Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Wendy gives me a look. I’ve dealt with her many times before and know she’s not one of those reporters who’s satisfied with cliches and platitudes. She’s a reporter who wants substance from the people she interviews. I’m just not really in the mood to be interviewed right now. My mind is consumed with thoughts of Devon. I’m counting down the minutes until practice is over and I can get back to her.
“Come on now, Dawson,” Wendy pushes. “This is your eighteenth year in the league, but you’ve got some real spring in your step. You’re looking the way you did when you were a rookie.”
I laugh. “Are you even old enough to remember the way I looked when I was a rookie?”
Wendy smiles and shakes her head. “Stop dodging the question, Davis. Seriously, what’s with the resurgence here? You’re playing like somebody ten years younger.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say here, Wendy. There’s no magic or anything going on here. The team is playing well. I’m playing well. That’s really all there is to it.”
“But I think the team is playing well because you’re playing well,” she presses. “And I'm curious about what has you playing so well lately, Dawson. What's the magic elixir?”
Anders skates to a stop beside me with a wide, mischievous grin on his face. “It’s not a what,” he says. “It’s a who. Ask him about his new squeeze.”
Wendy raises an eyebrow. “Is there a new woman in your life, Dawson?”
I elbow him in the ribs and shoot him a withering look then turn back to Wendy. “He’s Swedish and doesn’t understand English very well. You’ll have to forgive him.”
She laughs. “He’s been here fifteen years and has always seemed to speak and understand English perfectly in my experience. So, tell me about this new woman in your life, Dawson. Is she the reason you’re playing like a kid again?”
Anders grins. “You could say she’s infused him with a youthful energy.”
I turn and give him a two-handed push in the chest. Still grinning, Anders glides backward then turns and skates off to join the shooting line, leaving me there to deal with the fallout of the grenade he just threw into my interview.
“Youthful energy, huh?” Wendy asks. “So, is your new woman younger than you, Dawson?”
“Listen, there’s nothing there for you to report on. Anders is just being a dick,” I tell her. “You know how he is.”
“I do know how he is. And I’ve never known him to tell a lie.”
“Then you don’t know him all that well.”
“So, are you telling me there’s no new woman in your life?”
“I’m telling you that my personal business isn’t your business. You’re a beat reporter who covers this team. My personal life is out of bounds. You're a sports reporter, not a gossip columnist for fuck’s sake. Try to act like one.”
A small smile curls the corners of her mouth. “That’s not a denial, you know.”
“I’m serious, Wendy,” I say, my tone low and stern. “My personal life is out of bounds unless and until I decide to make it a story. Do you understand me?”
She looks at me, clearly disappointed by my unwillingness to give her something juicy to report on. It’s not that I’m ashamed of whatever it is Devon and I have going. I’m not ashamed to be seen with her nor am I all that concerned what people might say about the age difference between us. But as a pro athlete, my entire life has been under a microscope since the day I was drafted. There are very few areas of my life that are truly mine. And I intend to keep what Devon and I have private and just for me as long as I can.
“Wendy? Tell me you understand what I just said,” I growl. “Because I swear, if I see a single word about any of this, I will have you blackballed. Nobody will speak to you. And how long do you think you’ll last on this beat if you can’t get an interview with anybody?”
“I hear you, Dawson. I get it. But you know that I’m good at my job and can find out who this mystery woman is with a phone call,” she says. “So, if you want me to keep my mouth shut and not do any digging, you’re going to need to give me something.”
“This is extortion. You’re using my personal life to further your own career.”
“Extortion is such an ugly word. I prefer to think of this as establishing a solid working relationship based on mutual respect and trust.”
“More like based on mutually assured destruction.”
“You say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to,” she replies with a grin. “Listen, this is only going to work if we can have an honest back and forth. So, I’ll forget I heard Anders say anything, but you need to start giving me more than just empty platitudes. Do we have a deal?”