Page 9 of Mutual Discord

“When he mentioned he was moving to Phoenix, I told him I was going to be visiting my bestie there, and here we are.” Caitlin bumped her shoulder into Alex’s. “You just arrived a week ago, right?”

Alex nodded. “The team put me up in a short-term rental until I can find a place. All my stuff is crammed in storage.”

“Team?” The word instantly stood out to me, and I peered at him curiously.

“Yeah, I started a new job with the Phoenix Scorpions,” Alex murmured.

My eyes flew wide, but before I could say anything, Caitlin cut in with a laugh. “Alex, you make it sound like being the assistant vice president of marketing for a WNBA team is no big deal. I think it’s amazing.”

“It is amazing,” I breathed. Because Caitlin was right. Scoring an assistant VP of marketing gig for a large professional team wasn’t a job given to slouches. Any intention I had to create some distance bled away in the face of my curiosity. “Is this your first time working with the WNBA?”

“It is.” Alex accepted his tumbler of rum from the server with a nod of thanks and raised it to his lips for a sip. He hummed in approval, and I couldn’t help but smile at that because I knew the first sip of El Dorado rum was like heaven on the tongue. Staring at me over the rim of his glass, he said, “But I’ve worked for a basketball team before.”

“You have?” My brow crinkled. “Which one?”

“The New York Cosmos.” Alex licked his lips and set his glass on the tabletop. “I oversaw all their social media and was actually offered a position with the Charlotte Yellowjackets, but by that point, I was already in discussions with the Scorpions.”

I knew surprise was written all over my face, but I didn’t seem to care. “So you worked for an NBA team and were approached by another NBA team, and you turned it down to work for the Phoenix Scorpions?”

His dimple accented his smile. “Women’s basketball is exciting and only gaining in popularity. I want a front-row seat for its rise to national darling.”

“Not a front-row seat, a driver’s seat,” I murmured. Leaning back in my chair, I simply stared at him. Not many marketing and media people I knew would choose women’s sports over the chance to work with a men’s professional sports team. “How long did you work for the Cosmos?”

“Seven years. I started as an assistant brand content manager and worked my way up.” Alex swished his rum around the glass, staring at the amber liquid, before he took another sip. “Living in New York, being at the center of all the action, was fun but I wanted to try something different. Plus, I craved warm weather.”

“Well, you’ll definitely get that here.” I scowled. “We still have at least another month of triple-digit temps.”

Caitlin groaned but Alex chuckled. “Hey, at least it’s a dry heat. I’d rather take this than a humid East Coast summer.”

“I can’t argue with you there.” Caitlin unfurled her index finger from around her glass and pointed it at me. “I told Alex that you have a background in marketing and media consulting, and could probably help him get connected with local companies and influencers who might be game to work with the Scorpions.”

I flinched at her mention of my connections within the Phoenix area marketing community, and Caitlin instantly noticed.

“What? Did something happen?” she said, reaching out to grab my hand.

Coño. This was not at all how I wanted to share the news of my layoff with my best friend, and especially not in front of Alex. God, he was going to think I was such a loser. I don’t know why it mattered what Alex thought of my unemployment, but I suddenly felt like a frog stretched open on a dissection table, vulnerable in ways I hadn’t been in a good long while.

Pressing my tongue to the roof of my mouth, I weighed what to say. Finally, I opted for the truth. “I was laid off.”

“What?” Caitlin exclaimed, her blue eyes large with surprise. “But you were a rock star at Desert Media. Those clients I met in Nashville could not stop singing your praises.”

“Yeah, well.” I stabbed at the ice in my glass with the straw. “That was before the stunt Josh pulled.”

“What stunt?”

Somehow I wasn’t surprised that Alex voiced the question. I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes.

“Is that the guy you told me about?” Caitlin’s lip curled. “The dickhead who was always trying to flirt with you even while he was tattling on you to your boss like a little bitch?”

“That’s him.” I clenched my teeth for a passing moment as the familiar rage I felt whenever I thought of Josh flooded my bloodstream. “Except this time, instead of tattling on me, he stole a client proposal I had been working on and pitched it during our staff meeting as if it was his work.”

Caitlin gasped, but when I chanced a glance at Alex, there was an assessing look on his face.

“He stole your idea and you were the one laid off?” he said quietly.

I nodded, my mouth too dry to speak.

Slowly, Alex propped his elbows on the table and leaned toward me. “That’s fucking unfair.”