Chapter 41
A New Rumor
Kodi
Despite Olli saying I could take the day off with the weak excuse that he didn’t have anything for me to do, I was in the stadium offices working on a calendar.
Asking Olli to pose shirtless with a cute animal was a joke, but the more I thought about it, the more fun it sounded.
Eleven individual shots, then a team one, maybe a featured charity for each month, something the players pick out.
Profits go to the charities. And if we focus on local organizations, we might see an increase in local ticket sales, maybe even season passes.
It was cheesy, but it had potential to be a real game changer for the team.
But that sort of thing was something I’d have to pitch to an owner and as things stood, it wasn’t a good time to meet with them.
If I kept my head low until after the transition and then presented this along with more personal, player-first social plans, things might go well. It’d take a lot longer than I’d like, and I’m sure Olli will grump about it, but it was the smart play.
Having something of a solid plan made me feel better, but I was still jittery. The excitement of finding Olli again, of the really good sex, and the possibility of a long-lasting relationship made me want to act now.
Being a reasonable adult sucked.
“Ah, shit,” someone said from the door of the office and I dragged my head up to see Rosa with two cups of coffee in hand. “Did the weekend go bad? 'Cause I specifically didn’t text you thinking you might be enjoying a stay at bone town.”
“Bone town?” I repeated, fighting a laugh. I got up to hug her and took the spare coffee. “Did you come to the stadium just to gossip with me?”
“Obviously. We’re in a lull between Love Island and Love Is Blind. In any nation.” She shrugged and took a seat on my desk. “Plus, I’m excited for you. The start of a new relationship, the forbidden aspect, it’s hot.”
“Who said anything about starting a new relationship?” I asked, cocking my eyebrow at her before I sat back down. She leaned over and smacked me.
“Kodi, I swear to god, if nothing happened after you bid on him, I’m gonna beat you up.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing too hard, then leaned over my desk to look out the hall. Not too many folks worked in the office portion of the stadium and even fewer people came in Monday mornings. But I was being a safe and responsible adult, so I had to be sure.
Rosa caught my vibes and got up to shut the door.
“Spill.”
“Okay, but you have to promise not to tell anyone? Not even Jimenez,” I said, pointing a finger at her. She smacked my hand away and rolled her eyes.
“You can’t make me promise not to tell my husband. Pretty sure that was in our vows, never hide juicy gossip. Besides, he’s rooting for y’all, too. The bastard hates getting me involved in any drama, so him asking me to get involved is a pretty big deal.”
“That’s actually really sweet. I didn’t realize the boys were all that close.”
“Hmm, you know, I didn’t either. I guess they only do the typical buddy-buddy shit when one of them needs help. But whatever, Carmen won’t spill to anybody else. I’ll chop off his balls if he does. We don’t want kids anyway, so they’re useless to me.”
“All right, all right. No domestic violence on my behalf, please.”
Rosa shrugged.
“Okay, so … fuck, this whole thing got a lot more complicated in one night.” I sighed and rubbed at my eyes, not sure where to start. “It turns out Olli is a childhood friend.”
“What?” Rosa shouted, slamming both hands onto the desk.
“Shhh!” I said, probably louder than she’d been.
“You can’t drop a reveal like that and expect me to be quiet.”
“Then maybe I’ll just keep the rest to myself,” I huffed and crossed my arms. Rosa glared at me, but settled down. “Good. So, he’s got a military family. Navy, I think? Or Marines? I’m not sure if those are different.”
Rosa’s face scrunched and I nodded in agreement before moving on.
“Anyways, we lived next door to each other for a year or two around third grade and were, like, inseparable. He was my first crush and he introduced me to soccer.”
Rosa let out a muffled squeal and, again, I nodded. Because it really was straight out of a movie.
“And you didn’t know this? Like at all?”
“No! He looks so different. His hair was blond when we were kids. And he didn’t have a resting bitch face back then.”
“But the name?”
“I thought he spelled Olli with an E. Plus who knows their elementary school friends’ last names? And again, he wasn’t a grouch as a kid. It literally never occurred to me to compare the two.”
At this point, Rosa was literally cackling at my embarrassment. If things with Olli work out and Rosa becomes as close a friend as I pictured, this was gonna be her speech at our wedding.
“Okay, okay,” Rosa said, getting her giggles under control. “So how did that come out? Did he walk you out in to the garden and say, ‘Since you like me too, now seems like a good time to confess that we’re childhood friends’?”
“No. We went out to the garden and Olli said all this romantic shit and I kissed him. But he tasted like alcohol and I …” I chewed on my lip, debating if this was something I could share with Rosa without it sounding like trauma dumping.
