Page 48 of Made For You
“Bonjour, ma petite poulette.” She uses the nickname she gave me when I was little. “How are you doing? It feels like I haven’t spoken or seen you in years.” I roll my eyes at her.
“It’s been almost a month,” I tell her and she just stares at me.
“Something is different about you.” She pushes her face even deeper into the screen. “You look a bit different. Your smile is a bit brighter.” She taps her finger on her chin. “Could it be a penis smile?” I laugh at her. “I know that smile. I wear it often.”
“Eew,” I say, trying not to picture my aunt and uncle naked.
“C’est la vie.” That’s life, she shrugs. “Now tell me why you look so happy.”
“Do I really look that different?” I ask as my heart speeds up. “Could be I met someone.” I know the minute I say those words it’ll be like opening Pandora’s box. There is no way she is just going to let me drop this little hint and not expand on it.
“Define you met someone?” she asks me seriously. “Like, you met someone and took him home for a roll in the hay or you met someone like you saw him more than twice?”
“Like, I met someone that I really, really like,” I say to her.
“What?” She holds up her finger. “This sounds a little serious.”
I shrug. “I think so,” I admit out loud for the first time. “I told him,” I say the three words, “I told him what I do for real.”
She gasps, looking around her, making sure she is alone when she says, “Like, about Cooper Parker?”
I nod my head. “Mon Dieu.” My God. “This is so much more than getting good sex.” She puts her hand on her lips. “This is like slip a ring on my finger and marry me.”
I hold up my hand showing her no ring. “We can relax about that but I told him everything.” I smile. “And get this, he’s a huge fan.”
“Who isn’t.” She rolls her eyes. “Maybe now you can perhaps tell your family so I don’t feel like I’m keeping a secret from my best friend.” I laugh at that. “You don’t know what it feels like.”
“Well, perhaps I just might,” I tell her and I hear someone calling her from the background.
“Okay, I have to run, but I want you to FaceTime me with the man who has captured your heart,” she says, blowing me a kiss. “J’taime, poulette.”
“J’taime, ma tant preferee,” I tell her and she winks at me before hanging up.
I put the phone down as I hear her words play over in my head, he has captured your heart. Said heart now starts to speed up even faster as I get up and walk over to look out the window, the sun filling the sky with not one single cloud in sight. “Good luck, Xavier,” I whisper, hoping he can feel my energy.
CHAPTER28
XAVIER
I sitin the back seat of the SUV, looking out the window. My leg moves up and down with the nerves that are soaring through my body. My heart’s beating so fast it’s the only thing I can hear in my ears, and my hands become clammy. My stomach is in full knots, making it so hard to swallow. I grab the little bottle of water that is in the cupholder in the middle of the seat, my hands shaking as I unscrew the top. I bring the bottle to my lips, taking a sip. My throat feels like it’s tightening even tighter. Screwing the cover back on, I put my head back on the headrest, closing my eyes. I start to control my breathing just like I had practiced. I think back to my happy place, but I’m a little shocked and surprised that now it’s with Vivienne sitting in the middle of my legs as we watch the sun setting. I don’t have time to think about what it means because the SUV comes to a stop. The door opens right away. “Mr. Montgomery.” The man nods at me as I put one foot out, hoping my knees don’t buckle, making me fall flat on my ass.
“There he is,” I hear from the side and see Bernie, the GM, walking toward me with a smile on his face. He extends his hand to me when he gets close enough. I have enough time to wipe my hand on my pants before shaking his hand.
“Bernie,” I greet him as he lets go of my hand.
“Thank you for meeting with me.” He smiles. “Shall I show you around?”
“Sure,” I agree. It’s the first time in my whole career that I’m doing this. When I was traded, it was done with my agent, and I was just told where to go. Now I feel like I’m being courted. He takes me around the training facility, the whole time telling me the best of it. It’s a state-of-the-art facility for sure, and because it’s the off-season, there really isn’t anyone here. The walls are filled with iconic plays through the years as he tells me about the way the club works. I really don’t say much. Just listening at this point.
We visit the dressing room, and then he takes me to his office. “Have a seat,” he offers, pointing to the empty chair in front of his desk as he walks around his desk to sit behind it. I take a seat in front of him. “So, do you have any questions for me?” He pushes back in his chair, rocking.
“Why me?” I ask the obvious question, and he just looks at me. “You must have heard some of the gossip that has been going around.” I chuckle nervously.
“From where I sit, there are always three sides to every story,” he answers. “Everything in the middle is muddled.”
I nod at his honesty. “How would you handle a player who comes to you, telling you the pressure with the press is overwhelming him?”
“There are always things we can do on our end,” he starts. “The press can be one way when you are winning and another when you are losing. I think it’s important for both sides to be respectful of that.” I take in the words he’s saying. “But I also know I have to have my players’ backs. If they come to me and are like, ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ I have to take them out of the press lineup.” He puts his hands on the desk. “But you have to know, doing that will just put more press on their back.”