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"Yes, sir," I swallowed hard. We disconnected, and I sank onto my bed and dropped my head.
"You weren't lying," Maddox's voice said from the doorway. My head snapped up.
"Were you eavesdropping?"
He shrugged, leaning on the door frame with his hands in his pockets. "Sports gossip, huh?" I rolled my eyes, dropping my head into my hands. "I thought you wanted to be a sports broadcaster. So why are you their new gossip girl?"
"Because I'm a girl." I groaned. "And that's all girls can do is gossip." My gaze blinked up, meeting his. "I don't want to do it, but it's the only way I'll ever get to do what I do want."
He sucked in a heavy breath before slowly releasing it. "I'll do it." He sighed. "I owe you big for saving my ass." He pushed off the door frame and strolled to the bed. "I've spent the last year trying to fix my reputation, and I almost threw it away last night. So, tell me how I can help you?"
"You'll do an interview?" I asked, a smile spreading across my face.
"Is that what you need to make your career happen?"
I thought about his question. One interview would be a stepping stone in the right direction, but an exclusive into his private life would set me above everyone else.
"An eight-week exclusive into the life of Maddox Parker."
His full lips pursed, and his eyes narrowed on me like he was contemplating the request, and I chewed nervously on my lip. "Define exclusive," he said after several long seconds.
"Just what I said. I will follow you around for eight weeks. Kind of like a reality show, but you won't have a camera on you all the time. We'd do live interviews for fans, and I get exclusives to practices, dates, workouts, everything, but everything would go through you for approval first."
"And if I don't approve of something?" he asked.
"I scratch it."
"Six weeks," he countered.
"Deal."
"Okay," he said, pausing for a brief moment. "I'll do this under one condition." I nodded, my gaze locked on his. "After the six weeks, you walk away and never look back." My chest squeezed. "I don't want to be your friend. This is a business deal, and when the business deal is over, this is over." That wasn't what I was expecting him to say. I was right; he hated me. Swallowing hard, I nodded, trying to fight the tears from swelling in my eyes. "If my name comes across your desk again, you decline the job no matter what."
"If that's what you want," I said, trying to keep the pain from showing all over my face. "Then it's a deal."
"Pack a bag, Addy." He sighed. "We fly out tonight."
"Fly?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"A six-week exclusive means you'll have to move to Florida with me," he said. "I have a spare bedroom you can stay in, and I'll work on travel arrangements for the games."
I didn't think this through completely. Luckily, my remote job allowed me to work from anywhere at any time, so that wouldn't be an issue. I didn't have much of a social life, so no one would miss me.
Pushing off the bed, I leaned down, pulling a suitcase out from under my bed.
"I'll need a minute to run this by my boss." I smiled. "But I'll pack while I talk to him."
I called Jacob while I packed while Maddox searched my living room for his phone.
Six weeks with Maddox, and then I had to say goodbye again. Sucking in a deep breath, I took a minute to prepare myself mentally. Maybe this would be the closure I needed to move on with my life.
SIXTY-FIVE
ADDISON
After a long flight, the two-hour drive from the airport to Maddox's house, and getting unpacked, I was exhausted. Maddox and I had managed to hash out the minor details of our agreement, but other than that, we hadn't spoken. He'd made it perfectly clear we weren't friends, and he didn't want to be, but I couldn't help but wonder if it would be better to clear the air and bring up the last time we saw each other. Would it make our current arrangement less awkward? Probably not.
Maddox had disappeared shortly after we got to his house. He'd said he'd only be gone an hour, but now the sun was close to setting, and I was starting to think he wouldn't keep up his end of the deal.
