walked through the door, a leather-bound journal in her hand.
She was tall, and young from the looks of her, reminding Reese of a dancer, not that different from Rhiannon when Reese had first met her during sophomore year at Duke. But where Rhiannon had been thicker around the bottom, with wider hips, Cat was model-thin. She had long, black hair and hazel eyes, skin darker than Reese’s, and a narrow nose and mouth. When the woman had first picked Reese up from the airport months ago for the contract negotiating, on first introduction Reese thought she looked very New Orleans—mysterious, hard to define, with the kind of energy that was infectious. She’d liked her instantly. Cat nodded to Ryder and smiled at Reese before she handed off the journal to her boss.
“Wilhelmina still on vacation?” Gia asked Cat, and her assistant nodded, pulling open a page in the journal. “Here?” Another nod and Gia moved her head, as though settling something in her head. “Good. Thanks.”
The manager waited for her assistant to leave before she sat behind her large oak desk, the top neatly organized with leather-bound boxes to hold pens and paperclips and a few paperweights, all in different shapes and sizes.
Reese spotted a small white pig on the left corner of the desk with long, expansion wings and a proud grin on its face. She thought it was odd, such an eclectic figurine amid the important-looking folders and fancy leather boxes and files, but she dropped the thought when Gia spread open the pages of the journal.
“Little Steamers,” she started, and the two words had Ryder leaning forward, hands locked together as he watched Gia. “It’s gotten so popular we’ve decided to extend the camp by two weeks.”
“Why wasn’t I told?” he asked, expression shifting into something that reminded Reese of a kid being told there’s no Santa.
“I’m telling you now.”
“Coach Ricks…”
“Has other things occupying his time and asked me to make arrangements with Willie.”
The muscles in Ryder’s neck flexed as he worked his back teeth together, but he remained silent.
“What’s happening?” Reese asked, leaning on one elbow as she tried like hell not to laugh at the pout that had suddenly transformed Ryder’s face.
“The Little Steamers camp is an event we do for kids, under the age of fourteen from the city and surrounding areas. The players go in, teach them about conditioning, show them drills, and at the end of the camp the kids are assigned teams and have a tournament. It coincides with the end of our regular season. Their final game happens first week in January. The kids on the winning team, and their families, get a free trip to Disney with the players. It’s a big deal to the team and the kids.”
“A very big deal,” Ryder supplied, finally unclenching his jaw. “What are you planning?” he asked Gia, face brightening as he waited for her to answer.
“Since you and Reese want to act like bickering siblings, I’m going to treat you like siblings.” She shuffled through some papers and pulled two single sheet calendars from the journal. “You will work together these two weeks.” She handed Reese and Ryder each a sheet. “You will be cordial. You will be professional, and you will remember that whatever you say and do, the kids will notice.”
“Gia…” Reese started, but immediately went quiet when the manager held up her hand.
“Before you get any big ideas about importance on the team, I should tell you that Coach Ricks isn’t happy about the fight, or you, Glenn, telling Reese to fuck off at practice.”
When Reese didn’t hold back the small noise of amusement from leaving her throat, the team manager jerked a glare at her. “Don’t get cocky. He’s not happy about you getting in Ryder’s face last night either, and I’ll remind you, Ms. Noble, that your contract includes a ninety-day probationary period. Don’t think because you’re getting the Steamers some notice because of the novelty of your place on the team that you aren’t replaceable.” She leaned forward, resting against her arms. “Everyone is replaceable in the NFL. Don’t ever forget that.”
When Ryder shook his head and stood, looking like he’d had enough and was about to leave, Gia mimicked him, pushing off from her desk to stand as well. “We’re not done here,” she told him, her voice lethal, serious.
“I have other obligations—”
“Do you understand what it looks like, Ryder? You telling the first contracted female player in the league to fuck off?”