11. Rawley
RAWLEY
EARLY THE NEXT MORNING
BETTER TOGETHER CHAT [the Battle sibling chat]
RAWLEY: Sweet! That’s what I’m fucking talking about!
LANDON: I’m so proud, Gracie. Incredible.
CONNOR: Never a doubt in my mind.
LANDON: So when exactly are the championships? I don’t want to miss them.
RAWLEY: Yeah, we’ll all go, for sure.
GRACE: Later in June. In Eugene, Oregon. I’ll get you the dates.
RAWLEY: Our OTAs should be done then, Landon.
LANDON: Yeah, and I’ll head out to London afterward to be with Rori for Wimbledon. It’s perfect.
GRACE: Johnson is coming too, of course.
LANDON: What about Avery, Rawls? Should we invite her?
CONNOR:
RAWLEY: Nothing’s going on. I literally went back inside the bar after she left.
GRACE: We know. He’s just teasing.
RAWLEY: But damn, that story won’t die.
LANDON: It will eventually, but shit, that video’s everywhere.
GRACE: Never a dull moment around here.
“Grovie, do your business,” my sister tells the stubborn beagle.
For this spell in late May before our OTAs start, Landon’s in Europe for Rori’s clay court season. I’m responsible for Grover while he’s gone, but Grace came over to keep me company, which has translated into joining me for his walk.
“He’s not feeling it.” I observe while Grover gives us his best “whatever, guys” face.
“We should keep going a little longer.”
“Yeah, all right. So you excited about nationals?”
Grace had taken time off from track competitions after some coach messed with her head, but she’s running professionally now while also working for a sports business manager.
“I’m thrilled. Who would’ve thought I would be here a year ago? And my coach has a three-year plan to step my training up in prep for the next Olympics.”
“Whoa, that’s sick.”
“Yeah, this year, he wants me to focus on getting adjusted to the intensity of being at nationals, get my feet wet. But then next year we’ll start pushing.”
“Love it.” It’s awesome seeing Grace so happy and chatty. She’s a natural giver, but it’s been at the expense of what she wants for herself way too often.
“What about you? Rookie minicamp was good?”
“It flew by. Well, the meeting stuff dragged a little, but it was great to be practicing again. I’ve been working out with a couple of the other rookie wide receivers since then too.”
Chance, Ty, and I have been timing our sessions at the Waves’ facility gym so we can keep each other entertained. It’s a hell of a lot better than working out solo.
Ty seems content to drop Nate from our group, which has made the energy more chill too. Presumably, Nate’s off hanging with the other running backs.
“That’s great. Johnson says he’ll text you soon about practicing at the house. He just came back from shooting a commercial in New York.”
“Nice.”
We walk a few steps in silence before she speaks up again.
“It’s wild about this Avery Parker stuff. There’s really nothing going on? Because it’s all over my feed.”
I’ve confided in Grace about women in the past, but for some reason I don’t share the full truth about my interest.
“Truly, there’s nothing there. She’s maybe a friend now after the interview and hanging out at the club, but nothing more.” Not to mention, I don’t even have a way to reach her.
Grace looks at me with keen eyes. “She’s gorgeous.”
“She is.” Can’t argue that.
“And I wouldn’t say this in front of the boys, but you had a look in your eyes in the video.”
“You watched the video?”
“Rawls, everyone has seen it.”
I sigh. “Okay, what ‘look’ do you mean?”
“A look I’ve seen a time or two as your sister. You care about her.”
Fuck, Grace knows me too well.
“I still barely know her. I only cared that she got home safe. And she’s made it clear she’s not interested.”
Well, shit, I guess I just confirmed to my sister that I’d tested the waters with Avery.
“Uh-huh.” A little grin creeps on her face, but she mercifully drops the topic as Grover saves the day, finally doing his business.
We turn to walk back to Landon’s house, and I distract Grace by asking her about her job. When we return, I fix us lunch, and then she takes off for some meetings.
Within a few minutes of her departure, I head to the Waves’ facility to get in my work out with Chance and Ty.
A simple, easy day on the whole, before I return home at five.
My phone pings right as I walk into the house, echoing across the front entry. I check my messages and oh—
STEFANI: Hi!
STEFANI: I’ve been in rehearsals non-stop the last few days, but I just saw the video of you and Avery Parker.
Great. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that it might reach her.
My gut reaction is to feel guilty and worry she’s going to be upset, but then I tamp those thoughts down. Stefani’s said time and again that she just wants to be friends.
