Chapter 6
PRESSURE RELEASE
Chase Andrews Hires Amaya Lewis for King Vs Andrews
In preparation for the upcoming case brought on by ex-girlfriend Chanel King, Andrews has recruited Lewis as the lead defense on his team.
Lewis comes with extensive experience and multiple success stories.
The most recent one being the Rich Ferguson case, where Ferguson was awarded an unnamed settlement against his previous organization.
Amaya
Just letting you know, we may be a little late. This L.A. traffic is a different beast. I hope that’s okay and I don’t get fired.
I laughed at her sarcastic ass as I relaxed into the couch.
It had been a few weeks since she agreed to take the case, and we were gearing up for the trial, gathering witnesses and evidence, and planning strategy.
After our collaboration was leaked to the press before we had even signed any paperwork, we decided to use my house as a home base to keep everything out of the public eye.
I had a house full of people and she and Jocelyn were on their way to add to that.
A conversation on the TV made my ears perk up, and I leaned forward and turned up the volume.
Rome had retired from the league two years ago and was now working as a sportscaster for Highlight REAL, a sports analysis show on the HOWESPORT network.
His co-host, Drew Pope was a true piece of shit and seemed to be more of a gossip blogger than a sports journalist. He was always trying to dig up someone’s dirt while simultaneously trying to bury the shit he had in his own backyard.
“That’s your friend, right?” Pope asked. “If anyone would know the real deal, it would be you. Just tell me and America the truth, right here, right now… Did he do it?” His brow raised in a taunting gesture.
“Next subject,” Rome said with a deadpan and a jaw that seemed to be set just as tight as mine.
“I’m just saying. He wouldn’t be the first athlete to go upside their girl’s head, right? From what I hear, it runs in the family, right?”
“First of all, that’s not on the schedule of topics that we previously agreed to discuss, so if you wanna keep your jaw in tact, I would highly suggest you switch topics,” he snapped with a raised brow.
“Hey man—I’m just saying! You know!” Pope threw his hands up in mock defense and tried to laugh it off. Clearly, he thought my life was a fucking joke.
“Nah, actually I don’t. Because obviously that’s a sensitive discussion that I don’t find the humor in.
If you wanna joke about how your wife busted in your hotel room last year and found you with three hookers and enough coke to supply the entire West Coast, be my guest, but I told you to keep my friend’s name out of your mouth. ”
“Heh, heh,” Pope chuckled nervously as he turned red as hell and started stumbling over his words. “I apologize, man. Let’s finish this conversation off air.”
“Nah, Pope. The time to be diplomatic was when I asked you not to discuss the situation while we were off camera. Since you didn’t have the basic human respect not to do that? Let’s talk about that illegitimate baby that you’re hiding in Jersey. Let’s air it all out! I-”
“Uhm-” The camera panned to a close up of Pope, who was sweating like a nigga who just walked into an intervention with his wife, boyfriend, and three side chicks. “Please stay tuned folks! We’ll be right with you after these brief messages.”
I shook my head and turned the TV off, immediately grabbing my phone to lay into Rome’s stubborn ass.
Me
Nigga, I appreciate you, but don’t fuck up the money for me. After the dusts settles, you might be our only meal ticket, lol.
Rome
Nigga be for real! You know that I know that you never touched that girl! And I’ll be damned if I let a nigga play in my face about it. I’ma always stand 10 toes behind mine. I’m about to go back on tho’. I’ll hit you later.
Me
Later.
That was my best friend—I held my own, but if I ever lacked, he was right there to pick up the slack. He usually escalated shit way further than it needed to go, but I trusted that fool with my life.
“You good, nigga?” Johnathan asked as he plopped down next to me on the couch. I looked off into nothing for a full minute before I slowly turned to face him.
“Jonathan, why are you here?” I asked with squinted eyes, I knew people had been in and out of the house, but I genuinely had no idea when he got there or why his ass was there.
“I just came to be supportive of my mentor. You know, show a united front and all that,” he said with a genuine smile on his silly ass face.
“Stop calling me that! That mentor shit ended three years ago, Johnathan! You ain’t even a rookie no more!”
“I still look up to you though, man!” he argued.
Some days I didn’t mind his ass, but most others, he crip-walked on every damn nerve I had.
