Page 82 of Pretty Broken Promises

Ford has always been very intuitive, studying psychology, has only sharpened these skills. He crosses his arms. A movement Sin and Shane do not miss, and they take up position on either side of him. Being the alphaholes that they are, Raven, Jen, and I are guided behind them.

The three of us share a look, and Jen asks, “Do you think we’re ever going to be able to go out in public without some kind of confrontation?”

ChapterThirty-Two

FORD

Athletic Director Mitch Danielslooks very nervous having the boosters standing behind him. Especially, the one who gave me his card, Nelson Jones. I looked him up after the event, he's a pretty reputable sports agent and widely known for his honesty and integrity. Something I am finding in short supply among the administrators of Cascade University.

I decide to take a chance and goad Greer into spilling what he’s been up to. The fact is, as slimy as he’s acting right now, at his core I know this is not who he is. I don't think I will ever truly forgive him, but part of me does still feel like I owe him, but I won’t repay him by losing Tessa.

I am very curious to find out why he thinks he has photos and videos of me and what exactly they’re of. “So these photos that you claim to have, what's on them exactly?”

He scoffs. “You think I don't know about the party you guys threw on your hotel floor last night? I understand what it's like to be in college. When you're an athlete, you need to blow off some steam, there's lots of girls around, but you keep saying that you've got a girlfriend. You can't have it both ways. Either you're going to insist that you are with Tessa and ride the bench, or you can part ways and you can play like you did today. If you refuse to make the right decision on your own, I can help Tessa make it for you. If you really care about her, I think you'd want to spare her that.”

I turn my head to the side and give him a challenging look. “See here's the thing, I'm going to have to call your bluff, because I don't think you have anything. At least not anything on me.”

He shakes his head like he's disappointed. I have to hand it to him, he’s either a really good actor, or he really believes he's got me over a barrel. “I really wish you wouldn't make me do this, son.”

“First of all, I'm not your son. And second, I'm not making you do shit,” I taunt him.

Nelson takes a step forward, and I can see a bead of sweat rolling down the side of Mitch Daniel's face. Mitch turns and tries to distract the booster. “Gentlemen, how about we go ahead and go out to dinner. Coach Greer can catch up to us.”

Nelson, however, will not be dissuaded. “Now wait a minute, I want to know what's going on here. What did Coach Greer mean when he said that if Ford continued to see Tessa, he could ride the bench? Is that why our team has the lowest record in our division right now? I was under the understanding that Ford was getting rehabilitation for an old injury he re-injured in practice. Is that not correct?”

I hold my arms out to either side, knowing my muscles are bulging and straining against my uniform. I certainly don't appear to be someone coming off of a recent injury. “Do I look like I’m hurting? I've been sitting on the bench, but it has nothing to do with my physical state. Coach Greer told me that our dear old AD here threatened his job if I didn't break up with my girlfriend. Apparently, more women would come to the games if I were single.”

Nelson turns on Mitch. “Is that true?”

The one trickle of sweat has now become a steady stream. Mitch's hair is wet and sticking to his face. “Studies have been shown that unattached celebrities have higher ticket sales.”

Nelson tosses his arm out in my direction. “He's a college student. He agreed to play football for us, not allow us to take over his entire life. You are not permitted to dictate the social life of our players.”

“Mr. Jones, there's a lot you don't understand. There's a whole morality issue here. Of course, Mitch is concerned with sales. The football program funds a lot of other programs at Cascade University, but it isn't simply a matter of a player appearing to be single. Ford and Tessa are siblings.”

Poor Nelson looks like his head is a pinball being bounced around inside of a game. His attention jerks to me, and I can see a bit of the judgment that Tessa is so worried about. “Is that true? You're not— surely you can't be related, right?”

“Tessa and I have been together off and on since high school. We got together our senior year, at the beginning of the year. Several months later, her dad married my mom. Now if they were together before we don't know.” I may have stretched the truth a bit. He doesn’t need to know that our parents dating is what brought us together in the first place.

I continue arguing our side. “Neither of us have the most attentive parents. We weren’t raised together, and we had both turned eighteen by the time we found out that our parents had gotten married. So technically, yes, she is my stepsister, but the only time we have lived together, was after we got engaged.”

Tessa pinches my back. She's right, technically we only got engaged last night, but I don't see how that bit of information helps us right now. And really, she knew all along I was going to ask, and I knew she was going to say yes, so it really was just a technicality. More or less. I should probably ask her again, preferably when we aren’t fucking.

Nelson bobs his head over and over again while he considers what I just told him. “So there's no blood relation at all?”

I shake my head no.

“And neither of you grew up together?” he clarifies.

“We went to school together since elementary, but we didn't really know each other very well until high school. Even then, we didn't get close until our senior year.”

“I feel like there is something missing here. There has to be another motivation that is making the two of you do something so mind-numbingly stupid because otherwise, you have broken several university rules, not to mention the NCAA rules you've both flagrantly violated in interfering with the private life of a player. Please give me an explanation that makes even a modicum of sense. I would really like some peace of mind that I have not been donating my money to a program that abuses the athletes we are supposed to take care of,” Nelson argues.

Sin pulls out his phone and messes with it for a few seconds before Nelson’s phone dings with an incoming message. He looks down at his phone confused. “Why is there a video playing on my phone?”

“Turn up the sound,” Sin demands.

Nelson is curious enough not to argue or ask how Sin managed to send him a message in the first place. He follows Sin’s direction, and turns up the sound on his phone. Thanks to the echo in the tunnel the sound of Wendell James’ voice is easily heard by all of us standing nearby.

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