Page 24 of The Fake Play

He nods slowly, taking in the advice. “It’s not ideal to go into this thinking I’m already out, but I'll give it a shot. Mentor the rookie, build him up, andmake him a part of the team. It’s not just about the job I have now, but also the job I’ll have in the future. That makes sense. What else?”

“Well,” I say, leaning forward, hoping he won’t give me too much pushback on the matter. “While you're working on building your relationships inside of the team, I'm going to work on fixing your image outside of it.”

“Oh, here we go.”

“I'm serious, Luke, you can't keep running around town doing what you’re doing.”

“What does that mean?”

“No more dating for a while.”

He shoots me a look of disbelief. “How's that going to work?”

“Your reputation is a mess. You're constantly in the gossip columns for hooking up with another new woman, breaking hearts, leaving a trail of chaos in your wake. A married woman? Really?” I couldn’t hide the disgust in my tone.

“She didn’t tell me?—”

“Don’t you look for a ring?”

“She wasn’t wearing one! How was I supposed to know?”

Without a ring, I could understand a little bit. “Did you even think to ask?”

“Why would I? We were both at the club, dancing, having a good time. At what point was I supposed to ask if she was married?”

Fair enough. It’s not like that would come up as a topic of conversation. If he even bothered to have a conversation with her. “Okay, fine. But that’s exactly the point, Luke. Youkeep getting into these ‘understandable after an explanation’ situations which doesn’t play well with the media.”

“If they would just talk to me, I could explain things.”

“Do you really think the internet understands nuance?”

He blinks then sits back as my words hit him over the head. “Oh.”

I have a suspicion he’s finally getting it. But I have to make sure. “If you want people to start taking you seriously, you need to stop being the guy who can't stay out of trouble. Even when it’s not technically your fault. Look, if you have to explain or you have to actually say thattechnicallyit’s not your fault, people have already stopped listening. All they’re doing is texting their friends a snappy headline so they can laugh at you and the team. You say your team means everything to you. Prove it.”

He lets a deep breath out through his nose, a combination of an exhale and a huff. The sound most guys make when they’re annoyed by the truth. He bites his lip, stalling. “Alright. Tell me what to do.”

“No more flings, no more drama. We're going to clean up your image.”

Immediately the old Luke resurfaces, shaking his head. “You really think I can just stop dating? Nobody will believe that I've suddenly turned into a monk. Not anyone who knows me, and not the media, either. Find a different solution.”

“That's why we have to make it believable,” I say, my tone firm. “We can't have you knocking someone up or breaking another heart, or God forbid, shredding another marriage.”

“In all fairness to me, Alyssa’s marriage was clearly on the rocks before she ever met me, or that hookup would have never happened.”

I place my head in my hands. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“No, I do. I was just saying…” He huff again. “Can you at least look at me?”

I peep through my fingers. “Go ahead.”

“I don’t break up marriages. That’s not my thing.”

“I heard you the first time.”

“Yeah, well, it’s important to me that you know that about me.”

I sit up straighter. “Why do you care what I think of you?”

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