Scoring Wilder(57)

Chapter Seventeen


The coffee shop was crowded when I arrived for my interview with Brian King the next day. I ran my hand down the front of my pencil skirt and tried to appear confident as I traversed the table looking for a smile that was bright enough to catch my reflection. Brian King would be attached to it.

Becca had helped me pick out the perfect outfit. I was wearing a pretty silk blouse tucked into a modest skirt that was tight but fell just above my knee. My kitten heels clapped against the hardwood floor until I came to a stop in the back of the coffee shop.

Brian was sitting there at a table with a photographer, but I couldn't process the fact that Josh was also sitting at the table with him in a nice button-down shirt and slacks.

"Oh, hello?" I muttered with a soft scowl as I made my way over to them.

Josh looked up at me and beamed while Brian gave me a hesitant smile.

"Hi, Kinsley. Please, please take a seat. As you can see, there's been a slight change in plans."

I shifted my gaze back and forth between Brian and Josh.

“What’s going on?”

"The editor at the magazine called me this morning and informed me that Josh would be joining us for the interview. The magazine wants to go in a different direction with the piece."

I dropped my purse onto the ground next to my chair and took the seat that Brian offered me.

"What direction are they wanting to go in exactly?" I asked, eyeing Josh skeptically. His smile was a little too wide for my taste… like he was the cat that finally caught the canary.

"Oh, just having two rookies spotlighted instead of one,” he began as if the whole idea was fairly innocent. “Josh is a rookie on the Stars and you're a rookie at ULA, but you'll both be trying out for the Olympics in the coming months. It makes for a more well-rounded piece." The way Brian explained it, the article seemed harmless enough. If they wanted to include us both, I didn't have a problem with it.

Both men sat there waiting for my reply. "Um, okay, I suppose that's fine?" What was I going to do? Storm out over a slight change in plans? Josh was a good soccer player; he deserved the spotlight, too.

"Okay, great!" Brian clapped his hands together and pushed some paperwork toward me. "There are just a few things we need you to sign before we get started. It basically states that any photographs the photographer takes during the interview may be used by the magazine and that we’ll post your words verbatim so that you’re protected in the editing phase."

I chewed on my bottom lip as I scanned over the documents, suddenly wishing I had my mother here with me. Signing contracts of any kind feels intimidating.

"Did you already sign yours?" I asked, glancing up at Josh.

"Just before you got here. It looked fine to me," he shrugged and offered me a small smile.

"You take your time, Kinsley. I'll go get you both some coffee."

Brian wandered off and I tried my best to read the details of the contract. It was brief and simple enough, so I signed on the dotted line and then pushed the paperwork back toward Brian's side of the table.

"How have you been?" Josh asked, leaning toward me. I saw the photographer's camera shutter open and close in quick succession. I guess the photographs started immediately upon signing the contract.

I leaned away from Josh so that it’d be harder to get us in the same frame.

"Fine. Just really busy."

He smiled and reached out to touch the back of my chair. "You're obviously doing well if the magazine wants to interview you."

I smiled tightly and nodded. Thankfully Brian returned right then, saving me from anymore awkward small talk.

"Here you go, you two," Brian said, handing us our coffee and flashing me his giant smile. He’d blind people with those teeth if he wasn’t careful.

"Thank you." I smiled tightly and concentrated on pouring cream and sugar into my mug while Brian fiddled with the paperwork and set out a recorder.

"I'm going to start recording now, if that's all right?"

Josh and I both agreed.

The interview passed quickly and I learned early on that I didn't have anything to worry about. The questions were similar to the ones that Brian had sent the other day. I answered them the way that Coach Davis and I agreed upon. Toward the end, Brian started asking questions about my relationship with Josh. I answered simply, routing around our messy breakup and focusing more on our friendship. Josh, thankfully, followed suit.

"That was great, you two. Thank you so much. Let's get a few photographs and then we'll be all done here."

…



As soon as I left the coffee shop I texted Liam to let him know about the last minute change.



Kinsley: Josh was at the interview.

Liam: What? Why?

Kinsley: They wanted to highlight two rookies instead of one. It seemed okay. I read the contract before I signed.

Liam: You should have called me or Coach Davis.

Kinsley: Why?

Liam: I don't trust reporters – I'm about to have dinner with my coaches. We'll talk later.



For a split second I was angry with Liam for being dramatic… but then his concerns set in. He’d been a part of this industry for years, so maybe I should have run the new interview style with him or Coach Davis first, but I hadn’t even thought about it.