Chapter 14
A Jab Exchange
Kodi
Despite my stadium banishment only lasting one season, I was too ashamed to go to any Dastards game since. But as an employee, it felt sacrilegious to miss out.
Plus I could go right up to the sidelines to watch and that was too good to pass up, even if it did mean going to work on my day off.
“Whoa, Kean’s PA is here!” somebody shouted as I walked down the back hall to the field. When I turned, I was surprised to see it was Renee’s player greeting me.
“Oh, hi, Lunez. Nice to meet you,” I said, holding out my hand to him when he got closer. “Kodi Davey.”
“Nice to meet ya, too,” Lunez said. “But you can call me Carlos. Hearing my last name makes me brace for an oncoming ball.”
Oh, this sucks. Renee’s guy was a total sweetheart. He was a younger guy, barely twenty, and had a baby face and big brown eyes that sparkled. But despite being his age, he wasn’t intimidated like some other new players; instead, he was practically bouncing with excitement. It was adorable.
“You ready for today’s game?” I asked him as we walked down the hall.
“Oh yeah! We’re playing a …” He paused and scratched the back of his head. “Well, the likelihood that we get in the lead well enough that I get a chance to play is pretty high.”
“Oh, I can’t blame you for wanting to get out on the field. Is this your first season on a professional team?”
“Second. I was in Raleigh for my first year but I got a new agent and she was able to get me transferred here. I wanted to be in Florida to be closer to family.”
“Oh yeah? Are they around here? I grew up over in Panama City.”
“Oh no, they live down in Fort Myers. So I’m not really familiar with the cities around here. Is that close?”
“Yeah, it’s just an hour or so east of here.”
“That’s amazing, do you get to see your folks much? Or I guess, do they still live there?”
Damn, it really sucked that I wasn’t Carlos’s PA, he would be a hell of a lot easier to work with than Kean.
“They do, but I —”
“Carlos!” a gritted voice called and without turning to look, I could tell it was Renee by the way my body tensed at the sound of her.
“Oh hey, Ms. Hall,” Carlos said, turning to Renee with a bright smile. I was really tempted to book it while she was distracted yelling at Carlos. But I wasn’t going to be the one to back down. So I turned to face her, mirroring Carlos’s smile.
“Hi, Renee,” I said, trying to inject my voice with the same sticky sweetness she uses.
“Kodi. Surprised you’ve got a shirt on,” she huffed.
“What?” Carlos stammered, his head snapping to me, eyes wide.
“It’s an inside joke. We went to college together,” I explained through gritted teeth.
“Oh, seriously? That’s so cool! Small world, huh?” He laughed, completely unaware that Renee and I were staring daggers at each other.
“Yup,” I said, popping the P. “Small world.”
“Did you know each other well? Or was it a big campus?”
“Carlos,” Renee snapped.
“Yes, ma’am.” He bolted straight up.
“Go stretch. I want you ready to play when we get ten goals ahead.”
“You got Coach to approve that?” Carlos beamed.
“Of course I did.” Renee waved Carlos’s amazement away. “Just make sure you make good use of this opportunity.”
“Will do!” Carlos pumped his fist before jogging off to the locker rooms.
“I saw you made Kean an Instagram,” Renee said with a sharp click of her tongue.
“Mhmm. And did you see the first post this morning?” I’d edited the video of Kean’s reaction to his fan account and sent it to him last night for approval.
There were some things I felt comfortable posting without getting his okay; clips from the game, professional photos included in his profile, stuff like that.
But this clip was a little more intimate — it showed a soft side to him that he didn’t show often.
That sort of vulnerability meant, to a certain extent, he trusted me.
And like hell was I gonna blow that progress by posting something he didn’t want anyone else to see.
Even though I knew in my bones this post would go viral.
It had everything we needed to hit it big, that vulnerability, the connection to a fan, and first-post excitement.
And once Kean gave me the thumbs-up — literally, that’s how he replied to my request — I was proven right.
The post was nearing one million views when I last checked, with a few hundred comments and thousands of shares. Some of that was from Kean’s teammates, most of them commenting that they didn’t know Kean had a soft side.
It was the perfect first post, gained him over 100,000 followers, and was featured on Stadium Statements, a soccer media outlet.
But for all the good a viral video could do, it’d be worthless if I let this moment die. So I had to find more ways to push Kean, to make him marketable, get his jersey sales up, or something to prove I was good at this and get the job I really wanted.
“It was fine,” Renee scoffed. “A lucky break. You’ll lose all those followers just as quickly as you got them.”
“I’m fully aware of how to take advantage of a viral moment,” I said through gritted teeth.
She hummed, looking farther down the hallway. Then all of a sudden her eyes brightened and a sneer spread across her face. “Speaking of viral.”
She hopped next to me in full sorority girl mode, grabbing onto my arm and spinning me around.
“Hi, Mr. Marshall!” she said with so much cheer that my stomach dropped. God, this fucking bitch, she knew exactly what she was doing.
But the twist of anxiety this bitch incited was nothing compared to the sight of seeing Kiran Marshall again and up close.
Because hot damn, this man was fine. Retirement, forced though it may have been, was treating him well.
He still had the slim athletic build, but there was a little more heft to him now than when he played.
“Have you met Kean’s new PA? Kodi Davey,” Renee said, bursting my ogling bubble.
“No, I don’t think I have,” Marshall said, running a hand over his whisper of a beard before holding the other out to me. “Nice to meet you, Kodi.”
“Nice to meet you, Marshall. Your Orlando All Cup games were some of the most exciting matches I’ve ever seen,” I said, taking his hand. Hopefully if I take charge of the conversation, then maybe he wouldn’t recognize me.
“Oh, thank you. They were exciting to play. But don’t let the team hear you say that, they’ll …” He trailed off and his eyes narrowed as he looked me over.
Shit.
“Are you —” he started to ask before Renee shook me with mock excitement.
“That’s right! She’s the one who flashed you on your first day here.”
Marshall’s eyes widened and my brain started running through a litany of negative possibilities. Would he ask for me to be thrown out? Get me fired? Yell at me for my irresponsible youth? Hit on me or expect something?
But instead of any of that, he did something completely unexpected.
He threw his head back and laughed.