"All of these people know a guy, too." She pointed to the laptop with another pair of my boxers.
"But you don't know if you can trust them," I countered.
She blew out a defeated breath, even as she organized my suitcase in ways it'd never been organized before.
"You trust me?" I asked, already knowing the answer because a woman didn't let a man do the things we'd done that morning in the shower if she didn't have faith in his ability to take care of her.
"Of course, I trust you." She looked at me like I'd fumbled the ball right before hitting the end zone.
"Then when Elliott gets here, we're gonna loop him in," I said.
She frowned. "He reps sports athletes."
"But his connections never fail to surprise." There was a reason he'd been my agent for so long.
Maya trusted me. I trusted Elliott.
When Elliott arrived at our doorstep to drive my ass to training camp in Greeley, I knew I wasn't wrong about my choice to trust him with Maya. Elliott, in his spotless suit and with the confidence of only someone who knew how to wrangle the sharks in a cutthroat industry, would know which offer was best.
I may have made his life hard as hell with some of my previous mistakes, but Elliott was the best at fixing shit that I broke.
Here, since I hadn't broken anything yet, I figured his job would be cake. Maya laid it all out for him with a list of everyone who had cold-contacted her.
"There are messages and offers and more than a few inappropriate propositions," she said the last part with a frown.
Nope, I didn't like that frown or the propositions.
"I wish the answer was easy," she continued. "But I don't know these people, and the people I know are all recommending different things. I mean, this is my career, and I've finally got a shot. I can't wreck it right from the start."
"There's a dude in Denver," Elliott said after he finished scanning the list. "Owns a bar, and he's a big deal in the music industry. He's the one you need to talk to. I'll call a meeting."
"You trust him?" I asked, wanting that confirmation before anyone went near Maya's career.
"He's the one to trust," Elliott assured. "Let me make some calls, and I'll be there for the initial talk if that'd make you more comfortable."
"You'd do that for me?" Maya asked with a note of shock.
"Maya, you're my sister's friend, and you're Sloan's wife." He paused, seemed to make sure she heard every word he said because they were important. "And I consider you a friend, too. Of course, I'd do that for you. Honestly, I'm happy you're asking."
There was no escaping training camp, but Brek Montgomery—Elliott's contact—couldn't do the meeting straight away, anyway.
Maya's videos continued to skyrocket in the meantime, and Elliott kept mentioning how her value was only growing with each viral push. By the time we all gathered to meet at the dive bar Brek owned, Maya's value in the music industry had increased substantially.
Brek's Bar was a hidden gem tucked away in the corner of Denver. People in the city knew about the bar because Brek's connections with the music industry meant his performers were A-list. The guy had managed Dimefront for fuck’s sake. He'd left his management role to run the bar when he met and fell in love with his wife. But Elliott was right, his connections with the industry were solid.
Brek brought along Hans—the current manager for Dimefront and pop sensation Sami Jo—to the meeting.
"You're the musician I keep hearing about," Hans said, holding his hand to Maya.
She shook it. "I mean…"
"Yes, she is," Elliott said with an air of authority that I really appreciated. "Her videos are currently trending on all major social media platforms. And without even trying, one of her homemade singles is trending on the two biggest streaming apps. Imagine what she could do with a professional studio and management."
He proceeded to lay out statistics I didn't even know existed about who was viewing, liking, and sharing Maya's reels. While Elliott detailed the stats, I leaned back in my chair like I was lounging and this wasn't a big deal, but I'd discreetly placed my hand on her back in a gesture of solidarity.
Not obvious so anyone else would even see, just so she'd know I was there and watching out for her.
"Look, I work with athletes," Elliott finished up after laying it all out. "Maya needs someone she can trust, and she's got so many offers that it's impossible to sift through them all in one sitting. Or four." He paused. Was he thinking, or was this for dramatic effect? "We came here because Brek knows the best. And Maya deserves the best. Is that you?"
