Page 115 of Unexpected Shot
”Do we really have to?” I ask. “Can't we just, I don't know, exist?”
“I’m going to pretend you aren’t being serious about that,” Kat says.
I share a look with Beau, who I know doesn’t have a problem with this. Every bit of unease in this decision is coming from me.
“What are you suggesting?” I ask, hating that I know I’ve already lost this battle.
I hear her let out a sigh. “It’s a great plan. But fair warning: you’re going to hate it.”
CHAPTER 27
BEAU
“Ihate everything about this.”
I’m trying not to laugh as Shelby approaches the golf cart we have tricked out specifically for filming days, but it’s really hard not to. She looks like a four-year-old who just got told they can’t play outside until they’ve eaten all their vegetables.
“I know, but you’re being a good sport,” I try to assure her as I pat the passenger seat. “You ready?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Nope!” I say, revving the cart as she climbs in, and zooming off to the first hole the second her butt hits the seat.
When Kat told Shelby she thought it would do wonders for our marriage—as well as our brands that we’re both trying to repair—if Shelby did an episode ofThe Back Ninewith me, I thought she was going to punch a hole through my granite countertop. She hates anything in the way of media, interviews, or anything in that vein. But when Kat explained that doing one episode would put to bed any rumors going around about this being fake—because she and I were going to talk very candidly and not scripted at all about our marriage—Shelby knew she couldn’t say no.
Kat also let us know she’d already put some feelers out to some companies who wanted to sponsor the episode. She wouldn’t tell us who, but she said they have deep pockets who normally wouldn’t touch a YouTube golf show, but if Shelby was involved to garner a female demographic, they were suddenly interested.
It took her a second, but I think it was my puppy dog face that finally sealed the deal. That and I promised her sixty percent of our earned sponsorship and the opportunity to throw it in my face that her putt was the most watched clip in the history ofThe Back Nine.
It was a price I was willing to pay.
“Okay, explain this to me again,” she says as we make our way past the clubhouse.
“Anything in particular you don’t understand?”
“No, I understand everything fine. But if you repeat everything right now, it’ll give me the few minutes I need to calm myself down and not make an ass of myself.”
“You’re not going to make an ass of yourself,” I reassure her. “You’re going to be yourself.” That earns me a side-eye. “Okay, maybe not that self, but you know…yourself around Gabi. Or when you were drunk. She was nice.”
The glare she gives me is noted. And expected.
“Unlike the live video you bombed that made you a star, this is all recorded and edited,” I explain. ”If there’s something you say out of context, it’s cut. If we want to try a few different spins on some of the questions Kat wants us to talk about, we can. You’ll be able to watch the entire episode before it goes online. You’ll have final say-so of everything. But at the end of the day, this is just a conversation while we play some golf. Another normal day in life.”
“A normal day of a guy named Stu videoing us.”
“Stu’s great. And he’s bringing along an intern to get asecond camera angle. Just treat it like the cameras that follow us around the course.”
“I hate them too.”
I laugh as I turn toward the first hole. “Can I ask you a question?”
“I mean, isn’t that why I’m here?”
“Yes, but the camera isn’t on for this one.”
That seems to relax her a little. “Fire away.”
“I know why you aren’t a fan of reporters. We’ve gone over that. But why the anti-all media? The bare minimum sponsorships? You could be making a killing.”
