Melissa:
Definitely the latter
Which was the last text Melissa sent since Jenna lunged for her phone, sending all of them slipping and flailing into the middle of the hot tub.
Chapter Nine
Jenna was still recovering from the hot tub battle the night before when she walked into her office Saturday afternoon. After cleaning up the spilled wine and putting Melissa's phone in a bag of rice, they'd all gotten dressed and cuddled up with blankets in the living room and talked until two in the morning. Jenna's head had been fuzzy from the heat and the alcohol, and her filter had been nonexistent. At one point, she may have compared her situation with the Quebec Nordiques. It all ended before it should’ve, and Quebec City would forever be a barren hockey wasteland no matter how much the fans wished things were different.
Now she had an emotional hangover, plus water lodged in her left ear. She’d already checked twice to make sure she hadn’t just left an earbud in. So was she thrilled to see Country? No, but not because she didn't want to see him. Which reminded her of another terrible metaphor she’d used. “It’s like I have Celiac, and I have to sit there and stare at a fresh-baked croissant.” Country was her flaky, golden pastry, and it was torture to stare at him when she knew she couldn't take a bite.
But did she know she couldn’t? That was the question Tina and Anne kept asking, and none of her answers were satisfactory. They all stemmed around the fact that Gentry had made it crystal clear what his life goals were. Anne had balked at that. But he's still single, isn't he? That, she couldn’t speak to. She had no idea if he was single, and the thought of asking made her want to scrub jock straps instead. She had checked for a ring, and when she hadn’t found one, she’d looked closer to make sure there wasn’t a tan line. It still didn't tell her anything definitively.
Does he have a bunch of kids running around the ranch? The answer to Tina’s question was simpler since he hadn't mentioned a family, and she'd only seen him watching the games solo with Polk on TikTok. But everyone knew that what you saw online wasn't the whole story.
Maybe he did have kids. Her insides twisted at the thought. Why hadn't she asked Melissa to text Ryan that last night? More importantly, if her friends were still in touch with Ryan and Curtis, why hadn't they already kept tabs on Country for her? Right. Because she'd expressly told them not to.
Jenna breezed into her office and set her purse on the chair.
"Big day today, eh?" Glen leaned against her door frame, dressed in a floral patterned shirt that she was sure the tech team would hate him for. Especially next to Country’s plain and simple attire. Country's a big boy.
Jenna swallowed hard and plastered a smile on her face as she turned on her computer. "Much bigger for you, I'd say. My work is mostly done."
Glen strode in and stopped by the window, rubbing his thumb and forefinger over the variegated leaf of the plant she'd inherited when she'd moved in. "Do you think he'll go off the rails?"
"If he does, it will only make you look like the good guy."
Glen frowned. "Or boring."
Jenna sighed and placed a hand on her hip. "Glen Kessler, are you worried he’ll outshine you?"
A muscle flexed in Glen's jaw. "No. I'm confident in my sportscasting, but he's—" He drew a deep breath. "He's not a sportscaster. He's . . . of the people."
Jenna laughed out loud. "What, are you saying broadcasting is a popularity contest?" Glen rolled his eyes. They both knew that was exactly what it was, inside the studio and over the airwaves. "You're a guy. You'll always have a place in sportscasting, even if some hockey player shows you up."
Glen didn't look amused, which pissed Jenna right off. How dare he come in here and pout about this when she'd spent her entire career, every single day of her work life, second-guessing herself. Glen felt insecure because he wondered if people would like him less. Jenna felt insecure because they'd said as much to her face.
It took everything she had not to tell him to sack up. "You're going to be fine, Glen. Eat a protein bar and go down to hair and makeup. I'm sure Elsa will give you a neck massage."
Glen chuckled. "You sure know how to make a guy feel special."
"One of my unique skills." Despite her frustration, she felt a pang of empathy she wished she could ignore. The truth was, Glen didn't know how to handle these feelings. That was pathetic, but it wasn't exactly his fault. "Glen, you're a good sportscaster. I'm sure the two of you will work magic tonight." She wasn’t pandering. Watching them in rehearsal, she'd been mesmerized. They played off each other well, though she had mostly been watching the right side of the desk.
Glen thanked her and exited into the hall, and Jenna said a silent prayer of thanks that he wasn't going to make this conversation more awkward by loitering in her office. She needed to finalize a few reports and take one more look at the scripts before she went down to prep with the tech team.
Jenna sank into her chair and got to work. She lost herself in her task list and didn't come up for air until a knock sounded at her door forty-five minutes later.
"Jenna?"
"Yeah?" She turned to see Rylen standing there with his clipboard and frowned. She wasn’t supposed to report to the studio for at least another fifteen.
"We have a situation we hoped you could help with."
Jenna lifted her hand off her mouse. "What is it?"
He gave a pained smile. "Country isn't getting along with hair and makeup."
Of course he wasn’t. Plus, he was arriving late, which meant the makeup artists weren’t going to coddle him. "And you want me to help, how?"
