“Hey, Aiden. Yeah, I was sharing about tomorrow.”
He nods. “Yes, it’s going to be quite a turnout. Lots of coverage.” There will be national media, as well as local press, at the signing announcement.
“You’ve helped Rawls with scripts for responses?” Landon asks anxiously. “Or Jim has?” Now that I’m a pro, Jim is officially my PR rep too.
“He’s going to be good,” Grace says confidently.
Landon doesn’t look reassured, and his eyes stay on Aiden, waiting for an answer.
I understand his nervousness. After I didn’t refute the rumors of drug use and excessive partying during the Jalen Nash interview, Jim tried to manage the press narrative. But since I’d failed to correct the record so obviously on live TV, we’d never quite put the storyline to bed.
It’s still in the background. Yet, with the secrets we’re trying to protect from my teenage years, my directions are to avoid the topic completely if I can.
“We’ve got this, Landon,” Aiden responds. “Jim sent us all the talking points, and I’ll work with Rawley on them in the morning.”
Landon looks somewhat placated. I shift toward the stove and check on all the food. The veggies are getting close to done so I turn down the heat.
“Trust me, we all have a vested interest in Rawley knocking it out of the park tomorrow,” Aiden continues. “There are brands waiting to see how this all shakes out before offering him deals.”
“Fuck, I hate this,” Landon says, like he’s the one at issue. “I wish there was something I could do. What a load of crap.”
That’s Landon. The “fixer,” though there’s no way he can help here.
Except he tries. He turns to me and says, “If you need a partner to go over the responses tonight, I’m happy to do it.”
“That’s okay. Connor is going to help me over FaceTime.”
“Good.”
I don’t want to hurt Landon’s feelings, but I’d much rather do it with Con. Landon’s less patient when I struggle.
Aiden speaks up again after a brief moment of quiet. “Jim passed along one other request that we thought would be good to jump on.”
“Oh yeah? What is it?” I ask.
“The Orlando Daily Newswants to do a cover story for itsSunday Magazineinsert on you and the new rookie for the Surge.” I’m suddenly paying close attention. “‘The Fresh New Faces in Orlando Sports,’” he adds, using finger quotes.
“I’ve met her,” I blurt out. “Avery Parker.”
“Even better. They want you to interview each other. We’ll prep your questions in advance though.”
“That sounds really cool,” Grace says. “You loved her dad growing up, right?”
“Yeah,” I acknowledge, even though I’m not sure that will win me any points with Avery. “I’ll do it for sure, if she agrees.”
“Okay great, I’ll get it set up, maybe for next week.”
And suddenly something is making me nervous other than the press conference tomorrow.
“Broooo, save me,”I say to Con later that night. We’ve been practicing my responses, and I still don’t have some of the wording down.
“You got this. That wasn’t bad at all.” Connor’s tone rings sincere, so I try to regroup.
“What if I say something wrong though?”
“You won’t. Maybe just keep a cheat sheet of those talking points they sent. Try not to worry, it’s going to be fine no matter what, and you’re a lot better when you relax.”
Connor understands me better than anyone else in my family. Even though he’s two grades behind me in school, he’s helped a ton over the years.
