Chapter 10 #2
“Annie.” There’s a smile on his lips, like he’s thinking about the same thing I am, but maybe in a more positive light. I glance away, furiously blushing.
Jadea claps from the other side of the booth. “This!” She gestures enthusiastically. “This is what I’m talking about.”
I blink at her slowly. “What is what you’re talking about?” Even Daniel looks confused.
She points between the two of us again. “You two. Every time you and Daniel are together, it’s like fireworks. Electricity…” She trails off absently, trying to think of something else to say.
“Lightning in a bottle?” Daniel offers up innocently, avoiding my gaze and focusing on Jadea. I want to crawl under the table.
“Exactly!” Jadea snaps her fingers at him. The older woman at the next table jumps in her seat at the sound. “We need to capitalize on this.”
I’m practically sweating now. “Daniel and I don’t even like each other!” It’s a poor defense considering some of the positions Jadea has seen us in, but I can’t have her going any further with the hare-brained scheme in her head.
“Well,” Daniel interrupts casually, leaning back a bit to look at both of us, “I quite enjoy Annie. She’s the one who doesn’t like me.” When he catches the fury in my gaze, he clears his throat and adds quietly, “For good reason, too.”
Jadea nods firmly. “Annie told me all about your little drama, Daniel. But that was years ago. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
Daniel’s eyebrows are almost to his hairline. “She did?”
I wish I could give him a subtle signal, but instead I awkwardly intervene by blurting out, “About the project. Our class project. How you left me to do all the work.”
Daniel winces at the analogy, but I’m not sure Jadea notices.
She barrels on. “The past is the past. What I am interested in is the future. Annie and I want the WNBA and the Arrows to be successful. Win championships. Bring attention to women’s sports.
Play the game we’ve always dreamed of.” Jadea lays her hands on the table, making sure she has our attention.
“However, it’s difficult to do any of that with meddling billionaires and sports pundits dismissing our hard work at every turn. ”
Daniel and I are following so far. “Right,” he agrees cautiously. “That’s why you asked me to come do the profile on you.”
Jadea smiles sweetly. Too sweetly. “And it’s been wonderful.
I think it could really help the team.” She scants a look in my direction.
“However, it doesn’t do much to help Annie’s current PR nightmare.
Everyone just keeps complaining about a family that she isn’t even a part of instead of noticing the awesome things about her.
Her playmaking ability. Her clothes. Our friendship. I want to change that.”
I get that cold, anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Jadea, wait—”
She finishes her scheme, laying it all out there. “I think you and Annie should date.”
Daniel and I are shocked into silence. A small part of me wants to clear this whole thing up by saying, “We already did.”
Instead, I look at Daniel. His expression tells me that this is my fault, that I’ve gotten us into this mess by lying to Jadea about our relationship.
My expression tells him that this is his fault for ghosting me after I visited him in the hospital for over a week.
I win our silent standoff, and he’s the one who turns to Jadea. He’s trying to keep his expression neutral. “How would your matchmaking help Annie’s PR nightmare?”
I’m glad I let Daniel speak. My response would be way less coherent and much more embarrassing.
Jadea looks at us like we’re slow. “I don’t care if you actually date for real. You should fake date. For the good press.”
Now, I really feel like I’m in a nightmare. “We’re not celebrities, Jadea! No one follows us around with cameras. TMZ does not care what we’re doing.”
Jadea rolls her eyes. “Think bigger, Annie. We’re talking about social media dating here.
Daniel has a huge following. In the span of four years, he’s exploded onto the scene as not only a sports commentator, but also a TV host and journalist. He had seven million YouTube subscribers before HBO snatched him up, and he won an Emmy last year!
He has nearly twelve million followers across all of his platforms. We need to put your relationship out there, and it will be believable because you already have chemistry.
Instead of everyone talking about Jack and Trenton, they’ll be posting #Dannie. ”
I groan and slump into my seat. This is a disaster. When Daniel was actually my boyfriend, he didn’t want to be with me, and now Jadea is asking him to pretend to want to be with me? I cover my eyes to hide from the humiliation.
“I don’t know if it would work,” Daniel says cautiously. “I may have a following, but they’re mostly sports fans looking for commentary. I’m a D-List celebrity, if that.”
