9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Nila
“I don’t even have the words,” Frankie snaps, pulling up the article on the screen in the conference room. “We should’ve been notified this was going to drop.”
I glance around the room, recognizing the owner of the team as well as Tucker. Beyond that, I have no idea who the other five faces are sitting at the table...
But Cameron is not one of them.
“You’re going to have to give me some time to figure out what I can do,” Tucker says, his voice low. “Freedom of speech is a real thing.”
“So is slandering someone,” Frankie sneers. “We have to get control of this. ”
“Obviously,” Tucker says wryly. “But it’s just a worthless tabloid—”
“It’s accusatory and casts Cameron in a terrible light,” one of the women I don’t recognize offers up. “It’s making him sound like a selfish hothead with major problems. She’s insinuating that he was toxic at minimum.”
“I can’t have someone like this representing the Glaciers,” the owner, Mark Davidson, speaks up. “People are going to start boycotting the games. She’s made comments that we can’t ignore. It’s not like she’s just complaining about heartache. She’s saying that he has issues with his temper.”
I blow out a sharp breath, my eyes scanning the title of the article.
My NHL Boyfriend Put Me Through Hell.
My stomach churns at those words alone, and as much as I feel sympathy for Cameron, I can’t help but wonder if there’s any truth to Lacey Reign’s words.
I mean, he did punch a fan...
But he’s never gotten angry in front of me.
Though, it’s not like I know him all that well.
“Why isn’t he here for this meeting?” one of the others demands. “We need to know if there’s any truth to what Lacey is saying. If we were to release a statement against it and it turns out to be true, we’re going to look like we support this type of behavior. ”
“I’m representing him today,” Tucker says, his voice matter of fact. “This article has devastated him. He’s not in the best headspace right now.”
I swallow hard, thinking back to the way Cameron’s face fell when he saw the title. He didn’t read it there with me, and before we could even talk about it, Tucker called him—and then Cameron left, instructing Addy to give me a ride back to the hotel.
I chose to take an Uber instead, which is a good thing, because an emergency meeting was called and I wound up right back here at the office.
“There’s not many things we can do right now,” Frankie begins, her grayish hair in a messy ponytail. It’s the first time I’ve seen her appear less than immaculate—and it’s strangely becoming on the woman. “But we need to combat this narrative as soon as possible.”
“No, I think he should lay low,” Tucker speaks up, his sternness startling. “There’s no combatting anything right now. I have to figure out if more is going to come from this before we take action. If we aren’t careful, she could easily try and sue.”
“And so could he ,” Frankie argues.
“Yeah, but the worst thing we could do is to act like it never happened, flooding the media with Mr. Goody Two-Shoes. It won’t work, and it shouldn’t even be an option. ”
“Are you saying that your client might be guilty of these accusations?” Mark demands, standing to his feet in a dramatic move.
“No.” Tucker glares at him. “My client is not guilty, but that’s never stopped someone from filing a lawsuit. I’m not here to play political games. All I care about is Cameron’s well-being, and right now, he’s not in a good headspace. Why would I agree to subject him to more public pressure?”
“It’s strange for his social media account to go quiet. People will be looking for him to make a statement,” Frankie jumps in.
“No one needs a statement right now,” Tucker argues. And I have to admit, it’s admirable watching him go up against a whole herd of people.
Frankie turns to me. “What do you think we should do, Nila?”
Oh no...
“Um.” My face feels hot as all eyes fall on me. “Honestly, in this situation, I think it’s best we stay quiet until we have a solid plan in place. We don’t want to appear like we’re ignoring it, but we also don’t want to jump to defend Cameron, either.”
“I agree with her,” Tucker says, his eyes staying on Frankie. “We need to all step away and think it through. I also need a chance to really talk to Cameron about what the article says. If there’s any truth to it, then we need to know.”
“So, you don’t know if he’s innocent.” Mark’s tone makes me shudder .
“I do know that he’s not the man Lacey portrayed him to be. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some snippets of some truth in there—we need to know what those are. The point I’ve been trying to make is that we don’t want to run into this situation blindly.”
“Okay, then we won’t,” Frankie says with a sigh. “I want everyone to go home this evening, read the article—dissect it—and then once Tucker and Mark have put together a response plan, we’ll meet up again and discuss it. Hopefully, we can all agree on something.”
Hopefully.
Because based on what I’m seeing right now, no one agrees on what the right thing to do is in this situation. The tension could be cut with a knife, and I’m right smack dab in the middle of it.
“We need to have all the facts and a plan in place before the game this weekend,” Mark says, still standing. “Because if there does turn out to be any kind of sustenance to this, I don’t want him playing. It’ll make us look bad.”
“And we don’t want that,” Tucker grumbles under his breath.
I nearly laugh at the remark, struck by the candid way Tucker is with the PR team. It’s no wonder that Cameron chose him as his lawyer. They have similar personalities.
