I'm pretty sure he meant ambiance. At least, that's what I think he meant. Nothing else makes sense, not that the date as a whole made sense.
I'm fairly confident I'll soon be able to add "dating men I meet through ClikClak" to the list of stupid things I've done for love.
Chapter 14: Xavier
"I don't know if you're going to be happy with this."
When your agent starts off that way, you can almost guarantee there will be no happy endings.
"Lay it on me, Tony." If it's bad news, I want to know straight up. I stop my run, leaning forward slightly to catch my breath.
"It's five years with a green card."
I close my eyes. There won't be a trade before March. It's alright. I can tough it out. I'll hate every moment of it, but it won't be the end of me. "Well, that's that, I guess."
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean not exactly?"
"I found a loophole. It'd allow you to be naturalized after you take care of one small detail."
Something in his tone gives me pause. "How small?"
I can practically see him shrugging his expensive-suited shoulders. "Tiny. No big thing really."
The more he attempts to play it off, the more I know it's a big, huge, massive thing. "Tony …"
"All you have to do is get married. If your spouse is American, you're eligible to apply for naturalization. Tomorrow. Or whenever the next date is. But definitely sooner than March. We could have you in Boston before the new year."
There's no way he just said what I think he said.
"Pardon me? What was that?"
"We can probably have you in Boston before the new year. It's time to get out of your lease and look for a new one."
I want to take a drink of my water, but I'm afraid I'll choke on it. "No, that's not the part I need you to repeat."
"You just have to get married. Surely you know some woman—or man—who will marry you. Love is love."
It's rare that I want to punch someone when I'm not on the field. Other than my brother and Trent, I've not had that urge since I was a schoolboy. The urge is back now. "You want me to get married. I'm not even dating anyone."
"Call up your ex. I'm sure she'd be into it. Didn't you dump her? She'd probably leap at the chance to get back together."
There were numerous and valid reasons why I'd broken up with Alycia, to begin with, the most important being I couldn't stand her. She was a fake, only wanting to be with me because of what I could do for her. What my celebrity status could do for her. "That'd be a disaster. I'd rather stick it out with Baltimore."
"The word on the street is that they're going to bench you for the season, and then not renew your contract, but that they'll probably exercise the COVID option and keep you for two more years."
This is not what I want to hear. It's the worst possible thing Tony could say. "Why would Camacho want to do that?"
Tony replies, "Who knows what he's up to? But it ain't good. You know that's like the kiss of death for any athlete. Especially one like you, who's banned by half the world as it is."
I rub my forehead. Stupid Phaedra and her stupid car. Stupid me for trying to be the nice guy. I wouldn't be in this mess otherwise.
I saw her leave the party, and it was apparent that she was upset. I didn't know she was high as a kite. If I had, I wouldn't have gotten into the passenger's side, trying to talk to her. It was only after she'd crashed her Porsche that I realized what an absolute state she was in. She begged me to say I was driving since she was in danger of losing her license and being sent to rehab. So of course, I lied.
I never expected her father, the Commissioner of the British Football League, to accuse me of trying to kill his angelic daughter and blackball me for life.
"So what you're saying is I need to get married to an American and become a citizen, or my career is essentially in the loo."
