Page 35 of Catching Our Moment
Shaw
Yazmine Silva was the head of YES—the agency that represented me—and a beautiful ballbuster. As such, she didn’t waste time with pleasantries. She just jumped into it.
“Wait, what?”
“The boy. Smitty wants the boy back on air. They are thinking of creating a segment with him for Fantasy Football followers. Many of his latest predictions have hit, and Fantasy Football blog pages are actually posting his picks. He’s trending as #footballkid and #Shawsson.
Social media accounts are blowing up with discussions of his analysis, and he even has other professional analysts legitimizing his thought processes. ”
Seriously? A smile tugged at my lips. “That’s my boy,” I said softly. Wait. What? “The hashtag is #Shawsson?”
The background noise on the other line went silent, and irritation and a tinge of panic laced her tone. “Holy crap. Shaw, is he your child? I thought it was?—”
“No. No. Nothing like that.”
“Okay.” The sound of her footsteps started back up as she stressed, “If there is anyone out there who can call you Daddy, I need to be your first call, got it?”
“Excuse me?”
“That came out wrong. You know what I mean,” she said, annoyed at my innuendo.
“Of course,” I agreed, mollifying her. I didn’t need Yaz poking at me any more than what she was about to do.
“The next item on my list: your former girlfriend is making waves. I guess her fifteen minutes of fame wasn’t as profitable as she had hoped it would be, and she wants a settlement out of you for your break-up.”
“You can’t be serious. She left me—cheated on me, technically.”
“I know, but a girl needs to pay her bills, and it's either you pay, or a tabloid will. We think leaning into helping the boy with the podcast will help boost your image before she tries to take it down for profit.”
“Riley wouldn’t do that,” I said with more conviction than I felt.
“Trust me. Let’s get some photos of you and the boy—TJ mentioned he was autistic or something. Maybe we can get you working with a non-profit autism program.”
Red filled my world.
“Yaz, we’ve worked together for years.” My voice was as thick as concrete.
“So take what I’m saying as a line drawn in the sand.
Nothing about Aaron or his mother is up for discussion.
I will be severing all ties with the YES agency and all your agents the next time it’s considered. Do you feel me?”
She quieted herself and said softly, “Shaw, I didn’t mean it that way?—”
“They are family to me. Not a prop.”
“I understand. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to offend or imply you meant to capitalize on them.
” Her tone was placating. “How about we just get photos of the three of you working on the podcast? We don’t have to mention the autism or anything, but this is a great opportunity for Aaron if he’s interested in it. ”
“I doubt his parents will even let him go back on.”
“Most teenage boys would kill for this opportunity. Hell, most men too.”
He would love to do it regularly, but James would shit a brick. Then again, that might be the perfect reason. “I will talk with Kelcie.”
“Ah, Kelcie. I talked with Davy the other day, and he mentioned you were ga-ga for an old girlfriend.”
“She wasn’t my girlfriend—just my best friend.”
“Tomatoes, tomatoes… When is she coming to Charlotte?”
“Don’t know. Next topic.”
She spoke to someone in the background and then refocused on me, as if I hadn’t just threatened to drop her. A door opened and closed, and I imagined her settling into her desk for what was bound to be her piéce de résistance. “Okay, now for the important stuff.”
Oh, jeez, she thought Riley going after me for money wasn’t important?
“I know you’re happy in your cozy small-town alternate reality, but you need to get back here and defend your job.”
“Hold up. What?”
“Shaw, hon. You’ve been out half the season. The doctors are telling the staff you should be ready to return?—”
“I am, but?—”
“They need you. It’s clutch time.” She referred to our team’s prospects of being in the playoffs and the team’s current lackluster performances. “The pendulum could swing either way, and they need their best players back in the pack.”
“Okay, fine. I was going to get the sign-off at my doctor’s appointment in Baltimore tomorrow, anyway. But what is all this drama about defending my job?”
“Come on, Shaw. You’re not na?ve. You know there are younger guys behind you who are gunning for your position for less money. And your contract takes a chunk of change out of the salary cap. You need to justify it. So, stop playing house with?—”
“That’s none of your business, Yaz.”
“Darling, everything about you is our business. It’s our job at YES to know about everything before anyone else. Of course, I’ve already done a background check on her. I have an NDA ready for you to give her to sign?—”
“You are getting precariously close to that line again, Yaz.”
“Don’t be an idiot. If it weren’t for that NDA breathing over her, Riley would be spilling all about the two of you to any gossip podcast she could find, just to extend her five minutes of publicity.”
“She’s still threatening to sue me, so what good is the NDA?”
