Page 37 of Against the Clock
I glare at him and he holds his hands up.
“You’re not going to let it affect your game, right?” Ty asks, not bothering to beat around the bush.
His brother shoves him, giving him a meaningful look, but the rookie receiver just laughs it off. “What? I’m not allowed to ask?”
“Shut up,” Jacob says. “Sorry, Daniel. We won’t talk about it again.”
“Tell the coaches I’ll be right there,” I say and pull my phone back out. I should text Kelsey, see if she’s okay.
My finger hovers over her number. I’m about to call her again, even though I know that’s coming on too strong. I don’t want to push her. I’ve already pushed her pretty far, and I don’t want to scare her away.
The phone lights up before I have a chance to call Kelsey, though, and it’s my agent.
“Hey Brent,” I answer, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Daniel, have you seen social media? You went viral with some woman.”
“I know,” I grit out.
“Listen, man, I know you like to keep your private life private, but this is some damn good PR. Lots of people out there rooting for you to be some kind of fucking romance hero to this woman. She’s good-looking too, which helps.”
I ball my fists. I don’t like Brent commenting on how Kelsey looks. I don’t like it at all.
“I think you need to work this angle. I think this is a good look for you, especially to help line up some positive public sentiment towards you as you… start to transition off the field.”
“You realize I have a game to play tomorrow, right, Brent?”
“I know, Daniel, I know. Just trying to think ahead.”
Think ahead to when I finally announce my retirement and Brent tries to hang on to the oldest cash cow in his stable. I like Brent, but sometimes he annoys the fuck out of me.
“I just wanted to say keep it up. TikTok loves you two together. The more public you can make this, the better. This is the perfect move right now.”
“That’s not why—”
“The why never matters, Daniel. Just the result. Try to make it work with this one.”
“That’s what worries me, Brent,” I say quietly. “I want to make it work with this one.”
“Then it shouldn’t be hard for you, should it? Better and better. Anything I can do to help. Tickets to shows, dinner reservations, whatever.”
“I already sent her flowers,” I tell him. “I don’t need dating advice from you.”
“Hey, just because I’m on wife number five doesn’t mean I don’t know how to treat a woman.”
“Right.” I start to roll my eyes and hang up but stop myself.
Next week is bye week. Next week, I’ll be home, no game.
“You know what, Brent?” I ask slowly. “I may just take you up on that. You organize the dates.”
“My assistant will organize them,” he corrects me, and this time, I do roll my eyes. “What else for my favorite quarterback?”
A small, possessive grin unfurls on my face. “I want to send her merch. As much Wilmington and Daniel Harrison merch as possible. Courier it over today, so she has it for the game tomorrow. And write her a note.”
“That’s easy enough. What do you want the note to say?”
When I tell him, he’s silent for a second.