Page 11 of Friend Zoned

“Are you going to watch the game tonight?”

“That’s a hard no.”

“Oh, come on.” As I think of ways to convince her, an email comes through on my laptop. It’s from my sister, so I click on it.

It’s a picture of her and the owner of The Manhattan Mischiefs, the team that I coach. Wayne Valen is in his mid-seventies but looks ten years older. He’s hunched over and so thin it makes his face bird-like, but he’s filthy rich. He’s with one of his daughters. He has seven of them but no sons.

The body of the email says, ‘Don’t make me do it. I swear to God, I will.’ She has a few heart emojis to lighten the mood, but I know my sister well enough to know she’ll make good on her threat.

My phone beeps and it’s her.

“I’ll call you back and convince you. I have to take this call.” I end it before she can utter a word and immediately feel like an asshole.

“Little brother,” she says once I click over. “I miss you.” She blows me a kiss through the phone, and I sigh. “Come and play with me. You know you want to.”

Four years older than me, she was my best friend when I was a kid. I followed her and her friends around like a shadow, and she never once told me to get lost. We’re still close, but our relationship was strained for many years once I rejected the family business and chose to go my own way. Our father wanted me to take his place at the helm of the Walsh Group, but I wasn’t interested. When I got drafted into the NBA he gave me an ultimatum, and when I called his bluff, he cut all ties with me, disowning me.

“Don’t threaten me, Katherine,” I say to her.

“So, you did get my email. Your contract is up in two years,” she reminds me. “You were just saying over Thanksgiving that all the traveling is tiring.”

“I thought we had a ceasefire that day. That’s why I talked freely.”

“Yes, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t use it against you afterward.”

“And how does being CEO of an international company equate to less traveling?” I get up and drop myself on the hotel bed. She’s right. All the traveling is exhausting, and as much as I love basketball, my life has become tedious.

“We’ll be sharing the position. We will get top-tier executives to do most of it. No traveling at all for the first year. I promise you that, and then only if absolutely necessary going forward. We can put it in your contract that you only travel up to six times per year, but Aid, hire strong executives and have them do the work you don’t want to do.”

“Two,” I counter.

“Four. Do we have a deal?”

“No.”

“I swear, I will buy that team and fire you. I have the balls and the money to do it.”

I let out a loud groan. She’s serious, and she knows I know it.

“You can’t buy all the teams. Another team will hire me. I’ve brought New York four championships. I’ll call your bluff and take a job on the west coast.” That’s about the last thing I’ll do, and I’m pretty sure she knows it.

“It’s our family legacy,” she reminds me. “And west coast my ass. You’ve been at this for eighteen years, and you’re tired. Time to come home, kid.”

“Our father disowned me.”

She scoffs at that. “He didn’t mean it, and you know it. You were only disowned for a few months. Look, I’m proud of you for following your dreams, but I need you, little brother. And Mom is coming for Christmas with her new boyfriend, Eduardo. Dad says he’s going somewhere warm, but I bet he’ll show up. You can’t back out. Shannon is expecting her favorite uncle.”

She knows I would never deny my only niece anything. I don’t think I’ve missed a Christmas at home since she’s been born. She’s the reason why my dad and I are civil with each other.

“And she wants you to stay with us for an entire week this summer. That’s all she’s been talking about.”

“Fine, but no more talks about my career for six months.”

“Oh, please. I’ll give you a month, but I’m only going to come at you harder. I have a meeting, but I love you to pieces. Send some sunshine my way.” She ends the call after blowing me a kiss. Co-CEO of The Walsh Group. It’s a job of a lifetime, but I’ve never aspired to do it. I never wanted to walk in my father’s footsteps. I wanted to forge my own path.

And you did.

My phone rings again, and I get excited thinking it’s Jeannie, but it’s not. It’s an alert reminding me of a meeting I have scheduled with the assistant coaches in half an hour.

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