Page 1 of The Pump Fake

1

Cliff

“Understood, sir,” I reply, but apparently that doesn’t get the ole’ kook to stop talking. He’s been saying the same thing repeatedly. I get it. Do we really need to hash everything out this many times?

“Even her teammates say she can be frigid. That she doesn’t socialize with them or even try.” He keeps going. “Even fans are talking about how cold she is when they approach her outside of the arena. They’re making videos on social media. Social Media, Cliff!”

“I hear you, Mr. Wilkes. I promise I’ll talk with her,” I repeat once again, but it takes everything in me to not lash out. I can feel him triggering my protective instincts for Jade.

“You do that, son. I want to see improvement over this upcoming season, or I’ll be forced to trade her no matter how good she is on the court.” Leaving me with those last words, he hangs up.

With my phone in one hand, I softly bang my head against the desk, hoping it will help a plan magically come to me. Dealing with managers and owners having hissy fits because they feel the players aren’t acting exactly how they want them to be is not why I left the family farm and my small town behind to become a sports agent.

I’d wanted to help athletes accomplish their goals, especially those who have a harder time in the industry like women, but unfortunately, it’s part of the job. An important part of being a manager for women in particular, because in this world we don’t see them as capable. I roll my eyes at the thought because every woman I know is stronger than most men.

Women’s sports are less likely to make money just because the audience doesn’t gravitate toward them. That’s because we don’t market them the same as men’s sports. Anyway, I digress, but I could go on forever on this subject.

My stomach rolls at the thought of having to talk with Jade about all of this. She’s a talented basketball player and despite what the owner feels, she is nothing like he described. She’s strong, independent and knows what she wants. She can be hard to get to know sometimes which makes others uncomfortable around her. They’re a winning team so it’s obviously not an issue.

I hear the door to my office open, but I don’t look up to see who it is, needing time to figure it all out. “Cliff, why are you hitting your head on the desk?” Hunter, my boss and friend, asks me with a cautious tone.

I take a deep breath as I think about how I would still be stuck in Rose Valley if it wasn’t for Hunter.

I owe so much to him. When he came into our small town three years ago to check out one of the local kids, I sat down next to him, both of us feeling sorry for ourselves, and he somehow got me to spill my guts. “Growing up, I always thought I would do something in sports.”

“Really? What changed?” he’d asked me with an eyebrow raised.

Shrugging my shoulders, I’d muttered, “Life.”

“Yeah, it has a way of doing that,” he’d said.

The next day, he’d tracked me down at the local hardware store. “I convinced my company to give you a chance as a junior manager under me, but the catch is you have to bring a client with you.”

“I’ll think about it,” I’d said, returning back to my old job.

Later that night, when Taylor and my sister-in-law Mya had come over for dinner, rumors going around town had come up. “Cliff, I heard that you got offered a job today,” Mya had said, holding her stomach.

“How did you hear about that?” I’d asked, narrowing my eyes at her because I hadn’t told anyone about it.

She’d waved me off. “Sheila overheard you and some guy talking. You know what living in a small town is like.” This had pulled a chuckle from my older brother Taylor.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I have to bring a client with me and I’m not asking Shane.”

“What about Jade?” Mya had asked.

“What about her?”

“She’s going to be one of the top recruits this year for the WNBA,” she’d casually commented.

I didn’t respond immediately because I was still trying to pick up my jaw after it had dropped. Of course, I’d known her sister was good at basketball from what Mya had said, but I didn’t realize then that she wasthatgood.

Later that night, Mya had called her and Jade was out on the next plane to talk with me. The moment I saw her, I thought she was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. The more time we spent together, I’d begun to fall in love, knowing nothing could come of it. She needed her career. I needed mine. Doing the right thing, I decided to bite the bullet and became friends with her instead.

I bang my head once again on my desk, then sitting up, I groan, “Mr. Wilkes just called and told me that if I don’t get Jade to appear more approachable and less, in his words, ‘frigid,’ then they’re going to trade her.”

“That’s it?” he asks as he sits down in the chair across from my desk.

“That’s it?” I repeat, narrowing my eyes at him. “Do you know how Jade is going to take this? Not only that, but I also can’t think of any solution to help her.”

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