“Honestly, I thought this would be an easier sell.”
“Have you met her?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Decker. We’ve got to get you back out there if we’re going to grow your career opportunities. It’s not always going to be about football.” He sighs. “And since Vital Reign Athletics backed out after the whole Ada Lane breakup, it wouldn’t hurt to give everyone a distraction.”
The mention of Vital Reign rejecting me stings. It’s not like we’d signed a contract—it never got that far—but according to Jason, they’d been very interested in working with me. Vital Reign is the most popular female athletic wear brand in the United States. Not only that, but it’s women-owned and operated, too. It started from the ground up right here in Vista City. They recently announced they’d be branching out into men’s wear. Of course they don’t want some perceived “womanizer” as their first male spokesperson. When their correspondence stopped coming, I knew my personal life was to blame, though they never explicitly said that. I can’t blame them, but I wish everyone would stop listening to the lies. I wish they’d stop making me out to be something I’m not.
“Not everyone cares who I date,” I try.
“Have you read what they’ve been saying about you since Ada?—”
“I think anyone who has internet access has read the rumors.”
“Then you know how delicate your social standing is. Just be glad you aren’t some spotlight showboat. If you actually had an online presence, you would’ve been immediately canceled after that whole relationship.”
“We went on like five dates. Wouldn’t call it arelationship.It wasn’t serious.” I squeeze a glob of paste onto my toothbrush and scrub until my gums burn.
“Does she know that?” The words settle heavily between us before he continues. “You can’t ghost Hollywood’s girl of the moment, then be photographed in public cuddling up with a bottle service waitress without a few people getting their panties in a wad.”
“It wasn’t like that. I?—”
“I don’t make the rules, Decker. People will see what they want to see.”
I sigh. Although I hate to admit it, I know he’s right. Vital Reign sure saw whatever they wanted to and ruined my fallback plan—and all plans dependent on it—because of it.
I can see why people are infatuated with Ada Lane. I was too on our first two dates, but then the newness wore off. Even though she was just as attractive on date three, I was less mesmerized by her talent, her sweetness. Dates four and five were more for her than for me. When you’re in the spotlight, you have to be careful of how you handle things. The problem is, I’ve never been very careful.
“I just want to focus on my career,” I finally say.
“And this is part of it. Consider it a stepping stone.” Jason sighs. “What if you snap your femur? Bust your head open?”
“That’s why we have padding.”
“Padding did nothing for you last year. How’s that knee?” His words have bite. “All I’m saying is, we both know you can’t do this forever. I’m doing what you asked me to do. I’m helping set up a future you can look forward to. One with investment opportunities and a roster of connections for networking. We scratched Ada off that list, and we’re replacing her with Lena. Everything that girl touches turns to gold. You can only hope a speck of that rubs off on you.”
I check the clock. It’s almost one a.m. Tired of arguing, I give up. “Where am I supposed to meet thisgolden girl?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
LENA
Gustav pullsout my chair with a screech, nodding before retreating to a nearby corner of the room. Our table is situated toward the back of the restaurant, behind some decorative fountain with abstract shapes pouring streams of liquid into one another. It looks like a modern art piece that should be in a gallery, not stooping to create some privacy barrier in the middle of a restaurant. The rest of the place matches its motif with abstract neutrals and pops of red stretching from floor to ceiling, where massive, twisted gold chandeliers hang. The whole place is too upscale for a casual meeting. Stuffy, even. The kind of establishment I now realize refers to their cheese fries aspommes frites au fromageand dumps truffle flakes on top, like that somehow makes it fancy.It’s familiar and contrived. If I’ve been to one, I’ve been to them all. Did Decker pick this place? And if he did, is it because he likes it or because he thought I would? Or worse. Did he think this wouldimpressme? The thought of Decker wanting to impress me makes me feel a lot of things. Annoyed. Amused. Flattered.
I sip my ice water, wishing it were something stronger. As though she read my mind, a server stops by, placing a bottle of complimentary champagne in the center of the table, sent by themanager or something. She smiles at me, popping the cork and pouring some into the flute in front of me. I smile and sip as she deposits the bottle in the center of the table and freezes, her eyes fixed somewhere over my shoulder. I turn and follow her gaze until I see what she’s gawking at. Decker Trace’s massive frame is heading straight for us.
When he pulls out his chair and sits, he gives us both the same megawatt smile. The waitress quickly pours the champagne into his flute, her hands trembling as she sets the bottle back on the table. I smile at her, hoping to ease her rattled nerves. She returns it, then promptly scurries away, too shy to stick around beyond that. I was hoping I could get an appetizer, but when Decker winks at me, I’m grateful to have the bubbly to help me through this.
“Starting without me?” he asks.
“There’s still time to catch up.” I down the rest of my flute, buying time to think of what Antonia would want me to say. I bite back a tart response, and instead smile sweetly. “The night is young.”
“Isn’t that the name of one of your songs?”
“It is,” I say, pouring myself another glass.
“Is quoting your own stuff a normal occurrence for you?”
I grind out another smile. “I didn’t know I was meeting with a fan tonight.”
