Mel frowns. “But you’re confirming that it is him.”
I rub my beard. “Yeah, it is,” I admit.
She sits at the chair across from my desk. “Troy. Do you have more to tell me?”
I scoff. “I don’t know why he was streaking through someone’s yard. What, you think I was with him?” When Mel frowns, I realize how tense and defensive I am, and I cough out a grunt.
“Okay,” I say. “It’s probably time I told you anyway. Orlando and I have started an arrangement. But I’ve got it under control.”
Mel puts her fingers to her temples. “Hell, Troy. You really put me through it, you know? Because right now, I feel equally compelled to support you on your journey and to choke you with your own tie for not telling me earlier.”
“I’m practicing discretion,” I grumble. “And I’m not on a journey. What does that even mean?”
“You tell me,” she says. “Because I haven’t known you to date anyone in years, but now you’re saying you have an arrangement? Should I start preparing a coming-out strategy for you both?” Her phone buzzes, and she glances at it. “Because I have so much free time with this new headache from your boyfriend today.”
“He’s not…” I huff and try again. “It’s sex. That’s all. I didn’t expect it, but I’m exploring.” When her expression doesn’t falter, I grumble out an apology, too. “Sorry I didn’t tell you immediately. But I know how to keep this private.”
“You don’t know as much as I do,” she counters, “but it’s neither of us I’m worried about.” She holds the phone up and turns it to me, showing me Orlando’s video again. “It’s the soccer streaker.”
“If this video goes bad, several junior agents are available to handle relations with Orlando’s team,” I assure Mel. “Whatever you want to do with PR, of course, is fine by me.” I rub my beard. “Have you talked to Orlando yet? He’s still training for the next half hour.”
Mel frowns, catching that I know Orlando’s schedule like that. “No. And I don’t intend to. If you recall, we’ve got two clients shooting ads today. Scolding clients usually falls into your column. I think you should handle this one yourself.”
“Got it,” I say firmly because I am capable of handling this. “Focus on your work, and I’ll drag him back to the office for some crisis management later. And thanks.”
“Good,” Mel says with a quick nod. “As far as PR, we’ll get the story from Orlando first. If it’s all clean, we can ignore or deny it’s him in the video. But tell your twunk that anything else coming down the road, we need to be ahead of it, not behind.” She frowns. “And that goes double for you.”
I decide not to ask what the fuck a twunk is.
“Message received.”
Mel looks up to the ceiling, thinking. “We need a little more polish, though. Positive image-building. Set the narrative back on the right track.” Her eyes light up. “Of course! You can bring Orlando to the Coach’s Gala.”
I wrinkle my forehead. “We’re out of tickets.”
“Use mine. Marshall has an away game. I’ll show him our dedication by attending. You can hold down the fort at home.” She pulls up her satisfied smile again, clearly liking the idea. “A vacation for me while you clean up the mess. It’s perfect. And I’m sure I can trust you to keep an eye on our little troublemaker for one evening. Especially since you aren’t harboring any secret devotion. Right?”
I grunt. She’s offering a raw deal, but I deserve it.
Guilt etches through me. The way this is going down, I’m failing my professional values, risking things I have no right risking.
All for Orlando.
The scariest part is, even if I wanted to, I don’t know if I could stop myself. We’ve barely started exploring each other, and my desire to have him just grows stronger.
So many ways I want to take him and make him mine. But I’m bigger than my desires, and I’m still more than capable of doing my job.
“Fine,” I say with a sigh, relenting. “I’ll give him the number of our tux guy.”
* * *
ORLANDO
“What about Recreational Pros?” I ask. I sweep my hand like I’m making a marquee. “Rec Pro. Recreate like a pro.”
Stace tilts her head to the side, considering. “I don’t think so. Recreate sounds weird to my ear. Like everyone is going to be making babies.”
We’re catching lunch at the stadium, trying to come up with a name for her new business. The concept is great, fitness plans that cross sports-focused training and competitive recreational leagues, with extra emphasis on having fun and building social connections, since that’s what gets the best results anyway.
