6. Maggie

The afternoon of Opening Day, I found myself exactly where I didn't want to be. In May's office, feeling like I was waiting to be told I had detention from the school principal. I was cursing Olivia with everything inside me. Of course the one night I finally agreed to go out, something like this would happen.

If there was some lesson to be learned from all of this, it was that I should have stayed home with my ice cream, romantic comedies, and face masks. There were no paparazzi lurking around corners, waiting to ruin my life on rom-com night. There was only Peter Kavinsky, Edward Lewis, Graham Simpkins, and Jake Perry.

May entered a few moments later, interrupting my mental breakdown. She looked less than pleased, sending my hopes and dreams crashing down into the cold, deep depths of unemployment.

"You're going to want to follow me." May motioned for me to come with her back out of her office and toward the C-suite.

Oh shit.

I wasn't going to get fired by my boss. I was going to be berated by the owner of the team for helping add to the bad-boy image that Tommy Mikals had created for himself. The exact image the PR team had been working to fix. My mind thought through all of my back-up plans as we drew closer to the main conference room. Maybe JCPenney would hire me to take those eighties headshot photos that were trending on social media.

We rounded the corner, and I was greeted by the entire PR team seated around the long table with Tommy sitting in the middle. He looked as surprised as I was to see him. So not only was I about to lose my job, but I was going to have to do it in front of him? Could this day get any worse?

"Have a seat." The head of the PR department, Monica, motioned for me to sit down at the head of the table facing everyone else. I slowly sank down in the chair, wanting nothing more than to be anywhere else. If I could wish for something bad enough, it would be to disappear from that conference room at that exact moment.

"So I'm sure you two have already seen it," Monica started.

I knew what "it" was, but a small part of me hoped that maybe this meeting was for something else entirely. But with a click of a button, there it was up on the large flatscreen in the conference room in high definition. A picture of me and Tommy in his car, my hand doing a poor job of covering my face. The looks on our faces made it seem like we had been caught doing something we shouldn't have been.

Which I guess was true.

It was probably the best picture the paparazzo had gotten that night. On the bright side, I didn't look half bad. My normally wild curls looked perfectly unkempt. There was a flush on my cheeks from the cool air, and for once, I didn't hate how my body looked in a photo. I looked pretty. At least there was one win on this day.

"This photo has been plastered across practically every news outlet and all over social media." Monica sat back in her chair, lacing her hands together in front of her on the table. Her body language screamed don't mess with me, and I didn't really feel like testing that. "And you've been trending on social media. So we've come up with a plan."

A what?

My head snapped over to Monica, my eyes tearing from the picture on the screen. Did she say a plan? That was not how I imagined I would be fired.

"Tommy, you knew the terms of your contract when the Cougars signed you." Monica's attention changed to look at the man sitting across from her. The confident aura that Tommy had radiated the day before, both at practice and at the club, was long gone. He was slumped in his chair, looking like someone who had been told off by his mother. "The owner was less than happy to see these photos this morning, because as you know, your reputation from previous years drove ticket sales down at San Diego. That's the last thing we need here. But the PR team and I see it as an opportunity."

My heart was pounding. Could Monica get to the point already? This long, drawn-out talk seemed like a torture tactic, and if they didn't cut me free in the next five minutes, I was considering turning in my resignation to put myself out of my own misery.

"Part of the terms of your contract were that you had to help us clean up your image, and that included no girls." Monica gave me a pointed look, and I was back to wishing I could melt through the floors. I was being lumped into the same category as the ditsy blondes that Tommy had been photographed with one too many times. "However, Maggie isn't just any girl."

I'm not?

"She's not outside the boundaries of the club. She's a controllable factor." The words now coming out of Monica's mouth sounded like a foreign language. I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Maggie is the perfect answer to help us rehabilitate your image," Monica continued. "Social media is loving that picture. So, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for the club to capitalize on. We had our team do a quick audit on Maggie's social media pages. Her online presence is innocent and much more appealing to the wider audience of our fanbase than any of your previous"—Monica paused—"relationships. She's more relatable to the everyday fan than any of the actresses or models you've been attached to in the past. She's the perfect person to showcase stability."

"What are you saying?" I asked, seeing the same confusion I was feeling mirrored on Tommy's face. Monica looked like she had won the lottery the way she was glancing between me and Tommy.

"Maggie, you and Tommy will pretend to be a couple." And there was the point I had been so desperately wanting, and now that I had it, part of me wished they'd fired me. "We haven't nailed down the details yet. All you two would need to do is show up at the events we tell you to be at and be seen around Chicago a few times. That's it. Strictly business."

"I'm a professional athlete." Tommy's voice was deadly quiet. There was a venom there that sent chills down my spine. "I don't need to be in some fake relationship."

