Page 5 of #Awestruck

CHAPTER TWO

Aubrey had arranged a lunch date for me with Nia Owens on Monday. I spent the entire weekend either freaking out that this wouldn’t work or worrying that Nia would be as protective of Evan as her husband would be.

I got to the restaurant early and told the hostess I was expecting a guest. She seated me next to one of the windows facing the street. Another rainstorm started, raindrops lightly drumming against the panes as they fell. I tapped my fork against the table while I waited, my leg restlessly bouncing in time to my tapping.

“Hey, are you Ashton?”

I looked up to see a petite, well-put-together woman smiling at me. She had dark-brown eyes and black hair that hung to her shoulders. I stood. “I am. You must be Nia.”

We shook hands, and she sat down across from me, taking off her coat and placing her umbrella on the floor. “Did you watch the game?” she asked.

“We’re a Jacks family. I always watch the game.” I’d missed the first twenty minutes of it but watched the rest. The Jacks had defeated the Cleveland Browns last night, which had put everyone in Portland in a good mood. I mean, not that it was that great of a victory. My two sisters and I could have played against the Browns and won, too.

We looked over the menu quietly and placed our order when the waitress returned. After she left, Nia folded her hands together and gave me a level look. “So what did Aubrey tell you? About Malik and me?”

“My sister is serious about confidentiality. She said in passing that you owed her a favor, and she was nice enough to let me cash it in.”

Nia twisted her mouth to one side. “Good to know. I am planning on helping you, even if I don’t buy that you want to do some ‘day in the life’ thing. I know how ISEN operates. But I want you to appreciate what this favor means, so I’m going to tell you why I owe your sister.”

She paused when the waitress returned with our drinks: a water with lemon for me, an iced tea for Nia.

Nia added some Splenda to her drink before stirring it. “Last year, during Malik’s contract negotiations, a woman came forward claiming that she had given birth to Malik’s daughter. She was trying to extort half a million dollars from us to buy her silence. And you know how Chester Walton is about things like that.”

Chester Walton was the very conservative owner of the Portland Jacks. A retired Texan oil tycoon, he took his players’ reputations seriously. There had been more than one Jacks player let go because of things like this—committing adultery or fathering a child with a woman who was not his wife.

He was the reason I knew that if I could expose Evan Dawson as a liar and a fraud, he’d be fired. Chester Walton would never tolerate his golden boy’s halo being dimmed.

“Your sister managed to keep that gold-digging ho at bay until a paternity test came back, proving Malik wasn’t the father. Which I could have told her to begin with, because my man does not cheat on me. Then your sister went above and beyond and got the woman to sign a confession, legally stopping her from trying to come after us again, promising financial damages if she in any way tried to speak out against Malik or me. Anyway, Aubrey saved our future, Malik got his renewal and salary increase, and I promised to owe her a big one. Now tell me what you’re really doing.”

Some small part of me immediately considered that I could take this story to Brenda if I needed to. It wasn’tEvan Dawson’s not a virginlevel good, but it was still something.

Even if it’s a betrayal of your sister and the very nice woman who just agreed to help you?

I couldn’t be that evil. Nia had trusted me, and I could, at the very least, do the same in return. “I don’t think Evan Dawson’s a virgin, and I want to prove it. Because it can’t be true. Just look at him.”

“That man is fine,” Nia agreed. “I’ve never seen him sneak off with any groupies. I don’t think I’ve even heard any gossip about him. I know lots of women have tried, but no one’s succeeded. I think it is true, and you’re not going to find anything that says otherwise. But that’s not my problem. And since it’s not going to hurt the team or my husband’s career, I’d be happy to introduce you and get things rolling.”

“No,” I quickly retorted, cursing my quick tongue when I saw her reaction. Although I was willing to share some of my story, she didn’t need the whole thing. “I mean, he’d just lie about it, right? I need to get close to the other women like you. The WAGs. Someone there has to know something.”

“Before we move forward, I need you to promise me one thing. You won’t lie just for ratings.”

It wasn’t hard to agree. “I promise.” It was one thing to scheme my way into a job; it was another to be a reporter or an announcer and deliberately lie to sports fans. I could be cutthroat and truthful. “I would never do that.”

“Good.” She nodded. “You remind me of Aubrey. She’s trustworthy, too.”

“Ugh, don’t compare me to my ultra-perfect sister who can do no wrong.”

Nia laughed.

“Do you have one of those?” I asked.

“Girl, I am one of those. My poor sister is constantly hearing it from our mama: ‘Why can’t you be more like Nia?’”

The waitress put down a tray of sourdough bread as our laughter faded away. Nia cut herself a piece and chewed slowly, thoughtfully.

When she finished, she said, “You know, initially I thought this was about you wanting to meet one of the players. Which would require setting you up a great Instagram account. A lot of NFL players use that app as a dating tool. I’d make you my friend, which would then have you showing up in their feeds. Easiest way to meet an athlete. But it will also work for getting you in with the women. You need to focus on Tinsley Hale.”

“Jamie Hale’s wife?” From what I could remember, Tinsley Hale was a former Lumberjill. The Lumberjills were the Jacks’ cheerleading squad. She’d broken the team’s rules by dating offensive lineman Jamie Hale, but all had been forgiven once they got married. “Isn’t she, like, the managing director for the Lumberjills now?” I asked.

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