My gut reaction is to feel guilty and worry she’s going to be upset, but then I tamp those thoughts down. Stefani’s said time and again that she just wants to be friends.
RAWLEY: I was only helping her get to her car. Nothing’s going on.
STEFANI: You’re a gentleman like that.
STEFANI: Can’t wait to see you soon.
If Connor saw this message, I already know what he’d say.
She just likes your attention. She’s constantly stringing you along. Cut it off for your sanity.
I don’t have a logical response. The hopes I had for us at seventeen still remain in a faint way, a thin thread in my chest that she pulls on every few months.
Shit, I’m such a sucker.
My stomach growls, distracting me, and I head to the kitchen to make something to eat. I’m ready to watch a movie and chill when I get a message from Aiden.
AIDEN: Can you make a meeting tomorrow morning at nine?
I have nothing planned that early, though I’m curious what this is about now.
RAWLEY: Sure.
AIDEN: I’ll email you the Zoom ID.
AIDEN: And keep an open mind.
What the fuck does that mean?
My curiosity piquedby the time the Zoom rolls around the next morning, I make sure to log in a little early.
Two faces appear andwhat the heck, it’s Avery and an older woman who I’m ninety-five percent sure is her mom.
“Hi?” I say, unable to keep the confusion out of my voice.
Avery’s skin is smooth and glowing like she just washed her face, and there’s a shine to her mouth again. A mouth that frowns slightly.
“Rawley?”
Before we can sort things out, Aiden appears. “Good morning, everyone.” Then in rapid fashion, Jim and another woman join in. Her name is listed as Taylor.
“Good, everyone is here. Avery and Sylvia, Jim here is Rawley’s PR point, and Rawley, Taylor is potentially going to do the same for Avery.”
“Okay?” Sylvia replies. Clearly she and Avery didn’t get a heads-up about the purpose of this meeting either.
“I know we’ve surprised you with this gathering,” Aiden continues. “So let us provide some context. Taylor, why don’t you start.”
“Absolutely. Aiden and I brainstormed after our last conversation, Avery, and while we have traditional personalbranding approaches we could pursue for you, Aiden threw out a wild card idea that I kept circling back to.”
“What you both have is fundamentally an image problem,” Aiden elaborates. “For different reasons, of course. And Jim, the video circulating with them is about to earn Rawley more negative headlines, right?”
“Yeah, Rawley, I got a call last night for a comment on an upcomingAthlete Buzzpodcast. Apparently they’re running a segment about how you being out clubbing reinforces the concerns that teams raised about you.”
Fuck. Athlete Buzzis a popular sports podcast with like, a million subscribers.
Taylor continues next. “We called in Jim to talk through the idea too, and while it’s completely outside of the box, we felt like we needed to present it to you.”
“What isit?” Avery asks.
