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"Show me what you got first," Sophia challenged me, just like I knew she would.
Pulling up my phone, I brought up the picture of Tripp that I had taken from the one on the paper. Then I burnt the original in my sink, not wanting anyone else to see it accidentally. My brother could stop by unexpectedly, and no doubt start to freak out. He knew I was seeing someone, but he had no idea it was Tripp Maddux.
"Here," I handed her my phone, giving her a small glimpse to persuade her. "That is Tripp Maddux."
"Who's the other guy?"
"No clue, it's too blurry, but I'm betting it's someone on his team."
That wasn't true, but it added to the scandal that Sophia now had playing out in her mind.
"Where did you get that? Is it real?"
"It's real. A friend of mine snapped the pic when he was out the other night. The club was dark and strobe lights were everywhere, so it's not a great pic, but it tells a story about the Inferno midfielder."
"And add that to the already tumultuous season their star players have had, and it will be a train wreck at that stadium before too long."
"Let me see this through. Let me take the lead."
She sighed and walked back behind her desk, picking up her phone and pressing a few buttons. Then, as she locked eyes with me, she spoke to whoever answered. "Get Tina back in the office. Tatum is taking over the Inferno contracts. Something tells me she's motivated to make sure the Inferno calls us for an assist. Let's see how she handles it."
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I realized my plan had worked. The only thing was, I may have put my job on the line. Sophia wasn't happy I had strong-armed her, so she would undoubtedly make me pay if I failed.
"Go," she waved at me once she hung up. "Leak that picture. It'll add one more layer to their need for marketing and public relations help."
"Leak it?"
"What else were you going to do with it? You have to create chaos and then tame it. It's leverage, so go use it, Miss O'Neil."
When I opened my mouth to argue, she lifted her eyebrow to stop me from speaking, so I nodded and turned around. Hopefully, before Sophia expected that picture to be leaked, I could get more information on the team. Even if it wouldn't hurt Tripp, leaking a photo wasn't my style. It never had been, and I wondered if that was why I usually got the much simpler assignments.
How often did Sophia "create chaos" in order to gain business?
I would need to eventually unpack that, but in the meantime, I went to our administrative assistant and requested a media packet for the Inferno. It would take her a couple of days to get it together, but I would have access to the stadium and the training camp once she did.
In the meantime, I had to call Hunter.
* * *
"You push me away, and then call me back, Tay. Now I'm the one that is not sure what's going on anymore."
"I want to be your friend," I reasoned, sipping the coffee I had let get cold while waiting for him to show up.
"You said not to call, text, or come by. That wasn't very friendly of you. Now what?"
"Now I am making sure you are okay."
"I sent someone I thought was a friend in your path and you both destroyed me, so no I am not okay."
Well, at least he wasn't trying to get me back with sweet words and more lies. Taking another sip of my drink, I tried to stall while I got the guts to tell him what I really needed to say.
"Tripp and I are not seeing each other, Hunter. Yeah, we hooked up a few times, but that's all it was."
He didn't know I knew about the picture because he wouldn't expect Tripp to tell me, but I had to leave him at least something to think about.
"Now, with a weird twist of fate, my boss has assigned me to create a file on the Inferno. She wants me to dig up dirt on them, and I couldn't say no."
"So you're going to start a little section on the midfielder? How Tripp Maddux fucked his friend's girl? Is that why you did it? Because you knew once you created the drama, you could be hired to fix it?"