RAWLEY: I was only helping her get to her car. Nothing’s going on.
STEFANI: You’re a gentleman like that.
STEFANI: Can’t wait to see you soon.
If Connor saw this message, I already know what he’d say.
She just likes your attention. She’s constantly stringing you along. Cut it off for your sanity.
I don’t have a logical response. The hopes I had for us at seventeen still remain in a faint way, a thin thread in my chest that she pulls on every few months.
Shit, I’m such a sucker.
My stomach growls, distracting me, and I head to the kitchen to make something to eat. I’m ready to watch a movie and chill when I get a message from Aiden.
AIDEN: Can you make a meeting tomorrow morning at nine?
I have nothing planned that early, though I’m curious what this is about now.
RAWLEY: Sure.
AIDEN: I’ll email you the Zoom ID.
AIDEN: And keep an open mind.
What the fuck does that mean?
My curiosity piqued by the time the Zoom rolls around the next morning, I make sure to log in a little early.
Two faces appear and what the heck, it’s Avery and an older woman who I’m ninety-five percent sure is her mom.
“Hi?” I say, unable to keep the confusion out of my voice.
Avery’s skin is smooth and glowing like she just washed her face, and there’s a shine to her mouth again. A mouth that frowns slightly.
“Rawley?”
Before we can sort things out, Aiden appears. “Good morning, everyone.” Then in rapid fashion, Jim and another woman join in. Her name is listed as Taylor.
“Good, everyone is here. Avery and Sylvia, Jim here is Rawley’s PR point, and Rawley, Taylor is potentially going to do the same for Avery.”
“Okay?” Sylvia replies. Clearly she and Avery didn’t get a heads-up about the purpose of this meeting either.
“I know we’ve surprised you with this gathering,” Aiden continues. “So let us provide some context. Taylor, why don’t you start.”
“Absolutely. Aiden and I brainstormed after our last conversation, Avery, and while we have traditional personal branding approaches we could pursue for you, Aiden threw out a wild card idea that I kept circling back to.”
“What you both have is fundamentally an image problem,” Aiden elaborates. “For different reasons, of course. And Jim, the video circulating with them is about to earn Rawley more negative headlines, right?”
“Yeah, Rawley, I got a call last night for a comment on an upcoming Athlete Buzz podcast. Apparently they’re running a segment about how you being out clubbing reinforces the concerns that teams raised about you.”
Fuck. Athlete Buzz is a popular sports podcast with like, a million subscribers.
Taylor continues next. “We called in Jim to talk through the idea too, and while it’s completely outside of the box, we felt like we needed to present it to you.”
“What is it?” Avery asks.
There’s a brief pause before Aiden gestures his hand for Taylor to elaborate.
She nods. “Okay, now this may sound strange at first. We believe that the two of you should publicly date. Not that it would be real, but for a few months, we loudly promote the storyline that you’re dating.”
“Storyline?” Avery’s skepticism is dripping from her voice.
“What Taylor means,” Aiden explains, “is that we would create a disruptive narrative to shake up how each of you is portrayed in the media.”
“Rawley, you would be the proud boyfriend of a women’s sports icon in the making. Stable, steady. Avery, you’d have a new dimension of who you are beyond basketball, connecting with a wave of fresh fans.”
Jim jumps in next. “On top of what Aiden is saying, we believe it would be an explosive story that would skyrocket the public hunger to see more of you. Look at what’s happening already from a three-second video.
Companies won’t miss that, and they’ll want to stay on top of what’s trending by association with you. ”
“This is how we get those nine figures I was talking about, Avery,” Aiden says.
Nine figures? She’s going for the big money then, and rightly so.
“I mean, that would be amazing—but to fake a relationship to get there sounds completely bananas?” Doubt continues to bleed through Avery’s voice, and I can’t blame her.
“Yeah, this is kind of weird. How would it even work?” I ask.
Aiden looks undeterred. “We’d find roughly three times a month for you two to appear together until we decide the situation has run its course. That should provide enough content to drive the story.”
“You would also sprinkle in comments on each other’s social media accounts in between,” Taylor adds. “A cute message on a photo can trend for a couple of days. Once there’s enough images of you together, fans will start making their own edits.”
I can’t help but let out a huff in disbelief. “That’s wild.”
She smiles. “It’s the way the world works. Of course, it helps that the two of you are so good-looking.”
