Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
“Okay. What is it, and how do we make it happen?”
There was a long pause before Gil finally spoke again. “They want someone more settled. You’re not exactly young, and even though you’ve got a clean rep, they’re looking for someone who fits the description of a family man for their campaign.”
“A family man?” I asked as I grabbed a clean towel and used it to wipe at the sweat still trickling down the back of my neck. “What does that mean? I’m very close with my parents and brothers.” I sat down on the bench and picked up my water bottle.
“Not family like siblings, dude. Family as in a wife and kids.”
I’d just taken a huge gulp of water, and at Gil’s announcement, I nearly spat it across the room. “What the fuck?”
My teammates stopped whatever they were doing and turned to stare at me in surprise. I was generally a very easy-going guy and rarely raised my voice unless I was on the field or very, very pissed. Or, in this case, shocked as hell.
“They want the picket fence image for their spokesman.”
“That’s…” I didn’t know what it was.
“Look, D, I’m not saying it’s logical. I’m just passing along the info. It’ll be a few more weeks before they make a decision. Maybe you can do something to change their minds? I’ll keep doing what I do, but you might want to think about this and decide if it’s worth it.”
“Worth what, exactly?” I huffed, frustrated and bewildered at the same time.
“That’s for you to figure out. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”
He hung up before I could say another word, and I pulled my phone from my ear to stare at the screen as though it would answer my questions.
“Yo, D,” Ames, one of our offensive linemen and my best friend, called out. “Everything okay?”
I nodded and pushed to my feet, tossing my phone back into my locker before stripping off the last of my gear and clothing. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I ran over the conversation with Gil in my head. What the fuck was I supposed to do?
Every muscle in my body protested as I marched into the showers. This had been a grueling practice, but we had a big game coming up, and we were gonna be ready. I didn’t have time to be thinking about other shit.
The hot water eased some of my aches, but I was still strung tight as I returned to my locker to get dressed.
“Seriously, D,” Ames pushed as he plopped down on the bench in front of the locker beside mine. “What’s got your panties in a twist?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I yanked up my jeans and buttoned them. “Best Sports,” I grumbled.
“They go with someone else?” he asked, suddenly serious. He knew what this meant to me.
“Not yet, but Gil called in a favor and found out they have some conditions I don’t meet.”
“Conditions?”
I pulled on a T-shirt and sat beside Ames to put on my socks and shoes. “Apparently, they’re looking for a family man.”
“I’m guessing they mean a serious relationship?”
“Like rings and a picket fence.”
Rigby, one of our punters, had been looking at his phone, but he put it down and twisted to look at me. “So make it happen.” If it had been Ames talking, I would have laughed hysterically at the absurd suggestion. But Rigby wasn’t a joker. He was a good guy, one of the best, but he was a grump and serious all the time.
“Make it happen? Like get married?”
Rigby nodded and stood, retrieving his keys and wallet from his locker before shoving them in his pocket. “Yeah. If you’re serious about this gig, do what it takes, man.”
I gaped at him as he clapped me on the shoulder and strolled out of the locker room. When the door shut behind him, I swung my head around to stare at Ames. Instead of wearing an equally astonished expression like I’d expected, he looked thoughtful.
“You can’t seriously agree with him,” I practically sputtered.
“Well, I mean. If you didn’t live like a fucking monk, you’d have a few girls to choose from.”
I shot him a look, and he just grinned. The fucker didn’t have any room to judge on that front. I hadn’t seen him with a woman who wasn’t family in…I didn’t even know how long. We’d both been too focused on our careers to deal with the bullshit that came along with a relationship.
“D, you’re a hot receiver for the New York Nighthawks,” piped up Colt, a long snapper in his rookie season. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find a woman to wear your ring. You could probably ask the next woman on the street, and she’d fall at your feet.”