Page 41 of Wild Catch
“Are you Logan Kim, by any chance?”
Ah, shit. Here we go.
I turn. The blonde woman is with a group of friends, men and women. They look like they’re in college or barely out of it.
“Yes, hi,” I say in as neutral a tone as I can manage under the circumstances.
“I’m such a huge fan. Do you mind please giving me your autograph on this napkin?”
I reassess. Yes, she definitely does look up at me like I’m candy. But she’s keeping a safe distance and her friends aren’t hounding me either. This seems like a normal interaction.
I relax a little and even attempt a smile. “Of course.”
She offers a clean napkin sporting the logo of the restaurant, and a regular Bic that has seen better days. I use my agent’s back as a table and when I’m done, return everything to her.
“Thank you!”
“No, thank you for your support,” I manage to say with the limited PR training after I once pissed off Audrey Winters from the Orlando Wild PR team.
“And also, congratulations on your new girlfriend.” The fan giggles while stuffing the signed napkin in her purse. With one last appraising glance, she says, “She’s a lucky gal.”
Some of her friends laugh too but they pull her away and veer in a different direction.
I’m still mulling about what she even was talking about as Kaplan and I head toward our vehicles. Maybe this girl confused me for someone else in the end.
“Girlfriend, huh?” Kaplan clicks his tongue. “Is this why you’re actually less amenable to a trade all of a sudden?”
“Dude.” I shake my head. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“What?” Kaplan stops, forcing me to do the same. “But even I thought you did, especially after your team called me about it.”
“They did what?” I tilt my face to the side, presenting my ear for better listening.
“They called me to talk about some publicity stunt with your girlfriend but I turned them away.” He stuffs his hands in the pockets of his slacks and cocks an eyebrow. “Should I have accepted?”
After buffering for a good moment, I ask, “First of all, who is my alleged girlfriend? And second, what stunt?” I raise my hand. “Actually, third. When did this happen?”
“The social media girl? The one you’ve gone viral with. Everyone and their mom is shipping you both, apparently including the team. They want you to do some kind of stunt with her—I don’t know. I said no because your time here is limited and this kind of thing won’t increase your value.”
When he adds nothing further, I grit my teeth and ask, “When?”
“Just earlier today, I didn’t think this was important.” He waves his hand.
“Kaplan.”
“Logan?”
“I hope you have a safe trip back. Good night,” I mutter, turning on my heels and heading for my bike waiting under a tree.
“So, was it important?” he asks in the distance, vague amusement in his voice.
Over my shoulder I say, “I’ll be the one who decides that.” I put on my helmet and hop on my bike, peeling out of the parking lot to go home and do what I do best.
Overthink the shit out of every word that was said tonight.
CHAPTER15
ROSE
