was when I was his age, and every age after that. I want to tell him that life isn’t just about football, but how can I when that’s all it’s ever been about for me?
Which reminds me that my mom said she’d stop by to see the house later this afternoon. At this point we’re just going through the motions—I know she’s never moving to Wayland Estate. But I do want her to see all the great work Tiger and her team have done.
My tormentor stomps back into the room, mad as I’ve ever seen him.
“What happened?”
“Sienna Ramsey happened.” He spears his fingers through his hair and takes several long, slow breaths.
“Sienna Ramsey is your problem client?”
“Yes, or as I like to call her, the pain in my ass.”
I sit up and wipe my face with a towel. “You’re telling me the wild child of tennis is the client you’ve been bitchin’ about?”
He adjusts the weights on the bench press. “Yes. You knew this.”
“I knew you had a tennis player for a client, I didn’t know it was Sienna Ramsey.”
He closes his eyes and takes long, deep breaths. “Yeah, well, why I took her on as a client, I’ll never know.”
“What’d she do now?”
“You know I’m treating her for a back injury, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve advised rest and only the minimal amount of work, much to her father’s displeasure. He’s her coach and a big part of the problem. She had a minor back injury last year, but he didn’t give her time to heal, and now she’s got a major back issue.”
“So, what did she do?”
“She snuck off and went snow skiing and tweaked her back.” His hands splay across his hips, he lowers his head, and shakes it from side to side. “Fucking snow skiing. What the hell was she thinking?”
“Doesn’t sound like she cares that much about her career.” I lie back on the bench to do my presses, and he follows to spot me.
“I don’t know what she wants. I do know she’s a hell of a tennis player. But right now she wants to stick it to her dad more than she wants to get back on the court.”
“How old is she?”
“Twenty-five. Old enough to run her own career, but she and her father have a super dysfunctional relationship.”
I do ten reps, and Duke guides the bar back to the stand. “Yeah, she needs to fire him.”
“Agreed.” He helps me lift the bar from the stand for my second set. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to fly to Colorado and meet with the two of them tomorrow.”
“No problem, man. I know what to do.” There’s a part of me that’s relieved Duke won’t be around. He knows me better than anyone and would no doubt sniff out my secrets about Tiger if he was here.
“Thanks. I appreciate you understanding.”
“Why don’t you just fire her?”
There’s a flash of something in his eyes, then he busies himself loading more weight onto the bar. “Can’t, I’m under contract.”
Uh-huh. Duke’s not the only one who can sniff out a secret. “You should talk to your boss about that. Oh right, you are the boss.”
“I wouldn’t have a business if I dumped every difficult client, present company included.”
I laugh, then sober and rub my shoulder. “What do you think, honestly?”
He crosses his arms and exhales. “Honestly, I think it will depend on your pain threshold. The injury’s healed, but it’s still gonna hurt. You need surgery.”
I’m shaking my head before he can finish the statement. “No way, man. That’s a year-long recovery. I can’t afford that right now, especially not with McKay making his move.”
“Cash, I love you like a brother, you know that. But it may be time to consider—”
“Don’t say it.” Anger explodes from me like a nuclear blast. “Don’t you fucking say it.”
“Retirement.” He levels the word at me with all the gravity of an anvil. “What more do you have to prove? You’ve won every award there is to win, you have more money than you’ll ever be able to spend, and your body is falling apart. Retire, talk Tiger into running away with you, and live your life on a beach, or whatever the hell you want to do, as long as you’re not getting beat to hell while you’re doing it.”
My fist curls into a ball, and Duke’s mouth looks like a pretty damn good target. “Why are you coming at me with this shit, man? I’m only thirty years old. I’ve got a