“Well, what if a player is accused of sexual assault and it’s not credible?”
I stared at him. “Who is the judge of whether it’s credible?”
“Well, do we wait until he’s convicted or just accused?” he asked.
“I understand there are many shades of gray. But food for thought, false reports are less than 6%.”
He absorbed that statistic before he responded.
“So that means that 94% of reports are credible?”
I nodded. “And 63% of assaults are not even reported.”
“Why?”
I took a deep breath and reminded myself that he wasn’t being an asshole and genuinely seemed to be interested in my answers. A question wasn’t an accusation.
“What happens to women who report? Even knowing that less than 6% of them are lying, they are treated like liars. They’re blamed for their clothing choice, asked if they drank too much, or led the man on. We forget that consent isn’t one and done. Consent can be removed at any time.Maybe they’re in a relationship and one night he pushes things too far.”
“I know I asked you to put together a presentation. But I’ve got a bunch of old white dudes on the board. Could you add these statistics to that proposal? I trust you, but they’re going to want to see sources.”
I was painfully aware of the old white dudes in the organization. Many of them had been responsible for the rumors about my hiring. They hated outsiders and most weren’t ready for a woman to be in the corporate office.
“Of course. I’ll have it ready when I get back from Christmas vacation.”
Hawk stood up and tossed enough cash on the bar to cover all the bar bills.
“I come in here most nights. It’s within walking distance between the stadium and home. I’m more than happy to chase off handsy assholes whenever necessary if it makes you feel safer.”
“Did my boss just offer to be my wingman?”
He smirked. Damn that crinkle in his eyes softened his appearance. “Wingman or security detail. Either way, if it’s me or Joe here, you’ll be safe. Do you have a car here?”
“I Ubered. I just requested my ride.” I held up my cell phone and Sharon was three minutes away.
“Great. I will wait outside with you.”
FOUR
hawk
I hatedthat Kendra had shown up to meet such a fucking loser. Was she blind? Not only was she gorgeous, but she was smart as hell. She was so far out of Tyler’s league that the man should have groveled on his hands and knees. Instead, he walked in there thinking she owed him because he drove into the city and parked his fucking car.
Male loneliness epidemic, my ass. These men were dicks and deserved to be alone. They gave the rest of us a bad name and then whined like the world was shitting on them.
When I returned to my penthouse apartment, I looked over the city. You would think that this would get old, but it never did. I loved Boston and this team, and I thanked God every day that I could do the thing I loved.
Had I been jealous when I watched Tyler sidle up next to Kendra? Yeah. But then the man opened his goddamned mouth, and I wondered how no one had knocked his teeth out yet. Yeah, in this case, Grandad was right. This generation was raised soft. Tyler acted like an ass because no one had kicked his ass and put him in his place yet.
I sent my sister Colby a text.
Me: If you weren’t already gay, I would tell you to stop dating men.
Colby: Deets please.
Me: One of the Assistant Directors was at The Mighty Oak tonight. She was on a date, and I’m still embarrassed for the guy.
Colby: That’s what’s out there.
