Page 24 of Face Off With Fate

My grip on her hand tightened. “Why don’t you want to tell it to me now?”

She hesitated, eyes fluttering closed before popping back open. “Will you just trust me? Please?” she whispered, her deep brown eyes with caramel flecks pleading with me.

I froze.

Not, “Do you trust me?” because she knew I didn’t.

She asked if I would trust her.

A few tense moments passed before I stepped back. “All right, Graciella. I’ll trust you.”

Her face broke out in a blinding smile that left me feeling a mess of emotions I didn’t want to unpack.

No one would have guessed Graciella was pacing the hall minutes before with the way she strutted into Tommy’s office. Sunlight from the wall of windows bathed her in a warm glow.

The tops of the palm trees swayed slightly behind where Tommy sat in an overstuffed office chair that looked like it could belong to his dad, with the dark cherry arms and dark shiny leather.

The whole office looked like it was out of the nineties. The nostalgia did nothing to help settle my nerves about going into this blind. My shoulder stayed tight, every instinct in my body said to shut this down before it started.

But I ignored it.

“Graciella, so lovely to see you again,” Tommy said, pushing his glasses up his nose a little too fast. He motioned toward the two chairs covered in a weird, geometric-patterned fabric in front of his desk. “Please, sit. Let’s hear all about how we’re fixing this.”

She offered a sweet smile as she sat, and I followed her lead. Though the smile I offered was more of a grimace.

“Thank you so much for seeing us, Mr. Schwartz. I love that knit polo.” Graciella pulled out two manila folders from her bag, setting them on the sprawling wood. The GM’s cheeks turned pink, and my knuckles whitened on the arms of the chair as I took the seat next to Graciella.

“Oh, please, call me Tommy. And thank you, I have them specially ordered to match the team’s colors.” He beamed, and I nearly gave myself an aneurysm fighting off an eye roll.

Graciella’s smile was sickly sweet. “Well, okay then, Tommy, your attention to detail is fantastic. The team is so lucky to have you on board. Right, Monroe?” She elbowed my forearm and shot me a glare when his eyes dipped.

Sure, he gets a smile, and I get daggers. Is she seriously making me kiss ass as hard as her?

A second elbow gave me my answer. It took everything in me to keep the sarcasm out of my voice when I said, “So lucky.”

“Well, thank you, Josh.” Tommy fidgeted with the papers on his desk, some stained with coffee rings. “I really was worried you’d think poorly of me after all this PR business. I think you’re an excellent coach and would love to see you have a long career here, so I’m glad you’ve decided to do everything you can to stay.”

The slight emphasis on “everything” had my stomach dropping to my feet, and the blood pounding in my ears eclipsed the air conditioner’s hum.

“Anything for my players,” I bit out. Apparently, that includes going along with whatever this is.

Graciella leaned in like she was sharing a secret with Tommy. Guess she was, since she was the only one who knew what this plan was. “Now, before I start, keep an open mind. This is going to sound a little…unconventional.” Her gaze slid to me for a moment, worry shining in their depths. “But I think it’s necessary given the short timeline. Monroe’s problem isn’t his coaching, it’s the public’s perception of him.”

My stomach looped and I dug my fingers into fabric, grounding myself.

Tommy twirled a fountain pen between his fingers. “Well, now you’ve got me curious what you’ve come up with.”

“Monroe’s barely been on camera during his coaching career. We⁠—”

“And we’re changing that, right? The board won’t approve of letting him stand in the background,” Tommy said, worry thick in his tone.

“I don’t stand in the background,” I said through clenched teeth. “I coach, like you hired me to do.”

Why did that part keep getting overlooked?

“Oh, no,I didn’t mean— I just meant⁠—”

“I think we can all agree that Monroe is one of the best coaches the league has,” Graciella said, wrapping her dainty fingers around my wrist.