“Jazz has a point though, Liyah,” Nina agreed. “It sounds like professional football is a lot like professional modeling in that way. As soon as you’re labeleddifficult, you’re essentially blacklisted. It doesn’t matter how pretty you are, how talented you are, or how perfect you’ll be for a campaign. When the industry comes together to put one of us in our place, they weaponize everything they have so we feel the effects of the systems of power.”
“I hear you both, and I completely understand what you’re saying,” Aaliyah argued. “But whatI’msaying is to wait until he calls because it could be something else entirely.”
I knew in my gut she was wrong, but I wanted to hold on to a glimmer of something resembling hope. “Okay,” I relented, nodding slowly. “I get—”
My phone beeped.
I knew it was him before I even looked at it.
“It’s Lamar,” I exclaimed. “Love you guys. I’ll call you back.”
Without waiting for them to respond, I pressed the button to answer his call. “Hello?”
“Hey, what’s up?” he greeted me in his deep, sexy voice.
“Just worried about what you had going on. Coaches never called you in on your day off before, so I was just wanting to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m cool. I’m…” He was quiet for a moment. “The coaches wanted to talk to me about the performance metrics. The interview I did this morning brought up some stuff, and it got the coaching staff, my manager, and my agent involved.”
He sounded like he was choosing his words carefully. I didn’t know what he was going to say, but I held my breath as I waited.
“Statistically, my numbers were better than everyone nominated for Defensive Player of the Month,” he told me. “The contract that I signed has different bonuses and incentives for hitting different benchmarks, and any type of weekly, monthly, or seasonal record or recognition holds weight in negotiations.”
“Oh wow, so not getting Player of the Month…?”
“I missed out on fifty thousand dollars.”
Fifty thousand dollars?!
I hadn’t known for sure, but I’d figured his stats were better. Hearing that he’d lost out on the honorand alsolost money gutted me.
Blinking rapidly, I couldn’t stop my eyes from filling with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about.”
My heart thumped in my chest.
I knew he knew I was the reason they’d campaigned against him.
“I just have to make some changes,” he continued. “After meeting with the coaches, I met with my agent and manager. Because of how I played on Sunday, they want to ensure that I’m properly compensated if I’m eligible for October’s Defensive Player of the Month.”
“I understand if I’m the change you have to make,” I choked out.
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t…” I whispered shakily, letting my head fall back.
I can’t do this to you. I can’t do this to myself, I finished my sentence silently.
“You can’t do what?” he asked.
Lamar sounded so hurt, irritated, and confused—which only made things worse.
“I cost you fifty thousand dollars,” I cried.
“You didn’t—”
“Lamar!” I interrupted. “Can you honestly say that being with me didn’t come up when you were in your meetings today?”