Avery gives a little eye roll to that. “Don’t make his head any bigger.”
“I don’t doubt you’ll keep me humble,” I tease back, and I’m pretty sure Avery is fighting a smile in response.
I address my next comment to Taylor. “Interacting on social media wouldn’t be hard.” I’m already peeking at Avery’s accounts on a regular basis now, not that I’ll admit it to this crew.
Aiden clears his throat. “And you seemed like you were having a good time chatting at the Sunday Magazine interview. That’s all you would need to do. Enjoy each other’s company in public.”
I mean, does that sound feasible? It kind of does.
And I won’t complain about more time with Avery, even if it’s as a “fake” girlfriend.
“You think this is necessary?” Avery asks.
“Maybe not necessary, but yes, I believe rewriting the narrative this way could explode your profiles and change everything for you. For each of you. Financially and otherwise.”
Huh. Avery looks like she’s actually considering what he’s saying. I wonder what’s going on with her endorsements?
“This is quite a proposal,” her mom says. “Can Avery and I talk about it?”
“Sure,” Aiden responds. “The only thing on timing is that the Sunday Magazine article will be released this weekend. We’d like to align the initial public statement with its publication.”
“The editor, Farah, keeps asking me to confirm whether you two are together anyway, thanks to the video,” Jim shares.
“We’ll get back to you ASAP,” Sylvia says crisply.
“Rawley?” Aiden asks.
I really wish I had Connor on this call. He would cut through all the push and pull and give me a bottom line.
I’m going to call him for advice.
“Yeah, I’ll need a minute to think too.”
“Okay.” Aiden nods. “We’re here if any questions come up.”
When we hang up, I immediately text Connor, hoping he’s free. He’s with Bea, and I tell him to wait to ring me until he’s alone. Thirty minutes later, his call comes through.
“So things are going well then?” I ask.
“They’re all right.”
That doesn’t sound enthusiastic, but Connor’s not a “big emotions” person. Impatient to get to my pressing topic, I don’t push him.
“Okay, well, I’m about to make your mind explode.” And then I walk him through everything that just happened on the call.
At the end, he bursts out laughing, shaking his head. “Only you, Rawls.”
“Oh, fuck off, Con.” But I’m chuckling too.
“This is totally an absurd idea. But you should probably do it.”
That gives me pause. “Really?”
“Everything they said is objectively true. About how the relationship could shift public perception. And it would show your supportive and caretaking side. Being the doting boyfriend is your style, even if the world doesn’t know it yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re always willing to drop anything for someone you’re interested in. Almost to a fault. Like, think of all the ballets you suddenly went to with Stef your senior year.”
Now I understand what he’s saying. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“It’s been their loss that the women haven’t reciprocated.” He gives a contemplative hum. “Wait, we haven’t talked about this for real, but are you truly into Avery? Or were you just joking about that last week?”
I sigh. “I mean, I like her, yes. But we hardly know each other. I guess I’d make sure to shut my normal shit down and keep feelings out of it.”
“Rawley.”
I know what he means by that simple call-out. I’ve never been able to keep feelings out of it once I’m into someone.
But here, if it’s going to help us, then I need to. I have to figure it out.
“I know, Con. I can do it.”
“It could get tricky.”
“It won’t.”
“Well, okay. But if you go forward, make sure you don’t tell anyone else it’s fake,” he warns. “You probably shouldn’t have even told me. If it leaks, it could be a disaster in the media.”
Huh, true. “Not even Landon and Grace, you think?”
“How could Grace not tell Johnson? Same with Landon and Rori. And then is Johnson going to feel bad not telling his family?” His mom, sister, and sister’s kids all live with him at the moment. “This is how secrets get out.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Keep me posted what you decide.” He yawns. “And make sure you don’t forget it’s all fake. Protect yourself.”
I nod. “You’ll get to be a part of it, since you’re here in a week.”
“Oh yay.” The sarcasm drips off his tongue, and I laugh in return.
After we hang up, it only takes me ten minutes to decide what to do.
There’s a lot of upside, and I’m not a teenager anymore. I can keep my emotions in check.
Sure, I’m really attracted to Avery, but it’s nothing I can’t manage by fucking my hand on the regular like always.
And the part of me dancing around inside, excited at the prospect of getting to know her better? He’s going to have to chill.
There’s too much at stake here. For both of us.
So I message Aiden.
RAWLEY: I’m in if Avery is.