The Inside Edge, page 24
“Do you want to join me?” Nate countered.
Nate thought he was pretty enthusiastic, but Aubrey still dragged him toward the bathroom.
“So,” he said afterward, when he was dressed in borrowed clothes because everything he’d brought on his trip was dirty and overly formal anyway, “I’ve been thinking.”
Aubrey was in the process of putting his sweater back on, and he struggled for a moment to get his head through the neck.
Nate tried to breathe evenly and calm the butterflies in his stomach, but it wasn’t easy. “I hate my job.”
Aubrey sat down on the bed, all traces of levity gone. “I’m listening.”
Nate exhaled slowly. “I talked to Jess and Kelly, and I made my decision. I’m going to quit. But it’s kind of complicated.”
“Legal trouble?”
Of course he’d be familiar with the issues. “Technically under contract until the playoffs are over,” Nate confirmed. “I have my agent looking into it. If I have to pay to get out of it, I will, but obviously I’d prefer not to.”
“Obviously,” Aubrey agreed, and he stood up again and went out to the living room.
Nate wasn’t finished talking. “Where are you going?”
“Getting my shoes on.” Aubrey stuck his head back in. “My cousin’s husband, Tim, is in the house with my parents, and he’s an entertainment lawyer. You want to make friends?”
Well, in that case, the rest of Nate’s news could wait. “I guess it’s time to meet the family.”
When they entered Aubrey’s parents’ living room a few minutes later, Aubrey’s family were all sitting on the sofas, ostensibly engaged in their phones and not in gossip. It reminded Nate of that scene from Pride & Prejudice, and he had to smother a smile. Aubrey’s parents were definitely not the Bennets in this scenario.
“So, this is Nate,” Aubrey said, as everyone jumped to their feet in unison. “Nate, this is my mom and dad, my cousin Rachel, and her husband, Tim.”
Aubrey’s mom actually cried, wrapping Nate up in a hug so tight he thought he might need help with extraction, but finally she pulled away, wiped her eyes, and said, “We’re so glad to have you here.”
Aubrey’s parents apparently were having lunch catered, and there was plenty of food for everyone. Nate ended up sitting with Tim in a corner of the living room, discussing options and strategies until Tim and Rachel had to leave around two to travel to his parents’ for the holiday.
By that time Nate was flagging, and Aubrey must have noticed.
“Mom, do you mind if Nate and I head back to the guest house?” He flicked his gaze over to Nate, who tried and failed to get his eyes to open past half-mast. “I think he’s going to pass out on the couch.”
“Oh!” Aubrey’s mom looked initially disappointed, then contrite, and then compassionate. “I think you’d better, actually. But bring him back tomorrow.”
Nate managed a genuine smile despite his exhaustion. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.” He glanced at Aubrey’s dad. “Even if I have to justify every goal I’ve ever scored against the Canucks. Again.”
Aubrey’s dad barked a laugh. He’d spent ten minutes giving Nate a hard time earlier. “I like you,” he said cheerfully, clapping Nate on the back. “Have a good nap.”
The emphasis he put on the word made Nate’s ears burn, but all things considered, the whole day was a win.
All the same, it was a relief to take off his boots—still wet—and borrowed socks—wet again—in the tidy living room of Aubrey’s parents’ guest house and just collapse on the sofa. His eyes felt gritty, but he had more he wanted to say before he gave in to sleep, so he reached out his arm for Aubrey, who dropped next to him and leaned his head on Nate’s chest.
“I didn’t get anybody presents.” Oops. That wasn’t what he’d meant to say. “Yours are probably waiting for you in Vegas, but even the Duty Free at the airport was closed at three in the morning. Just inconsiderate.”
Aubrey kicked his feet up on the couch and arranged himself further with Nate as his pillow. “It’s all good. It’s not like my parents actually need a two-thousand-dollar bottle of scotch.”
“How’s it going with them?” Everything had seemed okay today, but families could put on a pretty convincing front for outsiders.
