Read Online Game On (A Bad Boy Sports Romance) by Olivia Lancaster - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Olivia Lancaster
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a nod as she peered at me over her glasses. “Hey, Lacy. Janet around?”
“Mm, let me see if she has a moment,” the young woman said, peering at me uncertainly. She wasn’t the type to appreciate unannounced meetings, but these were special circumstances. She picked up the phone and paged Janet, and after a short exchange, she nodded at me, albeit with some reluctance. “Go on in,” she said, and I gave her a knowing nod.
I had a feeling I knew why Janet’s secretary was hesitant to let me see her right now, and as I stepped into the dimly-lit office, my suspicions were confirmed.
Even through the dim light, I could see Janet’s dilated pupils gleaming from the glow of the nearby lamp, and the whites of her eyes were a little bloodshot, as if she had been scratching at them too much. She sniffed hard as I entered, and she adjusted her blonde hair hastily as I made my way in.
“Hi, Kieran,” she said quickly, “come in, sit down. I wasn’t expecting you. Do you need something? I have a busy day today.”
Her voice, already high, was a little shaky, and her words came quickly, as if she were jerking them out of her mind in a flurry. I bit back a frown as I gave a polite nod and took a seat in front of her.
It was Paul who’d gotten Janet hooked on blow. I assumed he had started using some time back in the 80s and just never got off the stuff. Living in Las Vegas in the lifestyle of a sports team owner didn’t offer much in the way of discouragement from drug addiction. From everything I’d heard from the older players and managers, Janet hadn’t always been like this. She met Paul when she was in her thirties, starting to fall into a mentally unhealthy place over her signs of aging, the looks she’d had in high school starting to visibly change. Maybe she’d seen in Paul her last chance of being found attractive, and she gave him a kind of trust she never should have given a man like Paul.
It made me sad in a way I couldn’t fully express. Growing older was a natural thing, and no woman should be ashamed of showing her maturity and enjoying it. If it weren’t for men like Paul, maybe Janet could have seen that, but she was too far into her cocaine dependency to see that. They were both ill.
“Hey, Ms. Walker,” I started, “I wanted to talk a little about the contract renewal that’s coming up.”
“Oh, yes!” she said, suddenly brightening up. “Did you get the email of the draft we sent you? It’s all ready to go, all we need you to do is sign your little name where it says, a few initials here and there, and you’re back on track where you’ve been before.”
“Yeah, I got the email,” I said, “and that’s what I wanted to talk about a little. There were a few things that didn’t totally make sense to me in it, and I’m pretty sure some of the wording isn’t like it was on the last contract I signed.”
“Pssh,” she rolled her eyes, waving a dismissive hand with what I took as a pretty condescending smile. “don’t worry your little head about that now, darlin’. You see, we administrators have to change some of the terms and conditions every renewal to account for the changing market around us. Sometimes we find loopholes in contracts we have to fix, extra protections for our players, exclusions, termination conditions, this and that, you know how it goes,” she finished with a wolfish smile. “Nothing’s really going to be changing for you, though, I can tell you that much.”
“I understand,” I said cautiously, trying to sound less suspicious than I really was. “Still, since my career has been
“Mm, let me see if she has a moment,” the young woman said, peering at me uncertainly. She wasn’t the type to appreciate unannounced meetings, but these were special circumstances. She picked up the phone and paged Janet, and after a short exchange, she nodded at me, albeit with some reluctance. “Go on in,” she said, and I gave her a knowing nod.
I had a feeling I knew why Janet’s secretary was hesitant to let me see her right now, and as I stepped into the dimly-lit office, my suspicions were confirmed.
Even through the dim light, I could see Janet’s dilated pupils gleaming from the glow of the nearby lamp, and the whites of her eyes were a little bloodshot, as if she had been scratching at them too much. She sniffed hard as I entered, and she adjusted her blonde hair hastily as I made my way in.
“Hi, Kieran,” she said quickly, “come in, sit down. I wasn’t expecting you. Do you need something? I have a busy day today.”
Her voice, already high, was a little shaky, and her words came quickly, as if she were jerking them out of her mind in a flurry. I bit back a frown as I gave a polite nod and took a seat in front of her.
It was Paul who’d gotten Janet hooked on blow. I assumed he had started using some time back in the 80s and just never got off the stuff. Living in Las Vegas in the lifestyle of a sports team owner didn’t offer much in the way of discouragement from drug addiction. From everything I’d heard from the older players and managers, Janet hadn’t always been like this. She met Paul when she was in her thirties, starting to fall into a mentally unhealthy place over her signs of aging, the looks she’d had in high school starting to visibly change. Maybe she’d seen in Paul her last chance of being found attractive, and she gave him a kind of trust she never should have given a man like Paul.
It made me sad in a way I couldn’t fully express. Growing older was a natural thing, and no woman should be ashamed of showing her maturity and enjoying it. If it weren’t for men like Paul, maybe Janet could have seen that, but she was too far into her cocaine dependency to see that. They were both ill.
“Hey, Ms. Walker,” I started, “I wanted to talk a little about the contract renewal that’s coming up.”
“Oh, yes!” she said, suddenly brightening up. “Did you get the email of the draft we sent you? It’s all ready to go, all we need you to do is sign your little name where it says, a few initials here and there, and you’re back on track where you’ve been before.”
“Yeah, I got the email,” I said, “and that’s what I wanted to talk about a little. There were a few things that didn’t totally make sense to me in it, and I’m pretty sure some of the wording isn’t like it was on the last contract I signed.”
“Pssh,” she rolled her eyes, waving a dismissive hand with what I took as a pretty condescending smile. “don’t worry your little head about that now, darlin’. You see, we administrators have to change some of the terms and conditions every renewal to account for the changing market around us. Sometimes we find loopholes in contracts we have to fix, extra protections for our players, exclusions, termination conditions, this and that, you know how it goes,” she finished with a wolfish smile. “Nothing’s really going to be changing for you, though, I can tell you that much.”
“I understand,” I said cautiously, trying to sound less suspicious than I really was. “Still, since my career has been
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