car for a few moments, thinking about what I was going to say. I wasn’t a fast-talking kind of person like they were. I could take down just about anyone on the football field, and nobody would dare stand toe-to-toe with me in a fight, but this wasn’t the kind of battle I could win with the body I’d spent so long perfecting. I was a football player, and this felt like the kind of thing a lawyer ought to handle. And by all rights, I should have called up Washington again and asked her to accompany me here today.

                         But something drove me to go in alone. I had to have a personal word with these people who’d abused so much of my trust and abilities.

                         Without another moment’s hesitation, I clambered out of my car and headed inside. I could hear shouting the moment I entered, and as soon as the door clicked, it stopped suddenly. The next moment, Janet opened the door of the back office and stuck her head out. At the sight of me, her eyes narrowed.

                         “He’s here,” I heard her say back to the office in a terse voice, and shortly after, Paul pushed past her to strut into the main office, looking me square in the eye.

                         “You’ve got a lot of fucking explaining to do, Kieran,” he started with, and from that moment, I knew everything that went down today was going to get ugly.

                         “Good morning to you too, Paul,” I said as calmly as I could, but I could already feel my blood heating up.

                         “So you’ve decided we’re not
good enough
for you, is that it?” snapped Janet from behind, striding up to stand next to Paul, and together, I realized how disheveled the two of them looked. “I didn’t realize ‘get a few things checked out’ meant you were going to have some law office waving papers in our faces like we’re some kinds of criminals!”

                        
You really are
, I thought, but I bit it back and tried to keep a level voice. “I just wanted to review a few things with a legal perspective, boss,” I said.

                         “Don’t
boss
me,” she snapped, and I could see a real fire in her eyes. “Especially not with the asinine kind of offer you slung in our face yesterday. Do you know what kind of hell you put us through?”

                         “I don’t know how you convinced a lawyer to slap together a ridiculous contract offer like the one you had that hack send us,” Paul said, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow, “but you’re smoking something funny if you think that’s the kind of deal any team this side of the
country
wouldn’t laugh at.”

                         “What kind of charity do you think we’re running?” Janet added, pacing around the room behind Paul. “Do you think running a team is something we can do cheaply? Do you think just because you’ve got a few good runs under your belt that you can try to run us out of house and home making those kinds of demands?”

                         Paul nodded, his face red as he clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly, glaring daggers into me. I wondered if one or both of them had been hitting the blow today to be able to talk to me like this. I was feeling my blood rise to a low boil just under the skin.

                         “What you are, Kieran, is ungrateful,” he barked. “Do not think for one goddamn second that everything you have today, every win, every training session, and every day off at that fucking gym you waste so much fucking time at—don’t think for one
second
that all of it doesn’t come
directly
from the tireless work of me and Janet. We stuck our necks out for you all these years, putting up with your sorry ass and all its ego. And without us, Kieran, you’d be nothing but that—a show-off.”

                         I folded my hands in front of me, keeping a stony gaze on him as he squared up with me as if lecturing me. “So what you’re going to do is apologize. You’re going to apologize to me, to Janet, and to that jackass lawyer for wasting her time on what’s nothing more than a power play on your part,” Paul went on, a little bubble of spittle at the corner of his mouth, “and then you’re going to put your signature on that paper and be happy with the
generous
contract we wrote for you.

                         I let him finish before allowing myself a small smile and speaking.

                         “I could do that,” I said slowly, and I could practically hear Paul and Janet grinding their teeth. “But if that contract of yours really is so generous, I hope you won’t mind if I bring it up the next time the press interviews me.”

                         It took a few moments for that to sink into Paul and Janet’s minds. And when it did, their eyes slowly widened, and I saw a little purple vein pulsing in Paul’s forehead. I hadn’t felt this good in a long time.

                         “Where,” Janet breathed, stepping forward, and for a moment I genuinely thought she was about to grab my arm and try to shake me in barely-restrained fury. “Where in the
fuck
do you get off trying to blackmail us, you little shit?”