“Good, actually.” Aubrey rolled so he was facing the ceiling, and Nate could see the way his brow furrowed. “It’s… I have a hard time trusting it, still. I keep waiting for the rug to get pulled out from under me. I don’t know if that’ll ever completely go away, but it’s been really good so far.”
Automatically Nate threaded his hand in Aubrey’s hair and massaged his scalp. God, his whole body was in overload. He’d never felt so skin-hungry as he had these past two weeks.
He never wanted to feel like that again.
“So, not to bring up a potentially sensitive subject.” He tried not to hold his breath. His heart suddenly felt like it was beating way too loud, but he’d put this off long enough. “I was wondering if you know anyone in Vegas who might be looking for a roommate?”
For a moment Aubrey only blinked at him, and everything seemed very still.
Then he sat up so fast Nate had to lean back to avoid cracking their heads together.
“Are you serious?”
Nate had a moment of doubt. “I mean, if you changed your mind—”
Aubrey cut him off with a kiss, hard and fast and fervent, that basically left him sitting in Nate’s lap. Nate wasn’t complaining. “I haven’t. Yes, you can still come live with me.” He paused. “Actually, I insist. If I have to subject myself to that vase….”
Nate laughed, and Aubrey leaned down to touch foreheads with him. “There’s that competitive streak biting me in the ass again.”
“Rude,” Aubrey said. “That’s my job.”
He was such a brat.
“I was worried,” Aubrey admitted quietly a moment later.
Nate leaned back into the couch, taking Aubrey with him, and maneuvered until they were lying side by side. “About?”
He shook his head, obviously searching for words. “Us? Everything? I don’t know. I thought, I didn’t want to give up Cirque for you, and you didn’t want to give up the show for me, and where did that leave us? How could we make that work?”
Nate got it. He ran his hands absently up and down Aubrey’s back while he worded his response. “I needed more time,” he said finally. “I already knew I didn’t like my job anymore, but I hadn’t accepted it yet. And I knew getting out of my contract was going to be a pain. But it was never….”
“It was never the show or me,” Aubrey said quietly.
“Yeah. Though this new version of the show wasn’t hard to give up once I finally admitted the truth to myself.”
“What about in the future, though?”
“Well, I have it on good authority that Vegas has an NHL team now. Maybe they need some off-ice personality.”
Aubrey shook his head. “I meant—what about after Cirque is done? What if you have a job there and my work is somewhere else?”
“Then we make that decision together.” Nate lifted a shoulder in an awkward shrug. “I’ve been lucky my whole life to have a job I’ve done because I love it. Doubly lucky because I could quit now and never worry about money again. But if it came down to a job I love or the man I love?” He cupped the side of Aubrey’s face. “Easy choice.”
Aubrey’s eyes were suspiciously shiny. “It’s me, right?”
Nate gently pulled him closer, until his lips were kissing distance. “It’s you.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“YOU’RE SURE this’ll work?” Nate asked, doing his best not to telegraph his anxiety through body language. Keeping unnaturally still seemed just as likely to give him away, but at least it didn’t carry the same connotations as fidgeting.
“No,” his agent said. “But it probably will. The strategy you and Tim worked out is sound. And chances are, if they want to continue the show in this vein, you’re giving them an out anyway.”
Nate snorted a little. “Until they hear my caveats.”
“Carrot first, stick afterward,” Maddie reminded him, and then the door to the conference room opened and the network crew filed in.
Everyone stood for handshakes and introductions, and then Gary Mitchell gestured for them all to be seated.
Nate was glad they were doing this on the neutral ground of his agent’s office—just one of the perks of the network not having a major presence in Chicago.
“Gentlemen, Ms. Chapel.” Maddie nodded at her, and Nate caught her eyes across the table, trying to telegraph, Sorry for dragging you into this. “Thank you for coming. We appreciate that this is taking you away from time you’d rather be spending with your families.”
