Page 112 of Hot for the Hockey Player
Rebel and I never really saw eye-to-eye on much.He was the oldest, but ironically enough, the shortest out of all of us—including our dad.And I think that grated on him more than he’d ever admit.He made up for that shorter stature—five-foot-eleven—by being a total asshole almost all of the time.He picked fights on the ice constantly, was known as a hothead, and had an ego the size of the sun.It was well-known in the league that he was not only a difficult player to coach, but not an easy teammate to have either.He got traded a lot because teams just didn’t want to deal with him.
So to get a message like this came as no real surprise.He’d already spoken out against me to the media, and I’m sure he was gearing up to do it again to win brownie points with the league and players who aligned themselves with Henderson.
It would piss him off more if I ignored him than if I started a battle of wits and traded barbs over text.Mostly because I was a hell of a lot smarter than him, and he would quickly resort to juvenile insults, slurs, and cursing.
I deleted the message and shoved my phone back into my pocket, but it only stayed there a second before it started to ring.
Alice Wu.
This call I would definitely take.
“Hey, guru lady.How’s it going?”I answered.
“Are you seeing this?”she asked, excitement in her voice.
“Seeing what?I’m currently sitting in a community center parking lot staring at a closed door.All I’m seeing right now is mud puddles, a grass roof, and what may or may not be goat shit on said grass roof.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind.What’s up?”
“The number of listened hours for your podcast.It’s only been live for like six hours and already you’ve had like two thousand hours listened.This islit.I’ve never had a client’s first podcast go viral like this before, no cap.”
“Whoa.”I shoved my fingers into my hair and tugged on the ends a little just to wake myself up.“I … I was too nervous to sit in front of my laptop and watch.This is crazy.”The butterflies in my stomach did somersaults of elation, but I knew better than to get carried away, and told them to settle down.Maybe this was just hype for something new.Something novel.And I’d be labeled a hack this time next week and nobody would tune into the next episode.But a few of those little buggers continued to flap their wings in hope.
“Damn right.You ate it,” Alice exclaimed.
Even though we were both Gen-Z I seriously struggled to keep up with her slang.
“You slayed your first episode.And the fact that you already have your next two all queued up means I can start taking sound bites from them to entice listeners.You already have brand deals coming in, Mav.Like this is legit fire.”
“Brand deals?”
“Sponsorship.Companies want a piece of the Maverick Roy pie.They want to sponsor your podcast, have you mention them on air, and they’ll pay you a buttload of money to do it.”
“That’s a thing for podcasts?I mean, I know it is for athletes.I just had no idea it was a thing for podcasters.”
“You can monetize anything with the right sales pitch and audience.Can you send me your producer’s information?I want to chat with him a bit about jazzing up your intro.It’s great, but I think we can make it greater.Do a bit of a flex, yeah?”
“Damon?”
“Is that his name?Yeah.What company does he work for?”
“Uh,” I scratched at my chin, “he’s my girlfriend’s fourteen-year-old son.”
“Shut up.”
“No?”
“First of all, Maverick Roy has a girlfriend?That’s big news.Secondly, the guy editing your shows isfourteen?Are you kidding me?”
“No?”
“Wait.There aren’t any like child labor laws we have to look into are there?You’re paying him?He’s getting breaks and shit?”
“I’m paying him.But as far as breaks go, I don’t know.”She was sending me into a panic.“He does it in his bedroom after he’s finished his homework.I’m pretty sure he goes piss when he needs to and grabs a banana if he’s hungry.I haven’t chained the kid’s leg to a chair, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” she dismissed, almost too casually.“Though, I’d just double-check on things, yeah?Last thing we need is for people to think you’re sus and hiring kids because you’re cheap AF.”
