Regardless, we are at completely different stages in our lives. So why the fuck did I let myself go there for a second time?
Once was bad enough. We moved on from that. We found balance again.
If I?—
“Knock knock.” Wes’s voice sifts through my slightly ajar door as he raps his knuckles against the wood.I’m late.I pride myself on never being late. I’m busier than I’ve been in my entire life, I’m delegating more than I ever have, I’m dropping balls left, right and center, but I am never late.
“Come in. Sorry. I was just finishing up a call.”
“You’re fine. It’s been a day for me too. I would have left you alone, if this wasn’t important.”
Dammit. I was worried about that when he set up the meeting last minute. “Take a seat.” I gesture to the couch, internally cringing when Wes stays standing.
“Myers turned us down.”
“He turned us down?”Fuck. That explains why he canceled our meeting today. “His agent said he wasn’t feeling well and needed a recovery day. They rescheduled our meet and greet for Wednesday. What’s going on?”
“Your predecessor.”
“My what?”
“Storm’s previous owner is releasing a book.”
“And…”
“A passage from the book is being shared on social media. He mentioned the team’s abysmal culture. He said he left because the staff and players were ‘not the type of people he wanted his family associating with.’”
“He said that? Abysmal. Are you fucking kidding me?” My body tenses as my blood boils. “That fucker almost drove this team into the ground financially. He cheated Storm out of millions of dollars from that damn TV show. He stole—” I stop speaking, having already said too much.
When I bought the team two years ago, I made a promise that I’d never burden anyone else with the issues I walked into. That man was a crook. There’s no other way to describe him. But instead of rotting in prison, he’s living the high life as a wannabe film producer, andapparentlyselling his soul for a bestsellers list. Once again dragging us into the spotlight.
Wes stares at me as I calm myself down and offer him a smile. “You didn’t hear any of that. The team is fine.”
“Are we?” he asks, concern marring his features.
“Yes,” I reply, hopefully putting him at ease, and I can honestly say that at this moment in time, it’s the truth. “Other than our reputation being put through the wringer again.”
“So…I don’t need to start looking for another job?”
“What?” My eyes grow wide until Wes laughs.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. As I said, it’s been a day.”
“All good. You have nothing to worry about. I’ve been working behind the scenes to get the team out of debt, and I’m happy to report we are almost in the clear. Almost. But there’s only so much I can do to tackle the hurdles we keep facing when it comes to our reputation.”
“I’ve never been one to chase trouble,” Wes begins and I turn to face him, giving him my full attention. “I apologize if I’m out of line here, but could we fight fire with fire? Discredit him a little.”
“Wow.” I raise an eyebrow with intrigue. “I never thought something like that would come out of your mouth.”
“Me either.” He laughs incredulously.
I haven’t known Wes for long, but I quickly discovered he was a man of integrity. He plays by the rules. He’s honest. He’s also loyal, though, so I imagine this stems from his loyalty to the team.
“The thing is, I value right and wrong, and from what you accidentally shared, that man is in the wrong.”
“You’re right. You are. But we can’t leak anything related to him without bringing more negative attention to the team, and we need to keep things positive. Having said that, when we’ve secured our quarterback and the media speculation has died down, I might ‘accidentally’ say something I shouldn’t.”
Wes smiles. “Sounds like a plan. In the meantime, how do we secure our quarterback?”