                         “Blackmail?” I said, furrowing my brow and doing my best to look simple and confused. “Why would it be blackmail if I want to talk about what great and reasonable managers you are? I don’t know about you, but I’m sure the crowds would love to know how well their favorite player is treated. Advertisers would love that, too,” I added with a smile that I think made Paul burst a blood vessel.

                         “ENOUGH,” Paul shouted, a roar that made even Janet recoil for a moment. “You simpering fucking crybaby, I will
not
listen to you bitch and moan and make little threats like that in this office. I’m going to suspend you from the team if you don’t quit acting like a toddler! You do not get to talk to us like that—you’re
nothing
, Kieran.”

                         “
We
found you,” Janet hissed, moving around my side. “We’re the only ones who have ever cared about you, and here you are, treating us like this? You’re unbelievable, you piece of trash. If you ever want us to forgive you for this bullshit, you’re going to sign that contract this instant and
hope
we think about renewing it next time.”

                         “That doesn’t have to be a problem,” I said, and now it was my turn to cross my arms and give them a set look, holding my ground. This was pathetic on their part. “If it means that much to you that the story about what you’ve been doing to me doesn’t get out, we can make it all go away very easily. See, since you handed me that contract,” I said, strolling over to the blinds and looking outside briefly, “I’ve been making a few calls to the other teams around town. After all, being an employee includes a two-way street,” I said, giving them a friendly, reasonable smile that was driving them nuts, “so just like you get to decide what’s in my contract, I get to decide whether I even want to work for you anymore.”

                         “Do you think any team worth their spit is going to take your sorry ass onboard? Oh no, not when I’m done talking to them,” said Janet, clenching her fists.

                         “You’re a little late for that,” I said, pulling out my phone and scrolling through my emails. “My lawyer helped me put together a contract more like what most players in the state get, the very same that I sent you. And that’s the frame of reference I used when starting talks with some of the other team owners around town. Right now, I’m looking at four offers in my inbox—oh, make that five, if you count the one that just came in,” I said with a grin. “So the way to fix all this is easy, Paul, Janet.” I pressed a few buttons in my phone and looked back up to them. “I’ve just forwarded you the emails I got back. What I want you to do is accept one of the offers. Trade me or sell me off to one of the other teams, and this whole issue about the contract goes under the bridge.”

                         Janet stalked up to me, white-hot fire in her eyes. “Alright, fucker, you want to talk business? Fine. We’ll talk business with you on a level you can understand: no. Without us, you’d be out of the job, and you do
not
have the chips to try to make that kind of demand. You’re nothing, Kieran, do you understand that? Nothing. You’ll pay for disobeying us like this.”

                         “I’m the closest thing to a father you’ve ever had, boy,” Paul growled, and I met his eyes darkly. That was a line he should not have crossed. “You need to listen to the people who matter in life, and without us, you’re a nobody.”

                         “I should have started listening to the people who matter a long time ago,” I said in a low tone. “I’m a player and your employee. I have a right to request to work for someone else, and that’s exactly what I’m doing--my offer stands.” And without another word, I turned my back on them and stormed out the building, getting back into my car and peeling out of the parking lot.

                         I tore down the highway. I should not have been driving right then. I felt like I was seeing red, and my heart was pounding so hard I thought it would burst out of my chest.

                         There was nothing for me with Paul and Janet. That much had been clear before I even walked into the doors. But to hear them talking to me like that, to hear that from people who I thought had my best interests in mind for the longest time…it felt like such a betrayal that I just wanted to tear something apart. Get blind drunk. Anything to forget everything I’ve been going through and just rewind to a time before all this happened.

              But I had to face up to what’s landed on my plate. I had to realize that I had to fight fire with fire, and if that meant playing dirty against the two sleazeballs who just tried to treat me like a slave, so be it.

              Still, there was nothing more painful to me than feeling that kind of betrayal from people close to me. Paul and Janet had never been exactly tight with me, but this was going to be a heavy change in my life, and it would leave a bitter taste in my mouth about this part of my life forever, I knew. And when I thought about how that bastard presumed be could talk about my father like that as if he had anything to do with--