But even I was surprised by how long this scandal lasted.
How incredibly big it got.
Then again, I could admit that it was a hell of a storyline.
Once a hero, I was now the perfect villain.
I’d been written up in Sports Illustrated, GQ for my miraculous ability to manage the most unmanageable athletes. After all, I was the straight-laced hard-ass who turned Drew Maddox from blacklisted hothead disaster to MVP champion and beloved family man. I had a sterling reputation. One for keeping my clients out of trouble.
And yet I’d snapped three weeks ago and sunk my fist into my own client’s face.
Not the best optics to begin with.
But Watt, of course, made it worse.
I knew it had been a hard hit. I definitely didn’t doubt that it hurt. Of course, Watt made it his mission to play it the hell up for the media.
Watt Fears Setback For Return.
Watt to Undergo X-Ray For Orbital Fracture.
It was a bullshit headline. And a media trick I knew all too well. I hadn’t hit Shane Watt anywhere near his eye. His biggest injury was a severely bruised ego, not a goddamned orbital fracture. But once the headline was printed, the word was out, and by the time it was disproved, it was already long in everyone’s minds.
For people who didn’t follow the game that closely, it looked like I had singlehandedly put Watt on the injured list. That he hadn’t already been there. That I’d endangered my own client’s career.
Forget Iain Thorn’s brilliant track record as one of the best in the industry. The man can negotiate a whopping contract, that’s for sure. But good luck getting your next one when you’re riddled with career-threatening injuries—caused by your own damned agent.
A retired star had written that particular bit. Shortly after, Watt’s X-Ray came back negative, but by then it was too late.
Player statements had already come out. Statements about how in this league, they needed to stand together.
I’ve had nothing but excellent experiences with Iain Thorn as my agent, but due to the events that trans
pired between Mr. Thorn and my friend Shane Watt, I’ve made the decision to sever ties with Thorn Sports and Entertainment, and I encourage my fellow players to do the same.
Somehow, I only expected a few to leave.
But in the end, more than half did.
It took the first big star pulling the trigger, but then one by one, players dropped me. Clients called me at all hours, apologizing profusely, saying it was entirely to do with optics. That they felt pressured.
They wished they didn’t have to.
But they did.
And it was at that point that new life was breathed into the scandal. It had died down after the first week, but my official fall from grace gave it a robust second wind.
One that caused Holland’s resolve to waver.
We’d been particularly strong together in the first forty-eight hours after the story hit the news. It helped that we avoided reading anything. My agency had hired a specialized PR firm within hours of the incident. We were told to lay low while they worked on a statement. Building my case. Getting security footage from the bar.
In fairness, I hadn’t acted first. Watt had yanked Holland down so hard she’d scraped a raw line up her leg, and I still wanted to kill the motherfucker when I thought about that. Still balled my fists when I thought about the look of fear I’d caught in Holland’s eyes, the wince of pain she felt from the fall before she flipped a switch and forced herself to be strong for me.
That night, during the ride home, she’d ignored everything else she was feeling to hold my shaking hands, rub my arms, cup my face. She told me on repeat thank you and I love you. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that happened. But everything’s going to be okay. I’m going to make sure of it,” she had whispered in the backseat of the car.
And for the next three days, I worked from home because my office wasn’t a place for me to be. Not until the media circus died down. And in some ways, it felt like some kind of treat for me. Waiting for 6PM every day. My heart lifting when I heard Holland coming home to me after work, and my soul warming when she dropped her purse to the floor and wrapped her arms around my neck to kiss me.
It was a preview of the life I never thought I would want.