“Charities. Girlfriend. Got it.”
“I know you won’t let me down,” he said as he headed out the door to his interview.
As soon as I was in my Range Rover, I called up Jake.
“Buddy,” he said after two rings. “Nice fighting tonight. Keep that up you’ll give me a run for my money as the most feared fighter on a sports team in this town.”
“Thanks, man. But I’m into a bit of trouble because of it actually. Old Man Bells?—”
“He’s not fossilized by now?”
I laughed. “I have a feeling he’ll live forever as a hologram, or maybe one of those Futurama-style heads in a jar. Thing is, I need some good PR right now. I know you run some charity stuff, so I wanted to reach out about that.”
“You called at the right time. This weekend we’ve got the annual Vegas Fundraiser.”
My eyes lit up. “Vegas, eh? How can I participate?”
“I’ll send you a link with the details. It’s this event called theCancer Sucks Conference. We do some jersey signing for the kids, give some speeches, it’s a good time. And it’s for the kids, you know?”
I heard a baby babbling in the background.
“Look man, I have to go,” Jake said. “I’m glad to see you’re jumping in on this. I know what it’s like to have the media turn on you. Anyway, daddy duties are calling me. See you there.”
I hung up and texted Coach Slanch immediately.
Dustin: Vegas, Baby!
Slanch: What?
Dustin: I’m doing a Cancer fundraiser in Vegas
Slanch: Dear God. Vegas? Really? No.
Dustin: What’s wrong with Vegas?
Slanch: I told you to stay OUT of trouble, not seek it
Dustin: I’ll be good
Slanch: You better. This shit is serious.
Dustin: I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?
At that moment, Slanch sent me a link to a story that had just come out on GritFeedNews and had been shared over a thousand times.
Dustin LeBlanc: League’s Worst Womanizer or Thug?
Slanch: Famous last words. I’m serious. Best fucking behavior starting now until the championship. No Vegas wedding or any shit like that
Dustin: Best Behavior. Yes.
Famous last words.
CHAPTER 3
CATARINA
For the firsttime since I’d started coming, I had my own room at the conference in Las Vegas. I’d just come into the next level of responsibility in the National Institute of Health and was finally making six figures after years of sixty hour work weeks and intense research.
