Page 6 of Bleacher Report
It was a splurge.
Between the down payment and the remodel I did on the second bedroom—now fully converted into a soundproof, pro-level podcast studio—I’m officially the most broke I’ve been since college.
But every time I step into that room, hit record, and hear my voice come through crisp and clean, it feels worth it.
My savings account disagrees, but my soul votes yes.
The drive to Oakley’s gives me just enough time to lie to myself.
It’s just a bar. Hunter is just a player. And the WAGs are just a group of girls. No pressure.
Oakley’s is packed. Post-game buzz is in full swing.
The usual mix of beer, wings, and chatter of people dissecting plays hangs in the air, along with the sports network commentary blaring from every flat screen.
Cammy spots me first. She waves me over from a table near the bar, already deep in conversation with a mix of ladies and team staff.
I'm halfway there when I spot Hunter sitting at the bar, shoulders slumping, elbows leaning over onto the bar top, a whiskey glass in his hand.
Oh…it’s going to be that kind of night, huh?
She turns to see what I’m staring at and then turns back to me.
“Hunter?” she asks.
“I need an interview for the podcast syndication that I was telling you about. An exclusive with him would make the network lose their minds. He’s exactly what I need, but he’s—”
“He’s great,” Cammy says. “Really. I know that he was having an off night in media, but he really is a good guy. I bet he’ll say yes.”
Her smile says she believes what she’s saying, but her eyes tell me that she’s seeing what I’m seeing. A drunk Hunter Reed who had an off night.
The thing is…I don’t have the luxury of waiting for Hunter to have a good night. My opening is closing with every day that passes. It’s been two weeks, and I haven’t been able to come up with any better options. And the man is just sitting there in the flesh.
“Let me introduce you to the girls,” Cammy says and then points to Penelope Matthews first, the gorgeous blonde General Manager for the Hawkeyes who is as down to earth and a sweetheart. Interviewing her for my podcast was a dream. “You already know Penelope, but this is Dr. Kendall Hensen, our team doctor…”
Kendall is beautiful, too, and I’ve seen her interviewed plenty of times during post-game media. She’s smart, quick with an answer, and takes on the “boys club” with a finesse that I admire. I’ve seen her take down a reporter who asked her if she has a hard time focusing in the locker room with half-naked men all around. She said, and I quote, “If you’ve seen one set of hairy, ungroomed balls, you’ve seen them all. Now, if you have a more intelligent question to ask, I’d be more than happy to answer.”
Which earned her a room full of chuckles, though she wasn’t laughing.
After I get through the chaos of making the network happy and delivering on the guest they’re hoping for, I have to convince Kendall to come on my show. She’d be hilarious to interview, I just know it.
Kendall lifts her glass to me. “Nice to meet you.” She smiles.
“You too,” I say quickly.
“Then we have Isla Altman.”
I smile back, knowing Isla as the wife of a retired Hawkeyes player, Kaenan Altman. Kaenan and Isla made Seattle home after he retired, and they’re still very involved with the Hawkeyes. Kaenan is one of the head coaches for the Hawkeyes kids league, and I believe I heard that his seven-year-old daughter plays the same position he did in the league.
Cammy starts darting around, looking for someone else. “I’d introduce you to Brynn and Aria, but they disappeared somewhere.”
“No problem. I’m actually here for work as well, but it was lovely to meet you all.”
Cammy turns back to me as if to give us a little privacy.
“You’re going to go over there and ask him?”
“The worst he can say is no, right?” I ask.