I knew that him hanging around through this trial would be the ultimate test of my patience, but I did appreciate the support.
The doorbell rang, and I looked up in time to see Niko let Amaya and Jocelyn in the front door.
As usual, my breath threatened to stop and my dick twitched.
I thought that my physical reaction to her would calm down with more exposure, but my body was reacting like I was a sex obsessed teenage boy with his first crush.
“Gawd-damn, they’re thicker’n a bowl of cold oatmeal, shiiit!
” Joseph provided me with a much-needed distraction as I had to laugh at how the country popped out of his ass when he got excited.
J was from a small town in East Texas and as much as he tried to hide it, he couldn’t take the country out the boy.
Clearly, I wasn’t the only one infatuated.
Today Amaya wore a loose pair of jeans—that still somehow displayed her thick ass thighs—a simple top, and a green blazer.
She always chose the brightest colors that complimented her brown skin to perfection.
I tried to be discreet as I studied her from top to bottom, searing every single element into my memory for later use.
I watched as Amaya silently surveyed my home with an air of approval, and that made a smile spread across my face.
I skimped on a lot of things, but the place where I laid my head every night was not one of them.
I was okay with the necessities, but my mama and granny weren’t going for that shit and redecorated my entire damn house at least twice a year.
I made them keep it minimalistic though, because more than anything I needed a clean, decluttered home.
“Can I help you?” Amaya snapped, with an attitude that I saw right through.
So much for being discreet.
“You know I’m docking your pay for being late, right, Morgan Freeman?” I fell into the stereotypical behavior of an immature kid, teasing the girl he likes because he’s too pussy to admit it.
“You know your mama wishes she would have flushed you, right?” she shot back with an eye roll. As if on cue, my mom strolled into the room from the kitchen where she had been ducked off.
“Only on days that end in Y!” she teased, nudging me with my elbow as she came to stand beside me.
“Ooh…” Amaya’s face cracked and fell to the ground in a thousand tiny pieces. “I am so sorry ma’am, I did not realize you were here.” I laughed as she tried to backpedal. I could tell she wasn’t scared of my mom, just trying to stay respectful. I liked that.
“Baby you are fine. He makes me want to go upside his head sometimes too. I just wanted to make sure y’all had something to eat, but I’ll get out of the way,” she assured her.
My mom tried to be as supportive as she could through my ordeal but also kept her distance.
The entire situation was triggering for her due to what she went through with my sperm donor.
That thought alone made me curse Chanel for putting her through this again.
“Let me introduce you really quick before you head out, Ma. This is Amaya and Jocelyn. This is my mother, Raven Andrews. Amaya is my lead attorney and Jocelyn is her assistant.
“Nice to meet you both,” my mom said with a huge smile before the three of them broke out into that girly shit about liking each other’s hair and shoes and all that. I tried hard not to smile at the fact that Amaya and my mom hit it off.
“Damn, you just not gon’ introduce me?” Jonathan asked as he slipped in between me and the ladies.
“Amaya & Jocelyn, this is my teammate Jonathan,” I said, rolling my eyes. He shook Jocelyn’s hand, but when he got to Amaya, he did the most, dropping a kiss to her hand like he was a distinguished gentleman.
“Pretty name for a pretty lady.” I had never wanted to put hands on that nigga more than I had in that moment, especially when Amaya’s ass giggled, like she was nice or some shit. I rolled my eyes because I spent hard earned money on flowers for her and she cussed me out over it
“If you don’t get the hell on! Sit down somewhere!
” I scolded as I gently smacked him upside his head and pushed him out the way so I could I walk my mom out.
She spent her time between her condo in L.A.
and the house she had next door to my grandparents in Arkansas, and was set to fly out first thing in the morning.
When we reached her car, she stood there for a moment, smirking at me like she knew all my deepest, darkest secrets.
“What?”
“She’s pretty…”
“You think so?” I raised my brow in an attempt to look uninterested, but I knew that I was an athlete, not an actor.
“You think so,” she teased, as her smirk bloomed into a full blown smile that made it impossible for me to hold mine back.
“Ma,” I fussed, rolling my eyes, smile still whoppin’ my ass. “It ain’t even like that, she works for me.”