“Well, I guess that’s that, then,” Frankie grumbles. “Let’s break for the night. We’ll plan to meet again tomorrow evening after practice. I’ll make sure Cameron’s at that meeting. ”
Everyone pushes their chairs back from the table, and I wait for most of them to clear the room before I get up. Tucker does the same, and I can’t help myself as the room clears. “Do you think he treated Lacey Reign the way the article portrayed?”
Tucker looks over at me and sighs. “I really don’t think so. She was trouble from the very beginning—everything she did seemed to be motivated by fame. Though I’ve gotta say, I never expected her to stoop this low. She basically just smeared his name.”
I nod. “It’s bold to come out and say that he screamed at her all the time.”
“And making him out to be a narcissist is a pretty big strike,” Tucker adds, running his fingers through his dark caramel hair. “This, paired with the public fight, could ruin his career. I don’t understand it. I’ve known Cameron since we were kids, and he’s never exhibited that kind of personality disorder.”
I feel slight relief at his words, but given the fact that the entire reason I’m even working with Cameron is because he punched someone—there’s still some lingering doubt…
“It’s just that … I don’t know if I can continue to represent someone who—”
“Please don’t jump to conclusions. I know what it seems like, but you’ve been getting to know Cam. Make your own assessment.”
“Okay,” I say carefully. “I just...”
“He’s destroyed over the article, Nila. It was a punch to the gut. Give him a little grace.” Tucker’s expression remains stone-cold, and I suppose that must be the lawyer in him. “Are you hungry?”
I bite down on my lip. “Um...”
“It’s not a date,” Tucker clarifies. “It’s just dinner. I don’t have time for a relationship right now.”
I laugh, though I’m not sure it’s the right reaction. “I’ll take your word for it, but honestly, I’m exhausted. It’s been a long night. I was out with Cameron and his friends when all this happened.”
“Fair enough. Did he seem torn up about it then?”
“He left too soon for me to tell,” I admit, pulling out my phone to book another Uber back to the hotel.
“I can at least give you a ride back to the hotel,” Tucker offers with a shrug. “Oh, and I hope you’re not expecting to go back home to New York anytime soon. If anyone is going to be able to help us recover after this mess, it’ll be you. You know how to manipulate social media to combat these kinds of things.”
I smile, but the confidence isn’t there. “I’ve never handled something like this .”
“Well, it’s the hardest cases that make us better at our jobs.” He leads the way to a Mercedes, parked a couple of rows back. I guess my silence was my acceptance of the ride. I’m so tired at this point that I’m willing to give in.
Tucker opens the passenger side door for me, and I slide in just as my phone goes off. I glance down at the message, surprised.
Cameron: How’d the meeting go?
I purse my lips together, unsure of how to answer—or what he’s fishing for. My fingers hover over the keyboard, but eventually, as the car pulls out of the parking lot, I finish my response.
Me: It went about as well as it could. It’s a lot. Are you okay?
Three dots pop up on the screen, and my heart thumps in my chest anxiously for reasons I don’t want to even consider. Cameron has finally let his guard down with me. He’s even been … charming, in his own way.
The moment we shared outside of the bar right before all this happened had me feeling so many ways.
In the moment, he felt ... safe.
But now? I’m not sure how to feel.
“You should probably get a rental.” Tucker’s voice draws me out of my thoughts.
I set my phone on my lap. “Yeah, I might consider it once I know where this is going.”
He nods, eyeing me .
“Are you solely working for Cameron?” I ask, running my hands down my jeans. I was hardly dressed professionally at the meeting, but it is what it is.
He laughs. “No, it might seem like he keeps me busy enough to be full-time, but I do have other clients. Why? Do you need a lawyer?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so, though maybe I will after all this...”
“Nah, this won’t come back on you. How could it? You’re just doing your job— managing social media. If anything, it might help your career. Maybe you’ll become the go-to person for cleaning up PR messes for athletes.”
“That might be fun,” I comment, my eyes flicking back to my chat with Cameron. The three dots appear again, and I wonder if he’s typing out a book for me to read. Maybe he’s trying to explain everything.
Ring. Ring .
Tucker’s phone screen in his car flashes with Cameron’s name.
“Hey,” Tucker answers, and I brace, realizing he’s leaving it on speaker.
“Is it bad?” Cameron’s voice sounds gruff on the other end of the line.
“Uh ... let me take you off speaker.”
“You’re not alone? ”
“No, Nila’s here with me,” Tucker says, and the silence on the other end of the line makes my stomach knot up.
Surely, he’s not assuming anything...
Not that it matters.
I’m not interested in dating anyone.
And even if I was, not only would dating Cameron be unprofessional, but the accusations from his ex-girlfriend are still swirling around in my head. And I’ve yet to hear from him about whether any of it is true.
None of these fleeting feelings of attraction are even worth exploring...
But still, hours later, when I’m climbing into bed, I feel a sting of hurt.
He never texted me back.