Page 97 of Me For You
I decidedto call because I wasn’t going back and forth via text about what I was wearing to a meeting I had no interest in attending.
“I’m not wearing a gotdamn suit. This isn’t an official meeting.”
“If it doesn’t go as planned, it will be an official press conference to let the city know Karl Bashay is allowing personal feelings to affect this business decision. Put a gotdamn suit on.” Sovoya spoke calmly but her words still held weight. I was already annoyed that the meeting was happening. The last thing I wanted was to put effort into my appearance just to sit in front of these damn people to tell me some bullshit about why I wasn’t good enough to remain on the Sharks roster.
“How are you going to call a press conference for a meeting that isn’t officially supposed to be happening?” My tone was clipped as I stepped into my closet. The motion sensor lights illuminated, brightening the space. Looking at the two rows of suits only further pissed me off.
“Van and I have that part covered. All I need you to do is be here, dressed like a professional. Let me do my job, Ryland. One hour.”
She ended the call and I closed my eyes, yanked a hand down my face, and exhaled a harsh breath. Once I felt a bit more grounded but still fucking pissed, I reached for a dark gray suit, black shirt, and bypassed the tie.
While I dressed, my mind kept circling back to what I was missing to engage this bullshit. There was no way to swing getting Rylee to school and this damn meeting. When I woke up and saw the text from Sovoya about a meeting with the Sharks GM, Kesmond George, and owner, Karl Bashay, who was trying to make me the league’s bitch by passing me around from one team to the next, I immediately hit her line asking if it could be pushed so I didn’t have to miss taking Rylee to school. But Sovoya shut that down.
My priority had to be football and today was a reality check of how things would change in the next couple months. The start of the season would be in March, which meant my focus would shift back to football. Training, appearances, meetings, brand deals. The time I would have to invest in my career meant time away from Rylee, which had not only her heavy on my mind but Somee as well. Her being here was not a permanent situation but not a gotdamn thing about how I felt about her was temporary.
What we were doing was cool, but it wasn’t a guarantee that she would stay. I shouldn’t expect her to, however, I wanted that shit more than I could make sense of. The selfish part of me needed Somee here with me and Rylee. One thing at a time. I had to get past this trade bullshit before I could deal with how to keep Somee in our lives.
I drove to Omari Corp Performance Field, which was our practice facility and front office headquarters, trying to curb the anger pushing through my veins. This meeting should not be happening. Of all the years I had given the Sharks, here I was, having to prove that I was still worthy of wearing a jersey.
Over pussy that I didn’t even get to sample…
This shit was wild, and more than anything, a reality check. I had been going back and forth with the weight of this situation over the past couple weeks. I never had to care how my actions affected anyone other than myself before now. As long as I showed up on gamedays to help my team win, the rest was just background noise. The partying, the women, the stupid decisions that got me headlines didn’t fucking matter…until now.
“You need to stop being so damn reckless, Land.”
I couldn’t count the number of times Sovoya and Vanessa both hit me with that line and now it was coming back to haunt me. Not because I made a bad decision but because I tried to do the right thing and not sleep with a married woman.
I snorted at the thought when I pulled into the spot next to Sovoya. My gaze moved to the building in front of me and everything looked different. Physically, it was the same. Panels of tinted glass lined the front, looking more like a building that should have been downtown instead of sitting in front of the practice fields. But seeing it now felt like a fucking gut punch. This damn team had literally said fuck me and my commitment to the franchise.
This place had been my home since I was drafted and I couldn’t imagine any of this not being a part of my life. I needed Sovoya to fix this shit. I also needed to make sure moving forward, my future as a Shark wasn’t at risk. Even if their reasoning was complete bullshit, I still put myself in the position to be placed in the line of fire.
Nothing about my life before Rylee and Somee appealed to me anymore. I wanted this and I wanted them here experiencing it with me. When I noticed Sovoya in my periphery getting out of her Benz—one that my salary helped pay for—I got out of my GWagon.
I smirked because I hadn’t been in this damn thing for weeks because Rylee loved the Range, so that was what we had been driving. I was particular about my shit but didn’t even blink when I handed over the keys to Somee this morning. Didn’t even know if her ass could drive but she was in my two-hundred thousand dollar Autobiography and I hadn’t given it a second thought.
Sovoya stepped toward me dressed in a brown business suit, heels, and a leather peacoat. I immediately knew by what she was wearing that Sovoya was in business mode. She carried a zippered portfolio which I knew from past dealings held her tablet. If she had that portfolio, this meeting was more official than she let on. We were still in a postseason dead zone, which meant no trades could be handled on paper but discussions between franchises still happened behind the scenes when they weren’t supposed to.
Sovaya reached me and did a once over before nodding in approval. “At least you listened. I half expected that I was going to have to force you into the suit I have.”
My eyes narrowed. “You brought me a suit?”
She gave me a look that confirmed and my jaw flexed while I shook my head. “How the hell you got a suit that would fit me?”
“I called Oni and asked her to bring me one.”
Oni Krew had styled me several times so that made sense but how the fuck they just had suits on deck was wild.
“I’m not even going to comment on that.”
“Good, it’s pointless. Now let’s discuss how this goes. I talk, you stay quiet and let me do it. Agreed?” Sovoya cut her eyes my way as we headed toward the building. She paused when I reached around her to open the door then walked in ahead of me before I responded.
“I don’t get to defend myself against this bullshit?” I asked as we stepped toward the security station to check in. We were infront of the security scanners moments later, cleared for entry and on our way to the elevators. When we reached them, I hit the button while she paused and locked her arms over her chest.
“You pay me to ensure your best interests are covered. Let me do my job.”
“Aight. You talk, I keep my mouth shut.”
“Thank you.” Sovoya tucked her hair behind her ear and stepped into the elevator when it opened. We stepped off on the second floor and headed straight back to the conference room after being greeted by reception.