“That’s perfect.” Even without seeing her, I can imagine the animation in Jadea’s face.
“Your fans are just the community we want to reach. By bringing their attention to Annie in a positive way, they’re more likely to see her as a basketball player and badass woman, not some villain of the league.
People are fascinated by romantic relationships, especially with eligible bachelors such as yourself. ”
I groan again. “Jadea. Stop. Please.”
“What?” Her voice is innocent. “Is there some problem I don’t know about?” An idea occurs to her, and she asks, almost accusingly, “You are single, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Daniel answers, and I feel a strange flutter in my chest that takes some effort to tamp down.
“Excellent.” Jadea sounds smug. “Now you just both have to agree.”
I uncover my eyes and take a deep breath, ready to tell Jadea that this is the worst idea in the history of the world when Daniel silences me by saying, “I’m in.”
I whirl on him, panicked. “You’re in? What do you mean you’re in?”
He shrugs casually. “She’s right. If we want people to see you differently, we need to change the narrative.
I don’t know if I really have the sway she believes I do, but maybe our collective social media power could help.
Your Instagram isn’t bad, but you hardly use it.
We could both try to boost our online presences.
” He softens when he sees the anxiety on my face.
“I’ll do anything to help you, Annie. I owe you, remember? ”
Jadea claps her hands in delight. “Amazing!” She turns to me, pleading. “Come on, Annie, we can do this. I promise.”
I look between the two of them, torn. The reflex reaction is to give a firm refusal and walk out.
That’s what the ostrich would do. Burrow deeper.
Ignore the problems in front of her. But a small part of me, growing louder each moment, thinks this actually could be a good idea.
If no one will tune in to see me play, they might tune in to my romantic life.
Sadly, that type of gossip gets the most attention.
And…I’d get to see Daniel more. Despite my reservations about our past, I still crave his presence.
I still want to talk to him. To laugh with him.
To stare into those deep, dark eyes of his and run my hands through his curls.
I could do that in a safe way. I could test the waters.
Maybe we could be friends. Maybe I could learn why he left.
I find myself nodding. “Okay,” I say cautiously. “We can try.”
Jadea is beyond herself with excitement, but I find myself peeking at Daniel. He looks almost relieved. As if he thought I would say no. His arm lies across the back of our booth, and his fingers just brush the top of my shoulder. I suppress a shiver.
Fortunately, Jadea doesn’t notice and comment once again on our “chemistry”.
She’s already moving on to stage two of her elaborate scheme.
“In this day and age, a relationship is only ‘real’ to the world if it’s put on Instagram.
” Jadea says this with all the wisdom her two million followers afford her.
“So, we need to make a cute post for you two that subtly acknowledges your relationship. It shouldn’t feel forced.
We have to post just the right amount, so no one gets suspicious.
We want everyone to feel the chemistry and genuine tension between you two. ”
I shift uncomfortably at her words. Is it really that obvious to everyone? I’m hoping Jadea’s just more observant because she wants this scheme to be successful.
Before Daniel and I can chime in with any ideas, her eyes light up. “I’ve got it! Follow me.” She slaps down some money on our table, even though we’ve only been served coffee at this point.
*
Considering that Jadea is staging a romantic picture, I’m immediately brainstorming possible places we could be going.
She called a cab, but I didn’t hear the address she gave, too distracted by Daniel’s warm body beside mine, and the insane scheme I just agreed to.
The St. Louis Arch, maybe? It is the most notable landmark in our hometown.
One of the numerous parks or gardens in the city?
The basilica? I’m pretty sure Jadea has filmed some sort of TikTok at all those locations.
When we finally pull up in front of our destination, I don’t know why I’m surprised.
It’s Arch Arena, our home stadium, where we’ll play again in two days.
Our sleek, silver stadium looks fresh and shiny.
Jack’s company logo of railroad tracks broken up into an S-shape graces the side, which makes me wince a bit.
Could the world stop sending me signs about my biological father abandoning me?
“Isn’t this a little on the nose?” I ask dryly as we hop out of the cab.
I have to admit that the brand-new stadium was a lovely addition to the city and is nicer than many of the other WNBA stadiums I’ve visited.
It even has some garden features encircling the stadium and an outdoor bar that’s open during the summer.