Page 15 of Endurance
I lean over, dropping a kiss on Vi’s head. “Hiya, Vi.”
“Hey, whore.”
I drop down in the lounger next to her. “I’m sorry.”
She smiles, her blue eyes still holding some form of kindness toward me. “I know you are.”
Booker maintains a safe distance at the doorway as Dad’s voice booms next.
“You’re always sorry, Tanner, but what are we going to do about it? You have a four-week suspension that I have to enforce or it will look like I’m playing favouritism.” He rubs the top of his grey-haired head aggressively, pacing back and forth before continuing, “Four weeks! Your game has been off all season. You and DeWalt can’t find a bloody rhythm and now this. You’re the team captain for Christ’s sake. You cannot afford this kind of a break, but here we are.”
“Dad,” Vi warns, throwing around her protective blonde-haired, blue-eyed power like a bad arse.
“I’m not shouting, am I?” he defends, the veins on his temples betraying him.
“No, but you’re getting close.” She squints up at him even though the London sky is completely overcast, mirroring my mood.
“Santino, did you talk to him yet?” I ask, looking at him hopefully.
“No,” he replies, buttoning his blue waistcoat. “I was waiting for you.”
Santino is part Italian and is a thirty-something, hotshot lawyer that’s on retainer for Bethnal Green F.C. He’s cool as hell and has even taken us all out for drinks on occasion just so we can help him score women. I think he’s the only one who sympathises with my situation.
“Tanner called me on his way over. He thinks he has an idea to help shift the media’s view on what they think they saw last night.”
My dad shifts his focus from Santino to me.
I swallow hard, suddenly terrified that my idea will get me laughed at. “Well, the press are all over this story because they believe Dr. Ryan to be just another fling of mine, like all my other…indiscretions…have been. But what if she wasn’t?”
“What do you mean?” Vi asks.
“What if Belle and I were dating?”
Vi’s eyes fly wide with excitement. “You two are dating? Tanner, that’s fantastic! Belle is perfect for you. She’s sharp, she’s funny, she’s friends with Indie. It couldn’t be more lovely—”
“No, Vi, we’re not really dating. I’m saying, what if we date for sake of the media? What if I take my suspension and show the media that she isn’t some fly-by-night woman? That I genuinely care about her. I’ll be on my best behaviour to help her family save face, too, so it doesn’t look like a casual hook up. It looks like two young people falling in…love.” The words feel all wrong coming out of my mouth, but they all seem to be gobbling them up.
“Do you think the Ryans would go for it?” My dad directs his question at Santino.
“They already said yes.” This shocks me. “They said if we can do a spread in a big magazine similar to what Arsenal lined up for Cam and Indie, they would agree to the terms.”
“Wait a second,” I argue, rising up from the lounger. “An interview? I never said anything about an interview.”
Santino puts a hand on my shoulder. “Tanner, it’ll be fine. We can rig it all, even the reporter. Just leave that to me, mate.”
“Belle agreed to all of this?” I ask, still in shock that they are actually taking my plan seriously. Belle wouldn’t even come out of her room for me before I left. I can’t believe she’s all for fake dating me in public now.
“Her family said she will so long as we all sign NDAs and it doesn’t go outside the family,” Santino answers casually. “The team can’t find out this is all a ruse.”
“No shit!” my dad snaps.
I groan realising this half-cracked idea I had might actually come to fruition. “Can I talk to Belle first? Before they strong-arm her into doing something she potentially doesn’t want to do?”
“Tanner, I don’t think we’re in the position for her to say no. The team needs this to survive this scandal.”
I frown at my dad’s words, but I’m not surprised. The team saved his life. He was a shell of a man after my mum passed. It wasn’t until he let football back into his life that he became halfway functional again. He’s always putting Bethnal first.
“Just let me try to talk to her first. I think I can convince her without making her feel like she’s being forced into prostitution.”