Maddie could have invited someone to eat shit and die and they’d have thanked her politely. Best agent ever.
Gary looked a little off balance as he answered, “Our business associates are family for us too.”
Backward. Nate made his family his business associates. But he kept his mouth shut.
Maddie smiled pleasantly, acknowledging the sentiment. “Mr. Mitchell, my client and I have no desire to waste your time. Mr. Overton is here to tender his resignation, effective immediately.”
The man to Gary’s left—he was the network’s in-house counsel, Nate remembered—put a hand on the table as though to forestall anyone else on his side from speaking. “Mr. Overton is aware, of course, that the penalty for early termination of his contract is two million dollars.”
“Mr. Overton can read, thanks,” Nate said before he could help himself.
Next to him, Tim put a restraining hand on his arm. Right. This was why he’d hired a specialist. “My client is aware of the fine print,” he said smoothly. “However, given the particulars of the situation, my client would like to propose an alternative settlement.”
From the sour-grapes look on his face, Gary didn’t like that much, but the lawyer didn’t seem surprised.
“Such as?”
That was from Royce, the show liaison. Nate didn’t think he particularly cared whether Nate was on his show or not, except for the fact that Nate had brought in part of a certain audience and now he was at risk of losing it. Good. He should be nervous.
Tim nodded to Nate, so he guessed that was his cue. “Since the network’s acquisition of the show, the format has become a challenge for me. I’ve gone from considered analyses of trades, salaries, and strategy to barstool coaching—from professional debate to antagonistic bickering.” And your son’s a homophobic dickwad.
Jess’s mouth twitched briefly in an expression Nate interpreted as Give ’em hell.
“In short,” Maddie said before anyone could respond, “this is no longer the show Mr. Overton signed a contract for.”
“A court may not agree with you,” Gary’s counsel pointed out.
“Maybe not,” Tim allowed, “but my client is willing to take that chance.”
Nate was, but he wasn’t done either. “To be honest,” he said, “I’m not even sure why you want me on the show. It seems pretty obvious that my cohost has an agenda that is anathema to my existence. So I can only speculate that I’m still around because you knew you couldn’t take over a show and fire both gay hosts without backlash.”
Direct hit. A muscle twitched at the corner of Gary’s jaw, and his temple throbbed visibly. “Mr. Overton, if you’re threatening us—”
“With what?” Nate said before he could help himself. “Telling the truth?”
Tim put a hand on his arm, but before he could speak, the network’s counsel stepped in. “I think we can guess where this is going.” He glanced at Tim. “You indicated your client has an alternative proposal?”
“Indeed.” Tim opened a folder and slid it smoothly across the table. “These are the particulars. In short: Mr. Overton will announce he is taking a personal leave of absence that will last until his contract expires. Of course that will leave his position open and the network in the unenviable position of losing two high-profile gay hosts within a single month. In order to avoid further public relations challenges, the network will promote Kelly Ng to co-anchor for the duration. As a bisexual woman of color who is married to a female hockey player, promoting Ms. Ng is an obvious statement that the network values diversity in broadcasting.”
Nate had talked to her about it. Baseball season opened just as the NHL playoffs geared up. Her contract didn’t have an expensive exit clause, though. He wondered if she’d negotiate to stay until the NHL season ended or tell the network to take a hike in no uncertain terms. It wouldn’t be difficult to get a pinch-hitting host for playoff coverage. They might even get an active player whose team hadn’t made the cut.
Mitchell looked like he’d been fed a mouthful of nails, but he kept his mouth shut at a motion from his lawyer.
“And what’s to stop anyone from speculating on the true reason for Mr. Overton’s departure?” the counsel asked.
Nate took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “I plan to announce my engagement to Aubrey Chase.”
Mitchell’s face turned a gratifying shade of purple, while Jess lost any semblance of ability to keep a straight face. “Congratulations!” she said, beaming.
“Yes, congratulations,” Royce said grudgingly.
