Page 31 of Not A Chance

Campbell’s eyebrows raised, followed by a slow grin. He clearly enjoyed messing with people too much. I just needed to get him out of this room so I could clean up his mess.

He looked at his own watchless wrist. “You know, Indie, you’re so right. I wouldn’t want to keep Coach Reyes waiting. I live to serve, after all.”

With the grace of a world-class athlete, he was up and halfway to the door before I realized it shouldn’t have been that easy with the high level of shenanigans he seemed to appreciate.

“Honey, by the way, what time should I expect you at home?” Campbell called over his shoulder before turning his head to give me a quick glance and a wink and continued out the door.

My only consolation was that Coach Reyes had left an hour ago.Two can play your game, Campbell.

The reporter’s gaze lasered in on my face, his former bland politeness replaced with a shrewd gleam.

“Sorry, what did you say your first name was, Ms. Layne?” He scrolled through his tablet, where he’d been making notes. “Any relation to Layne Holdings?”

Sigh. Campbell was from the East Coast; he wouldn’t immediately recognize my surname. It was much easier to avoid association with my family away from the Bay Area and the West Coast in general.

There was no point in lying as a single Google search would get Grant Douglas the truth.

“Yes. You’re right. That is my family’s company. But you need to understand something about Ryan Campbell. That man seemsto derive too much joy from pranks like his comments just now. So you can’t take him seriously. He’s a dedicated, elite athlete. I can guarantee you, he gives his all to the Tempests. But there isn’t anything going on between us.”

“Oh, I see. No problem. Off the record. Of course.” Grant was nodding. As if he wouldn’t tuck this little detail away and use it to his advantage at a later date.

“No, honestly.” Rubbing my right temple to ease the headache that was now forming, I needed to make him understand. “When I say nothing is going on, I mean nothing. We don’t play around in my family with these kinds of things. Let me be clear. Ryan Campbell was just joking. And my personal legal team would be more than pleased if any other misunderstanding were to come up in the future. Now do you see?” I kept unwavering eye contact as he processed the meaning of my words.

No longer on the offensive, Grant was starting to understand who he was dealing with. I hated to be so mercenary about it, but I could not have any whiff of controversy getting back to my father.

Whatever lesson he thought he was teaching me by demanding I come to Toronto, I needed him to continue believing that I was absorbing it into the very core of my being. I didn’t want to end up in a battle for my inheritance when I wasn’t sure I could win.

And if that meant Mr. Douglas here had to be scared straight, then so be it.

Clearing his throat, he took the hint and moved on. “Er, right. Ahem. You mentioned you wanted to preview the questions for Theo Yao. I assure you, they are very similar to the ones you looked over for Mr. Campbell. Is it really necessary?”

If only he knew how much more important Theo’s interview was to me. Putting aside the many complications where Theo and I wereconcerned, it was the very least I could do for Emery to make sure her brother was well taken care of, especially when it fell under my purview at work.

“I understand. But my boss, Jermaine Kenton, you see, insists that I review all three players’ questions before their interviews. I was so appreciative of you sending me Connor Andrews’s list last week while I was out of the office. It’s important to be able to tell Mr. Kenton that I followed his instructions to the letter. You know how this kind of thing goes, don’t you? Can’t let the boss down.” The steel dropped from my tone into something more conciliatory.

It was more likely that Grant, here, would get whiplash from my swift change in demeanor than suddenly become my biggest fan, but Campbell had started this train wreck, and I was here to get it back on track.

I knew what I looked like, however. A young twenty-something woman in a male-dominated environment. Hopefully, in Grant’s eyes, that made me nonthreatening enough that he’d somehow forget that I threatened legal action moments before.

In appealing to the idea of “jeez, aren’t bosses just task masters,” we might find common ground, and it would pave the way for him to hand over Theo’s list of questions. Maybe I’d get lucky and he had a tyrannical editor and could sympathize with my false worries about my job security.

Whatever he saw on my face placated him enough to nod before looking down to tap out something on his tablet.

“I’ve just forwarded them to you. I’m going to make a quick call in the hallway. Mr. Yao isn’t due for another—” Grant checked his left wrist, where he wore an actual watch. “—twenty minutes. That should give us more than enough time to make sure Mr. Kenton’s requirements are satisfied.”

I nodded distractedly as he stood and left the room, already opening his email to scan the interview questions.

Everything was fine until I reached the last section of questions.

-Theo, your full last name is Yao-Miller. Is there a specific reason you play only under your mother’s surname? Are you trying to honor your mother or stay away from your father’s standing as one of the top coaches in American College Football?

-How much did your mother’s passing away affect your decision to continue to move forward after you were drafted? Weren’t they within weeks of each other?

-How does your family feel about your move to Toronto? Your siblings, Emery, Chase, and Liam, how much did you see them when you were over in Vancouver compared to now?

The meaning of the words “spontaneously combust” had never been more clear to me than in this moment. I couldn’t recall a time when I’d been more livid.

And that was saying something because Abbie’s mother was an absolute bitch who incited my violent tendencies that I couldn’t act on.

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