But with how she patiently waited and was seated on the edge of the desk, I figured it was all right.
“So I did a lot of drinking and partying in college, slept around with a lot of guys that … I kinda wished I didn’t.
And a lot of stupid shit I did impulsively back then has come back to bite me in the ass.
So I pushed him away. I didn’t want to be something he regretted the next morning.
And I definitely didn’t want to lose my job or ruin … whatever feelings are growing.”
“Totally reasonable,” Rosa assured. “Not fun. But you’re right, some things are worth playing safe for. A lifelong good dicking is one of them.”
“Rosa.” I laughed, shaking my head at her. But then I remembered the very good dicking I got after the gala. And yesterday morning. And how good he was with his tongue.
“Mm-hmm, you definitely got a good dicking.”
“Shut up.” I smacked her arm. “Anyways, I thought he was drunk, took him home, and then he brought out all these letters he sent me as a kid that got returned.”
“What? Did he spell your name wrong?”
Another little smack.
“No. He got the address wrong. But isn’t that the sweetest thing? That he kept those letters for all these years? All the moves?”
“It is. Is that what made you crack? Or did some other wild shit happen?”
“No, no other wild shit. He made it clear he wasn’t drunk and he wanted … more with me and I just …” I tilted my head up to the ceiling and sighed. “I cracked. Or at least my heart did, just enough to let him win me over.”
“Aw, you’re all swoony,” she teased, poking at me. “But jokes aside, you’re still feeling safe and whatever with the whole work situation? 'Cause I’ll be happy to get Carmen to beat his ass.”
“Yes, I’m good. Thank you for checking though.” I squeezed her thigh, hoping she understood how much it meant that she checked in on me. “And if it makes you feel better, and know I’m not saying this egotistically, but Olli is kinda super down bad for me. He tried to get me to take today off.”
“Good. He should treat your reappearance in his life as a gift. Honestly, a little disappointed he didn’t force you to take a break.”
“I can’t.” I sighed again. “Between this relationship thing and the possible career consequences and the owners thinking about selling, I’ve got a lot of shit to do.”
“Is that rumor really true though? Because at the gala —”
“It is true,” someone interrupted and Rosa and I jerked to attention. Leaning against the suddenly open door was Renee, smiling like a fucking vicious Cheshire Cat who just got sworn into the cuntiest sorority. Pink skirt suit, pearly whites, and all.
I’d forgotten to take Renee into account with my plan. And if she happened to hear any of our conversation, I’d be screwed. For her, getting me and Olli in trouble would be a two-for-one deal.
“Uh, who’re you again?” Rosa said, an eyebrow raised at the bitch, body tensing as she picked up on my vibes. Renee pasted on a bright, fake smile and held a hand to Rosa. My friend looked at me and when I shrugged, shook Renee’s hand.
“Renee Hall, Carlos Lunez’s agent. And I have room on my roster if Jimenez is looking.” I don’t know what was creepier, Renee knowing who Rosa was in relation to her husband or opening up with an attempt to poach him.
“No,” Rosa said simply, letting go of Renee’s hand and shaking her own like she could shake off Renee’s bitchiness.
“Well —” she started to say, but I cut her off.
“If you know anything about them selling, just say it.”
“Hmph. Well, if you must know, when I was talking to the family yesterday, they were saying there were two groups interested in buying the team. Both of whom are interested in seeing younger players on the field.”
“Nobody on the team is over thirty,” Rosa scoffed, but I kept my eyes narrowed on Renee.
“It was a nice play to get Kean to do the auction. But having his PA bid on him so he doesn’t actually have to do anything is kinda cheating, don’t you think?”
“That’s not —” I started to say, hackles raised, but stopped myself. If Renee thought I bid on Olli so he didn’t have to do any more social interactions than he had to, then that was for the best.
“If you haven’t gotten too attached to Kean, I’ll recommend you as a PA for Lunez. He’s too young for even you to consider sleeping with, right? I know old habits die hard, though.” Renee giggled, giving me a small wave before taking off.
“God, she’s like a walking movie villain,” Rosa scoffed when the door closed behind Renee. “Like those evil college girl groups.”
“You mean sorority girls?”
“Yeah, those. Were you in one? Because I have questions.”
“Ugh, unfortunately I was. But wait, are there not sororities in Ecuador?”
While what Renee said lingered in the back of my mind, I was happy to be distracted by explaining Greek life and rushing to Rosa. The team being sold had to be a problem for another day. Besides, Renee was the kind of bitch to exaggerate anyway, there was probably no truth to what she said.