Page 19

nineteen

. . .

Viv

Alycia has called me twice before nine o’clock in the morning. This is big, because she lives on the west coast, and it’s still six o’clock her time. As much as I don’t want to talk to her, I think I have to.

What if she tells me to break off this thing with Tony? What if my sponsors pull my funding? Am I strong enough to push back and stand up for myself?

I’d like to think I am. I’d like to think this fledgling thing Tony and I have is worth sacrificing my career for.

So when Alycia calls for the third time, I answer it before it can ring.

“Tell me about the boyfriend,” she says immediately.

“It’s new.”

I can practically hear her eyes roll. “I’m sure it is. Tell me about him.”

“What do you want to know?”

She sighs. “Okay, he’s your teammate’s brother and he’s an athlete. Does he have representation?”

“I’m not sure,” I say honestly. I’m not surprised she already knows this. She probably has a dossier on everyone in my life.

“Pump It Up is intrigued,” Alycia says after a pause. “They’d be interested in doing a feature.”

I freeze. “What?”

Pump It Up Protein Powder is one of my biggest sponsors.

“They’d like to pay you to feature some of their products. It would be a series of posts and videos with both of you featured,” she says.

“You’ve already heard from them?”

My agent laughs. “Please. I put out feelers last week, after the photos of you two looking cozy at the coffee shop.”

My stomach swoops. “You saw those?”

“I have Google Alerts on all my people,” she says dismissively. “I didn’t know his name, but when his sister posted a photo of them together and I saw the photos from your animal shelter visit, I put the pieces together. He’s cute.”

“You still follow my teammates?” I’m hung up on that.

“You know me, I’m thorough.”

She is. I cause her infinitely fewer problems now that I’ve stopped drinking, but they haven’t stopped altogether. She’s always kept tabs on me through the posts my friends make. Even if they don’t tag me, I might still be in the background of what they have going on.

She’s far less of a stalker than it sounds. She means well. She’s just… overbearing. Prepared for all eventualities.

“So tell me about him,” Alycia says.

“Last night was our first date. What do you want to know?”

“You’re going to keep seeing him.” It’s not a question.

“Yeah. I’d like to.” I play with a loose thread on my shirt. “I like him.”

“Good. Then we’ll set up some more photo ops,” she decides.

“I don’t know if he’d be interested in that.”

She makes a noise of frustration. “He’s a competitive athlete and a semi-public figure. It’s part of the job.”

“I get the idea he keeps things pretty close to his chest. Besides, he’s preparing for a big competition right now.”

“So he probably would like a few thousand dollars from sponsors,” she concludes, like it’s a done deal. “Let me know if he has a rep I need to coordinate with. Otherwise, I’ll send over a contract and he can work with me directly.”

“You’d do that?”

“Viv, your social rankings are through the roof.” Alycia laughs. “If one date with the guy can get you this many interactions, I can’t wait to see what happens after you collab together. This might be the magic key we’ve been looking for to take your partnerships to the next level. You better hope you don’t break up.”

My palms start to sweat. “We’ve been on one date . ”

“I saw the photos. You haven’t looked that happy in… months. Maybe years.”

“I thought you’d tell me to end it,” I admit. “Sponsors don’t like women in relationships.”

“Oh, Viv.” She sighs. “Sponsors don’t like women, period. Whether you’re single or in a committed partnership, nothing you do will ever make them happy. All you can do is live your life. We’ll cherry pick which companies we work with to maximize your earnings potential.”

She pauses.

“And P.S., happy women sell better.”

With that, she hangs up.

My phone buzzes with a message from Kiana. Where are you?

With a sigh, I pull on my hoodie and leave my apartment, jogging to the park where we’re meeting for a run. She’s waiting by the fountain, stretching with Andi and Grace. To my surprise, Cari is with them.

“Good morning,” she chirps. I freeze, and my teammates burst into laughter at the stricken look on my face.

“Morning.” I glare at them.

“So when’s the wedding?” Andi teases.

“Fuck off,” I mutter, pulling out my ponytail and retying it. “Are we here to do this or what?”

Technically, it’s our day off from training. We could just go out to brunch and call it a day.

“Or what,” Kiana echoes. “I’d much rather get all the gossip.”

“There is no gossip.” I side-eye Cari. “Nothing to tell.”

“She’s in love with my brother,” she says brightly.

I bluster. “It’s—we’ve—we’re?—”

“I know, it was your first date.” She pats me on the arm. “That’s what he said too.”

“This is too weird.” I scrub my hands over my face. “I didn’t think this through.”

“Are you going to back out?” Grace asks.

“No.” I don’t have to look at Cari to know she’s smiling at my emphatic denial. “I like him. I just have to hope he’ll put up with my bullshit.”

“He will,” Cari says confidently.

“You don’t know that.”

“He will,” she repeats. “He likes you too. You should have seen him all last week. He was disgustingly cheerful.”

“Really?” That makes me inordinately happy.

“Oh, yeah. He’s smitten.” She shakes her head. “I should have known something was up when he came to practice last week. He would never have come to visit me on his own.”

I open my mouth.

“Oh, no, I’m not complaining. He’s just transparent,” Cari laughs. “I deal with him enough at home. He doesn’t need to be dropping by our training facility to see me.”

My face heats.

“Come on, let’s get our workout on,” Kiana says. “Then we can mock Viv some more after.”

I flip her off and she laughs, setting her headphones over her ears. Everyone else prepares and then we set off for our run, twice around the five-mile loop.

Running between Kiana and Cari, I lose myself in the physicality of the exercise. Distance running is not my forte, but it helps us train our endurance for the short, quick bursts of speed we need on the pitch.

We complete our loops without further incident and then cool down with a brisk walk. With my headphones on in a clear don’t talk to me message, my teammates leave me alone—for now.

To my surprise, they don’t bring up Tony as we debate brunch spots or as we make our way to the restaurant. They’re almost silent as we place our orders.

So, of course, as soon as I let my guard down, they pounce.

“How long has this been going on?” Kiana demands. “I thought you weren’t interested in him.”

“I thought you hated him,” Grace tacks on.

Grabbing my water glass, I gulp it down.

“I almost feel bad for setting you up with Al,” Cari says. “Is that why you ran out?”

“Wait—she set you up with her brother?” Andi says, looking between us. “You went out with both brothers?”

“I didn’t realize they were related,” I admit.

Cari frowns. “But—wait?—”

“I met Tony at the Olympics three years ago.” My face flames. “We went our separate ways and didn’t reconnect very well.”

Her eyes go wide. “You’re his bronze medal.”

“What? No.”

“He’s talked about you for the last three years. I didn’t know she was you!”

I bury my face in my hands.

Cari goes on: “They met the night before the team final. He says you’re the reason he won the bronze medal.”

“He’s exaggerating,” I deflect.

“My brother… he’s not good with people. He’s hard for other people to read,” she says slowly. “But when he lets you into his world? There’s nothing better.”

“I like him. I want to see where it goes.” That’s one thing I’m sure of. “I just don’t want to scare him off.”

“He doesn’t scare easily,” Cari says. “Give him some credit. Give him a chance.”

“I will.”

I just have to hope he’ll give me one too.