Page 55 of Forever Wild

Bryn’s face turns red. “Oh, um, I’m not sure if…but yeah…if that…” She looks at me, her eyes beseeching me to say something.

Unsure what to do to help the awkward situation my dad unknowingly just put us in, I jump in anyway. “That tournament isn’t until next summer, Dad. Plus, I’m sure it would be difficult for Bryn to take that much time away from her job.”

“What is it you do again?” JT thankfully asks. “Something with technology, right?”

Lila rolls her eyes, but Bryn shoots him a grateful smile before answering, “Yup. I’m the director of technology for Hungry Guy.”

I finish the food on my plate and reach my hand over, resting it on Bryn’s thigh as my mom says, “I love Hungry Guy. I must admit, I’m not sure I understand what your job is, though it sounds important.”

Bryn slides her hand into mine, our fingers lacing before she replies, “It sounds more important than it is. I’m the person who is in charge of making sure everything, from our app to our back-end customer management system, is working correctly and everything is talking to each other.”

Just then, my phone starts ringing. I pull it out of my pocket, planning to decline the call, but notice it’s Jon, my agent. It’s not like him to call on holidays unless it’s something urgent.

“It’s Jon,” I say to the table. “I’ll take this and be right back.”

I slide into my parents’ office, shutting the door behind me as I answer the phone. “Hey, Jon. What’s up?”

“Jameson. Happy Thanksgiving, man. Sorry to disturb your home time, but I had some exciting news that is very time sensitive. Erica and her team have finally gotten a deal offer for you.”

I raise my fist in silent victory, unable to contain how excited I am to be turning my life around.

“Now, they came in with a real lowball offer, but both Erica and I think it’s something you should take. I know your game is coming around, but we’re both worried that, if you don’t start getting your face back out there, it won’t matter how well you play this year; it’ll be lost in terms of sponsorships.”

“Okay, I hear you. I don’t love taking lowball deals when they still take the same amount of my time, but I hear you. We’ve got to start somewhere. What is it?” I ask.

“Well, this is where things get a bit more complicated due to your relationship with Bryn.”

Jon and Erica had been annoyed when I told them Bryn was my girlfriend. They saw the logic in us moving straight into officially dating, but both made it clear they felt not dating at all would’ve been the better answer. I think they are starting to come around after my performance in Vegas.

“What do you mean? What does Bryn have to do with it?”

“It’s Hungry Guy. They want you to be part of a big commercial campaign they are pushing out in conjunction with some update to their online ordering system.”

Bryn. That’s what Bryn is working on all the time. This is Bryn’s big project. The one that, if it does well, she’ll get the promotion she’s been vying for for years.

“Jameson?” Jon asks in a tone that makes it clear it’s not the first time he’s tried to pull me back into the conversation.

“Yeah.” I run my hands through my hair. “She’s mentioned it before.”

“Well, they seem convinced that you’ll take this lowball offer. That could just be because they follow the news and know you’re not in high demand right now, but…I feel I need to ask, has Bryn mentioned it to you? Tried to talk to you about it, even casually?”

“No. She hasn’t mentioned anything about me working on it. I need…fuck. I need to talk to Bryn.”

“Okay, Jameo. But don’t take too long. It is a time-bound offer.”

Chapter twenty-seven

Jameson

I turn the corner from the hallway, trying to hide my confusion and failing miserably as I have to force myself to unclench my jaw and focus on the words coming at me.

“What did Jon want, dear?” Mom asks.

“Uhm. There is a time-sensitive commercial deal he wanted to get in front of me.” I take a deep breath, moving to sit back down next to Bryn. I don’t think she is behind this. We’ve come a long way in the trust department in such a short amount of time, though I do know how important this campaign is to her. That fact is the little worm that just keeps niggling the back of my brain. The only reason I can’t fully say I trust she isn’t behind this.

“Oh, well, that’s a good sign. I know you’ve been feeling a bit down about your future sponsorship prospects. I told you it would all turn around.”

“Who’s it with?” asks Lila.

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