Page 33 of Pursued by the Player

Chapter 9

“He’s not respondingto my phone calls, Liv,” Mel said as she slid into her regular seat at the café on the first floor of the Black Tower building. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Remind me again what happened, exactly?”

“Kennedy thought I was moving too slow in getting Jett to agree to help us brand the new clothing line. He sent over Greg and Joel to talk to him. I don’t know what they said, but now Jett won’t talk to me.”

Liv frowned and poked her smoothie with her straw. “Sounds like their visit didn’t go over well.”

“No. Jett had his lawyer call Kennedy and say that if his name or likeness was anywhere near any of those clothes, Jett would sue.” She placed her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hands. “I need to explain that I had nothing to do with this, but he won’t respond to my texts or phone calls.”

“Did you have nothing to do with this?”

“Of course not.” Mel straightened and frowned. “I never brought it up to Jett.”

“But you didn’t shoot down Kennedy either.” Liv took a sip from her straw. “You might not have pushed things along, but you didn’t put a stop to it either.”

“Kennedy would have fired me.”

“That seems rather dramatic.”

“He’s a dramatic man.” She sighed. “Okay, he probably wouldn’t have fired me, but I would have gotten taken off the project, and I would have been forced to listen to the gruesome twosome gloat for the next two months until the big runway event.”

“They’re that bad, are they?”

“I think all three of them thrive on drama. Kennedy is positively giddy over this turn of events, telling everyone how he’s the victim, caught between a lovers’ quarrel.” She shook her head.

“Because it’s always about him,” Liv smirked.

“Always.” Mel giggled and took a sip of her drink. “So what do I do now? I don’t want to lose him.”

“Why not?” When Mel flashed her a surprised look. She shrugged. “There are plenty of other fish in the sea.”

“But not like Jett.” She leaned on the table and toyed with the end of her straw. “I felt that we connected that night, you know? It was special.”

Liv considered her for a moment, then straightened in her chair. “You think he might be the one?”

“The one?”

“Like Nayo and I.”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Liv worked her jaw for a moment as she thought. “Then there is only one choice left.” She took a sip of her drink.

“What’s that?”

“He’s ignoring you, so you need to become impossible to ignore.”

“I’m not following.”

Liv shrugged. “Stop using electronics to reach him. Emails and texts are so impersonal and easy to dismiss. Visit him in person and in front of his friends. Make it uncomfortable for him to ignore you.”

“You have a point.” Mel considered her friend’s words. “If I show up at practice, he can’t run away from me.”

“Now you’re thinking.” Liv grinned and glanced at her watch. “Damn, I’ve got to run.”

“Back to work?”

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