“The lawyers are dealing with it.”
“Kelcie has known me since we were pimply faced kids. If she wanted to smear me or cash in on old photos or secrets, she would’ve done it already. No NDA.”
Yaz let out an exasperated sound. “This won’t make legal very happy.”
“Tough shit. If an NDA was effective, they wouldn’t be dealing with Riley.”
She refocused. “Regardless, it’s time to get your ass back down here—and not just for a visit. Time to get back to work.” The sound of a door opening and voices entered her background again. “Gotta go. Let me know about the kid and what plane you’re arriving on.”
And as fast as she’d disrupted my life, she exited it, leaving behind a wake of problems for me to figure out.
Later, between games, we ate dinner. As we were cleaning up, I approached the subject with the hesitancy of a teenage boy asking a girl out for the first time. “How would you feel about going to Charlotte this weekend?”
Kelcie was bending over to put away a pot. She froze, and I caught her before she fell on her ass and helped her stand. “Wh—what? Why?”
I took a small step back, ran my hand over my jaw, and said, “Well, it turns out I have a job, and some people are anxious for me to get back to it.”
“But you haven’t been cleared to play.”
I lifted my good shoulder. “Yeah, but I’m still expected on the sidelines.
And truthfully, I have no reason not to be there.
I’m still on the team—at least for now.” I leaned my back on the counter and crossed my arms over my chest—the epitome of cool casualness.
“So, what do you think? I’d love to take you to Charlotte for a few days…
You could see the game and meet some of my friends…
” I lowered my voice. “I could have some time alone with you.”
“What about Aaron and school? He’d be so jealous that I saw a game and he didn’t get to go.”
“Aaron could stay with Grace. You know she’d love to have him,” I said, wrapping my arms around her waist, afraid she was going to run, figuratively and literally.
“But—”
I leaned over and kissed her. “We will never have time alone with him here, and James isn’t coming for another two weeks. Besides, we need to figure this out.” I kissed her again, deeper this time, and cupped her face in my hands. I wanted her to say yes.
“Let’s have some fun. Tell Aaron you need to meet with my doctors. I will promise to take him to another game—maybe even playoffs, if our team makes it. I could even get him a pre-game field pass.”
Her eyes widened. “I may be able to buy a lot of good behavior with that reward.”
“So? You, me, my place…alone?”
“Let me talk with Grace about it and check with work.”
No doubt Grace would push her out the door.
“I have to leave tomorrow after my doctor’s appointment and get down there for a team meeting and talk with the trainers.
Why don’t you fly down Thursday? That will give us the weekend together,” I said, giddy as a schoolgirl.
I could get the place ready for her. “Just let me know when you want to leave, and I’ll get my assistant, Matt, to book your flight.
” The first thing I was doing was making sure nothing of Riley’s had been left in the house, including that gaudy bed she’d bought for us.
In fact, I was going to call my housekeeper, Cora, about getting it out now.
I don’t know why I hadn’t thought about it before.
“Matt?” Kelcie said. “You have an assistant? I thought Yaz was your assistant?”
The bark of laughter that escaped me shocked both of us before I reeled it back. “Oh no. And please, for the love of God, don’t call Yaz my assistant. Even though I hired her agency, Yaz thinks I work for her instead of the other way around.”
Kelcie’s brows furrowed.
“Yaz is my agent. Different from Matt. Matt schedules my calendar, books flights, and oversees the houses and cars—you know, the day-to-day stuff,” I said.
“Yazmine Silva and her staff at YES Sports Management are my go-between with the team, business contacts, media, marketing, trainers, etc. Basically, she handles everything business or football related.”
“How many employees do you have, Shaw?”
“I don’t have employees, really—well, maybe just Matt. Then there’s my housekeeper. The others are kind of, I don’t know… Matt and Yaz have different people working on my behalf.
She threw up a hand. “Hold up. Houses? As in, you have more than one house in Charlotte?”
I leaned back against the counter and pulled her between my legs.
“I can’t believe I haven’t told you about this.
” I held her hand. “Yes, I have a condo close to the stadium and a lake house on Lake Norman. I have a few friends who also have homes on the lake, so it’s a place I go to relax.
I have a boat too. Maybe we could go there with Aaron once the season is over. ”
She stared at me for a moment, her mouth slightly open.
“I know I shouldn’t be surprised you have more than one house.
I guess we have a lot to learn about each other.
” I gave her a quick kiss. “I’m just so excited to show you everything and have a chance to introduce you to my friends.
I want to show you what life is like in Charlotte. ”
And I want you to see what our life could be…if you would just give it a chance.
I couldn’t wait.