“What?”
Shrugging, she shook her head. “It’s just that last one sounds like something my ex-husband said to me when the pictures were first released.”
“Why would he say that?”
She inhaled deeply and replied lightly, “Because you are married.”
I somehow doubted that was the truth. Her expression said there was more, but I wouldn’t pressure her.
“Why haven’t you gone to the police with this?”
“Because they’re harmless, Ashton. If I ran to the police over every threatening message I received, then I wouldn’t be able to do my job. I might as well move into the station.”
“Why aren’t you taking these seriously though?”
“I receive these things all the time. I told you.”
“But what aren’t you saying?”
She sighed. “They read a little more personal than the others. It sounds like this person is someone close to you who may have feelings for you. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble if it’s a situation that you can handle. Some things aren’t worth blowing up.”
“Do you have any enemies?” I asked.
“No more than the usual. People who are my competitors in the industry. What about you?”
I turned my lips down, scratched the back of my head, and thought about a few people, but didn’t say anything about the others. “Other than Muffin and Alex, I doubt it.” I laughed to lighten the situation.
“Either way, these people don’t seem like they’re your enemies. It seems more like they’re enemies of mine.”
“And what could you have done to become their enemy?”
“Tell your story,” she stated softly.
“Still doesn’t make any sense. There’s nothing in my story that anyone would want hidden.”Only I would benefit from not sharing my full story, I thought to myself.
“What did Muffin have to say about all this? The pictures and the fight, I mean.”
“You already probably know what she said about it. We argued, she accused me of cheating and said she knew this wasn’t the first time. She said that it’s just the first time I was caught.”
“And was it?”
“I haven’t cheated on my wife,” I stated, avoiding saying that I had never cheated on Muffin. That would have been a lie. But I hadn’t cheated on her since we had been married, so that statement was true.
“Why do you look so sad, Ashton?”
Shaking my head, I chuckled softly, humorlessly. “That shit hurts. I mean, I won’t lie. Through the years, I have always been surrounded by temptation, especially when we were on the road at away games. There was always a woman waiting for me and willing to give me what I couldn’t get that night to take the edge off.
“I won’t even lie and say that I didn’t consider it. There were times I was in a club or in a bar, and I paid a woman more attention than I should have, or entertained conversations I knew would hurt my wife if she found out. But in the end, no matter how hard it was, I always walked the fuck away. I never succumbed to it. So it’s hard as fuck to believe that not only is my marriage ruined, but my reputation as well, especially before I’m about to go out of the league. I worked hard to have a good career and name, and this isn’t how I want to go out.”
Chanel closed her eyes briefly before she opened them and looked at me again.
“Ashton, I promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Why do you care?”
“I’ve followed your entire career, and I know you’re a good guy. I don’t want to see you go out of the game with a bad rep. It’s not fair. I love sports as much as you do. It’s about the game to me, not the trash. Besides, I’ve been on the other side of false accusations, and I know it doesn’t feel good.”
I recalled seeing some articles about the famed journalist having to choose her career over family, but I didn’t recall the details.
