Page 72 of We Were Never Lovers
They were outside, Warren striding beside him, clear of ear shot when he said, “That was fuckin’ bullshit.”
Sean huffed a laugh. “Yep.”
“Ain’t no way you’re signin’ that shit. I’ll talk to some people, got some sisters in Legal Aid. Lemme see what they think. But Sean,” he stopped before they went through the glass doors that’d lead them to Jack, waiting on the other side, looking up from his phone when he saw them.
“Don’t sign anythin’ just yet, we got some time. Your agent shoulda been there,” he shook his head. “This ain’t over yet.”
“Thanks,” Sean replied, gave him the familiar handshake.
“Don’t mention it, it’s my job. Ain’t no way these whitefellas gonna fuck ya over, okay?” Warren smiled, winked.
He pushed through the door, nodded at Jack, “Reaver,” he said and headed for his office.
“Warren,” Jack said before looking right at Sean. “Everything alright?”
“Eh,” Sean shrugged. “Not really.”
He gave Jack the rundown as they made their way to the car.
“That’s fucking bullshit,” Jack said once they were heading out, his hands gripping the steering wheel. Sean wondered why he hadn’t yet insisted on driving. This was, apparently, his car. He focused on the houses whipping by and decided he kind of liked being the passenger, and Jack wasn’t the worst driver. Even when he was on a tirade like now, which he finished by telling Sean he’d talked to Annie. The lawyer sister, Sean remembered.
“Doesn’t she do criminal law?” Sean asked.
“Yeah, well, it’s all the law,” Jack replied and Sean laughed. Jack shot him a grin. It was a joke from a movie and obviously Jack wanted him to laugh.
That didn’t stop him from calling Annie as soon as they were home.
“She said she’s got a friend from law school, works in contract law. He’ll look at it,” Jack said as he walked back inside after talking to her for a while.
Sean rubbed his face. Maybe he should just retire.
“We’re going to be hiring him,” Jack went on.
Sean looked at him. “How much is that gonna cost?” He’d never worried about money since he’d started playing—he wasn’t as outlandish as his teammates, he had family he had to support, a future of savings he knew he was going to need, but he’d not had to worry since he made the league. Except now maybe he should start worrying.
“I dunno, probably not that much,” Jack said and mumbled about paying for it or going halves.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sean said. “Warren’s got some sisters in Legal Aid. They’ll look into it.”
“Legal Aid?” Jack said like he was referring to another planet. “We can afford a proper lawyer.”
“Pretty sure they’re proper lawyers,” Sean countered.
“No shit, but they’re pretty fucking busy,” Jack shot back. Sean didn’t think Jack knew anything about Legal Aid, neither did Sean, but it was a fair assumption.
“We can afford a good lawyer,” Jack said, quieter now.
“Easy for you to say,” Sean replied, ignoring the baffling ‘we’ in that sentence, “you’re not lookin’ at getting medically retired at twenty-seven. I’m gonna need that money.”
But Jack was already shaking his head. “I’ll pay for it, I’ve got the money from the car, another three years on my contract,” he shrugged like it was no big deal.
It was a pretty fucking big deal for Sean.
“You’re not payin’ for my fuckin’ lawyer, come on,” Sean said.
“I am,” Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “And you can’t stop me.”
It all felt quite childish, absurd.