"Unfortunately, Tommy, you do. If you get caught in another compromising photo, no matter how innocent, the club has grounds to terminate your contract. And from what I understand, the Cougars were your last option of staying in the pros." Monica leveled Tommy with a stare that would have frozen over a river in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

Tommy's jaw clenched, but he didn't deny Monica's point. Then everyone's eyes in the conference room moved to me. My own darted around the room, trying not to land on anyone for too long. I was sure everyone in the room was in on some joke that I had been conveniently left out of. Like at any moment, Ashton Kutcher would jump out of his hiding spot and tell me I'd been punked.

"Maggie, we know that we can't ask you to do something like this," Monica continued. "So we compiled a package for you. We feel like this would be a great option compared to the alternative of what could happen."

I didn't need a magnifying glass to read between the lines of what Monica was saying. Either I agreed to this contract or I'd be fired from my dream job. One of Monica's assistants slid a manila folder over to me. I stared down at it, feeling like this was all some cruel trick and when I opened that file, it would be contracts terminating my employment with the Cougars.

Monica motioned for me to open it. Inside was indeed a contract. But there was no letter of termination. Instead, it was my amended contract with a staggering bonus attached at the bottom. My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head. It was more money than I had ever seen in my entire life. I glanced up from the contract to find Tommy staring at me. His nostrils flared as he stared down at the folder in front of me, and there was a grim twist to his mouth.

"What do you say?" I tore my eyes away from Tommy's to look back at Monica, who was like a shark that smelled blood in the water. She had trapped both of her prey with exactly what they needed and she knew it. "The only condition before either of you accept is that the only people who know about this relationship are in this room."

Silence stretched on. Tommy still hadn't stopped staring at the folder. It was like he was waiting to see what I would say before he would share his thoughts. I glanced back down at the contract, trying to decide if this was prostitution and if I was going to be okay with that. My mind flashed to my run-down apartment and the dreams I had of investing in myself and my career to take my skills to another level, and the ways this money could help me further my media skills.

Did I really want to sign a contract to be Tommy Mikals's girlfriend? Not particularly, but I wasn't sure I'd have another opportunity like this. Part of me also thought about what would happen if I said no. Would I lose my job then? I spun the ring on my middle finger that I never removed as my mind rushed through the thousands of questions I had, calculating my options.

After a few more silent moments, I finally nodded my head. Monica studied me and then Tommy, and he gave one curt nod, his mouth pressed into a firm line. Monica clapped her hands together excitedly, like this was the best news she had heard all year. Tommy and I stayed quiet because we knew the truth.

Our fate was sealed.

I tried to escape the conference room as quickly as I could. There was absolutely no way that I could look Tommy in the eyes after that meeting. Monica had practically been my madam selling me out to him to help solve his problems. But apparently the universe had every intention of making my day as terrible as possible, because before I had the chance to escape into the elevators and away from the mess that had ensued in the C-suite, Tommy slipped in right after me.

The two of us stood next to each other, staring straight ahead. Neither of us spoke a word until the elevator doors opened onto the main concourse. We stepped out together like we were emerging back into the normal world, still not a single word spoken between us. The silence that was stretching out felt like a weighted blanket over my face, and I worried that if I didn't push it off, I'd suffocate.

"Listen, Maggie . . ." Tommy turned to me, one hand pushing through his hair and the other waving around in the air. He looked like he wanted to unload all of his apologies on me, and honestly, I didn't want to hear whatever he had to say. If he apologized to me for getting us in this mess, I would have to acknowledge the guilt I had for feeling like this could have been the best thing that had happened to me in the past four years. It was like my luck was finally turning around. So I cut him off with the first thought that came to mind to stop him from being able to speak those words.

"What do you want to do on our first date?"

The look in Tommy's eyes said that he wanted to give me some sort of out, and quite frankly, I actually didn't think I wanted it. My mind flashed back to the contract and the amount of money written on it. There was no way in hell I was walking away from this deal. Tommy blinked at me like I had grown three heads.

"You're telling me you really want to do this?"

"Is Tommy Mikals dismissing the opportunity to have a girl on his arm any time he wants?" I didn't want to let him see how terrified I was of doing this, and in that moment, the only way to distance myself from the very real situation happening was to try to diminish the seriousness. He studied me like he was trying to figure out the answer to some complicated equation before he gave up.

"How about after the game?" he asked.

As if this day hadn't been eventful enough, I still had a game to shoot.

"You know where to find me," I told him before heading toward the tunnel where I knew Olivia would be waiting for me. I pushed open the door to the break room to see her with her feet propped up on the table I had left my gear on. She turned when she heard the door open.

"Did you lose your job?" she asked. I had texted her the moment I started following May toward the C-suite that I was probably going to lose my job but had left it at that. I'm sure she was practically bursting for an update at this point.

