I leaned back, taking a swig from my beer, tempted to get a buzz going, but that was the absolute last thing I needed. “Brian found out about the injury, and he’s been using that to try to extort money from me.”
Jax’s head snapped up. “So, that’s what has really been going on between you two?”
My mouth pulled into a thin line. “Yeah, since the beginning of the season. He knows I have a contract extension coming up.”
“So, the bastard thought it would be a good idea to hold that over your head?” Ryder’s grip tightened around his beer bottle.
“He also knows about my relationship with Becca.”
Jax tilted his head up toward the ceiling. “Oh, fuck!”
“He is trying to use her to force my hand.” I exhaled, shifting my legs, trying to get comfortable. “He’s threatening to leak the injury and turn the story into something it isn’t. I can’t let him do that. I can’t let her get caught up in this. It will destroy her.”
Ryder frowned. “So, what’s the plan? And don’t say you are going to give him what he wants.”
“I gotta protect her.”
“There has to be another way.” Ryder shut his eyes and started rubbing his forehead.
“Yeah,” Jax chimed in. “You’re our quarterback. You go down, we all do. That’s how it works.”
I knew these guys had my back on the field, but seeing how quickly they shifted from pissed off to full-on protectors without hesitation made me realize how lucky I was. Loyalty and true friendships were hard to come by in this business.
Ryder’s eyebrows shot up. “If he’s pulling this shit with you, chances are he’s probably done it before.”
That thought had crossed my mind too.
Jax snapped his fingers. “That’s it. We need to find out who all his clients are. Start reaching out. I’d bet there will be a lot of stories.”
“Becca is in my office on her laptop. She is trying to dig up dirt on Brian. She heard rumors about him being handsy with the ladies.”
Jax let out a sharp whistle. “Damn. Wish I could say I was surprised. I’ve heard his name come up a few times. I know a lot of the female reporters don’t care for him. Now I know why. He’s a slimy son of a bitch.”
I swore under my breath. “That’s what she said. She’s reaching out to a few people as we speak. Calling anyone who has crossed paths with him, trying to see if there is anyone who will talk.”
“So, we work both angles,” Ryder said. “Let Becca start digging into his behavior off the field, and we start looking into his business on the field. There has to be a client or two who he has either crossed or is fed up with his shit and wants to talk.”
Becca came into the room, and it quickly turned into a strategy session. The guys and I started brainstorming like we were breaking down plays on a whiteboard. Becca was on the phone, pacing my living room, going through every contact of hers that might be of some help.
Jax grabbed a pen and paper and started writing everything down. Ryder started rattling off names of players to reach out to.
“All right, let’s start with former clients and then current ones.” Jax pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I have a few of the numbers of the guys I train with during the off-season.”
Ryder smirked. “The dumbass is going to learn that he messed with the wrong damn team. But just so we’re clear. I’m still pissed that you kept this from us.”
I laughed. “That’s fair.”
These two proved tonight that they didn’t just show up for games. They showed up when things got tough.
This was the first time since this whole mess started that I didn’t feel like I was dealing with this alone.
CHAPTER 28
NATE
It was late.I was hungry, and Becca had been sitting in front of her laptop for hours.
The past few days have been frustrating. I really hoped that we were close to getting at least one person to confirm the rumors about Brian on the record. Anything to make that son of a bitch go away. We’ve all been making calls and talking to different people. So far, we haven’t gotten anything to stick.