“Nate and Aubrey are prepared to be very honest, Mr. Mitchell,” Maddie said. “Not only about Nate’s treatment on the show these past few weeks and particularly at the hands of your son, who replaced Aubrey as co-anchor, but also about the details of their relationship, which began during their tenure together.”
In other words, they could release true information that would make it look as though Aubrey had been fired specifically because of their relationship.
“Of course, they are also prepared to omit certain details and focus on another truth—that Mr. Chase was offered an opportunity to participate in a figure-skating show across the country and that Mr. Overton made arrangements to follow him as soon as was prudent, and that no one at the network had any knowledge of their relationship.”
It took another twenty minutes of hashing out details before they agreed on a course of action similar to what Nate and Tim had laid out. Nate had wanted to insist the network hire a diversity consultant, but they hadn’t managed to get them to agree to that stipulation.
Maybe this would teach them and they’d hire one anyway, but he had his doubts.
When it was all over, Nate slumped in his seat at the conference table. “Well, that was unpleasant.”
“But necessary.” Tim patted him on the shoulder. “I’ve got to go catch a flight back to my family. You want me to send Aubrey in?”
“Please,” Nate said pathetically.
Maddie smiled. “I’ll just give you the room.”
The door closed behind them, only to open again a second later. Aubrey stood in the doorway, his hair a disaster that spoke to how many times he must have run his hands through it. “So? How did it go?”
“My retirement fund is safe.”
“Oh, well, thank God.” Aubrey sagged into the chair beside him. Their hands found each other automatically.
Nate snorted. Aubrey had offered to simply pay the fee and be done with it. He hadn’t quite brought himself to ask exactly how rich Aubrey was, but he got the feeling two million was chump change. “You were worried, huh?”
“Obviously. Weddings are expensive.” He nudged Nate’s knee with his own. “At least the honeymoon’s paid for.”
On Christmas Day, Nate had printed out a copy of his gift to Aubrey—a two-week all-inclusive stay at an exclusive resort on Oahu for two, with flexible dates so they could go whenever the show had a break. Aubrey had opened it and spent a moment in quiet reflection with his mouth slightly open, then looked up and said, a little faintly, “We should get married.”
Nate found himself unable—and unwilling—to disagree.
“Well, a man has priorities,” Nate said.
Aubrey squeezed his hand. “Yeah, he does.”
Epilogue
INSIDE EDGE COHOSTS GLIDE TO ALTAR
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—It’s wedding bells and slot machines for Nate Overton and Aubrey Chase, former hosts of the surprise sports news sensation, The Inside Edge.
Chase, a Canadian figure skater with impressive hockey cred, and Overton, a fourteen-year veteran of the NHL, first met the day Chase replaced former host John Plum. Despite a rocky start, they immediately captured the attention of a wide audience and gained something of a cult following on Twitter—unusual for a show featuring analysis of professional hockey.
Overton and Chase have faced their fair share of changes in the past eight months. In November of last year, the unexpected cohosts found unlooked-for love. Then their show was sold to another network, Chase landed a dream role in a Cirque production in Las Vegas, and Overton had to make a choice.
“I was fortunate that the network was willing to let me follow my heart, and that they had Kelly [Ng, who previously worked on The Inside Edge as a correspondent] to fill in,” Overton admits.
The pair, who became engaged in December, have wasted no time settling into their new lives in Las Vegas. While Chase was busy practicing with the troupe, Overton landed a dream job of his own, working in conjunction with the Las Vegas Board of Education and PBS to develop SportsTalk.
“Nate is a natural with kids,” Chase says. “It made perfect sense.”
SportsTalk is a short-format educational web series that focuses on highlighting young talent, demonstrating key skills, and promoting healthy exercise for children. Proceeds from the show’s ad revenue directly benefit community sports programs for at-risk youth.
“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” Overton says with obvious sincerity.
“And it’s good for him to be the one who has to try to copy the skills sometimes, instead of teaching them,” Chase teases. “Keeps him humble.”