"Surprisingly no," I told her as I started to unpack my gear. I hesitated telling her anything more after remembering Monica's warning. No one was allowed to know, not even Olivia. But could I keep a secret like this from her?

"Just a slap on the wrist," I added after a moment.

"Good." Olivia stood up from her seat and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "Because I couldn't stand coming to work and not having you here."

"You couldn't get rid of me even if you tried." I snaked an arm around her waist and started to steer her back out toward the tunnel.

The closer we got, the more I could feel the energy bouncing off my chest from the stadium. It was still a little over an hour before the start of the game, but it was already almost a full house. Music was blasting through the speakers, and the opposing team was taking practice swings on the field. It was like Christmas morning, but better. Everything felt right in the world again. It was almost enough to make me forget about the last twenty-four hours.

Olivia and I worked together to snap the photos that the social media team always requested and the photos that the league would also use for their publicity releases. I passed fans who looked like they had been coming to games for decades, fans that looked like it was their very first game, fans that were on their first date, and diehard fans with their entire bodies painted in the team's colors. I made sure to take a few pictures; May would love them for the social media pages.

An announcer's voice came over the speakers to get the crowd riled up as the Cougars ran onto the field for warmups . Olivia and I edged closer to the dugout to grab some shots. The outfielders ran past us first, and Jamil flashed a goofy smile. Then the infielders were next. Tommy was the very last one out of the dugout, and his eyes immediately found my camera as he exited. I wasn't even making direct eye contact with him as I watched him through my viewfinder, but I still felt like his eyes had seen right to the very depths of me. The heat rushing to my cheeks had me wondering if I honestly could fool everyone into believing that I was dating him. Or maybe the better question was if I could remember that I was supposed to be faking it.

"Maggie!" May was hurrying down the stairs of the stadium toward the two of us. "You're stationed in the dugout today. Olivia, you're over on the visitors' side."

I narrowed my eyes at May.

Every game one of us would be stationed in the home dugout and the other would be stationed outside the visitors' dugout. Surely it was a coincidence that I was placed in the home dugout tonight after just signing a contract with the club's biggest player to save his image and his career. The moment that May looked at me, I knew that my thoughts weren't far from the truth. The powers that be were pulling the strings to help further the narrative that I just agreed to. Olivia hurried off to her side of the field for the night, throwing me unknowingly to the wolves. Or, in particular, to one wolf.

"Don't tell me we'll get you the first game of the season, Canon!" Jamil exclaimed from the dugout. The guys had shuffled back in, getting ready for the announcement of lineups and the national anthem. I ducked under his attempt for a hug and turned around to snap a picture of him.

"Unfortunately, yes, you do."

"I don't think there's anything unfortunate about having you around." Adam smiled at me as he leaned against the fence. I could always count on Adam to say something sweet. He was the dad of the group, after all.

Jamil sidled up next to me with a mischievous smile on his face that was my second least-favorite look, right next to the smile Olivia got whenever she developed a plan that would surely go terribly.

"Can I help you?" I asked him, already dreading what would come out of his mouth next.

"You have fun after the club?" Jamil's eyebrows danced up and down. I froze the second I realized what he was insinuating. My mouth started trying to form words to explain to him what he saw, but then I remembered the ink that had barely dried on a contract up in the C-suite.

I hoped that the blush spreading across my cheeks made me look like a girl who had been caught red-handed in a new relationship and not a girl who was completely mortified to be in this situation.

"I guess." I shrugged with the hope that I looked nonchalant and not like I had a nervous twitch.

Jamil's smile widened as he watched me for a beat. He reached out to squeeze my arm before he turned to head back into the dugout. I pushed a long breath out between my lips and started to bring my camera up to my face when I noticed Adam watching me with interest. He gave me a soft smile before he turned his attention back to the field.

I tried my best to blend into the background. Most of the coaches tolerated the media presence, but they only put up with it as long as it wasn't a distraction. Soon, the announcer came over the loudspeakers to give the starting lineups. I took my place outside the stairs on the field so I could get a shot of each player as he emerged onto the field after his name was called. Each player came out one at a time, completely locked in for the first game of the season. The sound of my shutter going off was lost to the cheers of the crowd. It had grown to a loud roar.

Then Tommy's name was announced. The crowd went wild for him. At least his reputation didn't hurt his fanfare. He bounded up the stairs, the gold chain he wore while playing bouncing off his chest. He stopped at the top of the stairs to give a wave to the crowd before he turned back toward his awaiting teammates.

Goddammit. Why does he have to look so attractive in his uniform?

I was beginning to worry that I was going to have to remind myself this relationship was fake. Because if Tommy ever caught me staring at him the way I was in that moment, he'd probably think I thought otherwise.