Chapter Eight #2
“It gives me the name of the security company, the venue manager’s private number, and knowledge of which assistant owes me a favor because I prevented his wife from seeing him leave with a sponsor.”
Emmett looked at her.
“What?”
“You live a complicated life.”
“I plan events.”
“That was my point.”
She began typing.
Emmett watched her work.
The change was immediate.
Her shoulders relaxed. Her eyes sharpened. The humiliation outside, the leaked messages, and Owen’s words became problems with timelines, contacts, and next steps.
This was the version of Piper people mistook for controlling.
Emmett saw competence.
He also saw the cost of needing every situation to become manageable before it became safe.
“Do not stare,” she said without looking up.
“I am not.”
“You have been silent for forty seconds.”
“That is normal.”
“Not with your face.”
He looked toward the tent entrance.
Piper’s phone rang.
She answered immediately.
“Carla, it is Piper Quinn. I am sorry to call on a Saturday, but I need access to the exterior security archive from the Founders Gala.”
She listened.
“No, not only the clip circulating online. I need the complete footage from nine thirty until eleven.”
Another pause.
“Yes, it concerns a legal matter.”
Emmett’s attention sharpened.
Piper glanced at him.
“No, I am not currently represented for this issue.”
She listened again.
Her expression changed.
“What do you mean the footage was requested this morning?”
Emmett stood.
Piper raised one hand, telling him to wait.
“By whom?”
Silence.
“Carla.”
Another pause.
Piper’s face lost color.
“Send me the authorization form.”
She ended the call.
Emmett stepped closer. “Who requested it?”
“The interview producer.”
“They already know.”
“Maybe.”
“Who authorized the release?”
“Owen.”
“He does not own the footage.”
“He claimed he needed it for a defamation response.”
Emmett looked toward the tent entrance.
The interview had never been designed as a conversation.
Owen had built a stage.
“What did she say about the full recording?” he asked.
Piper looked down at her phone.
“She is sending an access form. The venue’s legal team has to approve it.”
“When?”
“Possibly today.”
“Possibly is not enough.”
“I cannot make lawyers move faster.”
“You could plan them a gala.”
She looked up.
His timing was bad.
Her mouth still moved.
“Do not distract me.”
“Did it work?”
“Briefly.”
Piper stood.
“We need to return to the event.”
“You want to continue pretending nothing happened?”
“No. I want to finish the clinic while the adults responsible for the children continue behaving like adults.”
“That excludes Tyler.”
“Obviously.”
They left the tent together.
The moment they stepped outside, Tyler hurried toward them.
“Good news.”
“No,” Piper said.
“I have not said it.”
“Historical pattern.”
Tyler held up his phone. “The couples challenge video reached two million views.”
“That is not good news.”
“The scholarship donor added another five thousand.”
Piper stopped.
“Why?”
“Because Mason’s sign is trending.”
Mason stood near the court holding a revised poster.
TEAM PIPER AND MAYBE COOPER
Emmett looked at Piper.
She smiled despite herself.
That was good enough.
The remainder of the clinic passed without another public disaster, which at Lake Briar qualified as suspicious.
Emmett helped run the goalie station. Piper moved through the crowd, spoke to parents, checked volunteer assignments, and never once looked at the reporters outside the entrance.
She looked at Emmett several times.
He noticed all of them.
During cleanup, Graham arrived.
He wore a navy polo, expensive sunglasses, and the expression of a man who had driven ninety minutes while composing several arguments.
Emmett carried a crate of foam pucks toward the supply trailer.
Graham intercepted him.
“We need to talk.”
“Usually.”
“Privately.”
Emmett looked toward Piper.
She stood near the registration table with Maren.
Graham noticed.
“This is not about her.”
“That is becoming unlikely.”
“It is about tomorrow’s interview.”
Emmett set down the crate.
“Did you know Owen requested the gala footage?”
Graham’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
Emmett saw it.
“You knew.”
“I knew the producer had requested security material.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“You did not tell me.”
“I planned to.”
“When?”
“After I understood what they had.”
Emmett looked at him.
Graham removed his sunglasses.
“The unedited footage could damage you.”
“So could hiding it from Piper.”
“That is not my concern.”
“It is mine.”
“Your concern should be the professional offer that may disappear if the footage shows what I think it does.”
Something set in Emmett’s face.
“I punched him.”
Graham looked toward the families leaving the event.
“Lower your voice.”
“Piper knows.”
“That was unnecessary.”
“No.”
“Emmett, you are on the verge of the most important contract of your life.”
“And?”
“And you cannot confess to assault on a livestream.”
“I can.”
“You will not.”
Emmett stared at him.
Graham exhaled.
“Poor wording.”
“Extremely.”
“I mean the university will intervene. The club will withdraw. Owen may file charges. You could be suspended before training camp.”
“All possible.”
“And you are willing to risk it because you want to be honest with a woman you are pretending to date?”
“I am not pretending to care about her.”
Graham’s expression became tired.
“That is the problem.”
Emmett stepped closer.
“No. The problem is that everyone keeps deciding caring about Piper makes her useful.”
“I did not create the attention.”
“You tried to sell it.”