City of Champions (41 page)

Tea handed Jenna a cup of coffee before spooning out a bowl of buttery grits for Johnny's breakfast. He began shoveling the hot cereal into his mouth without a care in the world. Jenna, on the other hand, still felt like hers was ending. She'd taken Griffen and Tea up on their offer of staying with them for the night. The mere thought the press might be waiting outside her apartment was enough reason to hide out in Tea's crowded duplex for a little while longer.

Before she could take a sip of her coffee, the front door opened and Aubrey barreled inside, throwing her purse and duffel bag on the floor.

"What are you doing here, Aubrey? You're supposed to be in Denver!" Jenna said, completely shocked.

"I told her you were here. She saw the Olivia Hayes article," Tea answered.

"Auntie Brey!" Johnny jumped out of his seat and rushed into her arms.

"Hey little man. Wow, you’re really sounding like a big boy. Your 'R's' are coming along great. Can you head to your room and grab some face paint so we can make a mess with each other?"

"Man, you guys keep making me leave. This sucks."

"Johnny! Don't say that word," Tea chastised. "I know it stinks, but we'll have fun in a couple minutes, okay?"

"Sorry, Mom," he pouted. Tea leaned down and gave him a kiss on the cheek and he kissed Brey's cheek before running off to his room.

"Jenna, of course I'm back. The second I saw those headlines, I got the first flight home. It was a total bitch to fly home on New Year’s Day, but I knew you'd be having a meltdown."

"Thanks, Brey," Jenna said to her, as Brey hugged her seated form.

"You're welcome, babe. Though I am disappointed you kept your sexy times from me."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, Brey," Griffen said, walking into the kitchen. He wrapped an arm around Tea and kissed the top of her head. "I was just on the phone with my lawyer in New York. They're going to try and get an injunction to stop further distribution of the article and pictures, but he said it's a long shot. I'm sorry, Jenna."

"Not to add onto the bad news," Aubrey said. "But it's good you stayed here last night. My flight didn't land until almost midnight last night, but the paparazzi were camped outside our apartment even then."

"Oh, no. You're kidding?" Jenna said, feeling completely desperate.

"I'm sorry, but it's true," Trey said, walking into the kitchen in his boxers. He was pulling an undershirt on over his bare chest, covering his many tattoos and nipple rings. He looked exhausted as he smoothed down the tee shirt and ran his hand through his tousled hair. He'd refused to leave after he saw how upset Jenna still was the night before. With Vivian set to emerge from her room upstairs soon, too, they were having the most depressing slumber party in history. "That's how these vultures work, Jenna," Trey continued, "they're probably at your work, Wyatt's house, everywhere either of you would go."      

"Well, that blows," Aubrey said, as she scooped out some grits for herself.

"Griffen, what are we going to do?" Tea asked, "should you take Jenna to your place in New York?"

"You mean
our
place in New York," Griffen corrected Tea, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Yeah, our place," Tea said with a smile.

"That's better, gorgeous. But no. I really think she's better off here. Pittsburgh is less celebrity-crazed than most places, especially compared to New York. Movie stars are here all the time for filming and pretty much no one bothers them. Besides, I don't want to leave you and Johnny. Trey and I can keep an eye on her, at least for now."

"Thanks for thinking of it, Tea, but I don't want to go anywhere," Jenna said.

"You're right. Besides, here we have a better chance of making sure the cops take the time to make sure none of this attention gets out of hand. Carol called me last night. She was really worried about Jenna's safety and already had calls in to her friends at the Pittsburgh Police Department, so hopefully that will help, too," Tea added.

"Good for Carol," Aubrey said. "I have to say, though, none of this makes sense to me. Is this reporter obsessed with Wyatt, or something?" Aubrey asked, sitting down to her grits and coffee.

"It seems like more than that to me," Trey said. "Not sure what, but my instinct says she's got something bigger in mind than a crush on a football player."

"Yeah, my bet is she wants a primetime feature on
Fox Sports
," Griffen said bitterly. "And she'll probably get it."

"Oh God," Jenna suddenly started to panic. "My face will be everywhere." Her heart went cold at the sudden thought of Chase reading about her, staring at the photos of her with Wyatt. She figured he knew where she was, but it made her sick to think of him looking at her.

Aubrey sat next to her and put her arm around Jenna's shoulder. "It already is, girl. We just need it to blow over."

"Blow over? You know how hard I worked to get to where I am today."

"But you really should lay low. What if you stay with us? Griffen will be here, Trey, too. That would make me feel better," Tea said, sitting down next to her with worry creasing her face. "You don't have to go anywhere, right? I think you should stick close. Aubrey, you can stay here, too."

"Duh, of course. We'll hide out in our pajamas and watch chick flicks with our phones off. It'll be fun."

"Um, I have an appointment I can't miss tomorrow," Jenna responded softly.

"Work?"

"No."

"What is it, Jenna? Why are you being so cagey?"

"I don't want to worry you."

"Well, you're worrying the hell out of all of us right now."

"If she doesn't want to tell you, she doesn't have to. People are entitled to their secrets," Trey said sternly, squeezing her shoulder in a brotherly way that made her heart hurt. It felt nice to have someone on her side.

"I know you feel that way, mystery man. Jesus, Jenna, what else is going on? I can only worry so much before my heart explodes," Aubrey demanded loudly.

"Don't yell at her," Trey said firmly, quickly standing between Jenna and everyone else — protecting her.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, barging into our lives and telling us what to do? Griffen, you need to control your friend."

Aubrey was standing up, her finger in Trey's face. It looked like she was releasing all her pent up frustrations on him, and it made Jenna feel terribly guilty.

"Enough!" Jenna shouted, finally finding her voice. "I have a lumpectomy scheduled for tomorrow to remove several tumors."

Everyone in the room, except for Trey, looked shocked. He put his hand back on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Oh God, Jenna. What? Do they think it's cancer?"

"They can't be sure until they remove them tomorrow. I have to go through radiation, too."

"But you are the same age your mother was when she found out she was sick," Aubrey said, her voice choking with emotion.

"I know. She died four months later. So, no, I can't miss this appointment." Jenna flopped against the back of her seat, trying to ignore the queasy anxiety in her stomach.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Griffen asked, his voice rough with frustration.

"I didn't want to worry you guys. I didn't tell my father for the same reason."

"Your dad needs to know, Jenna," Aubrey remarked.

"No, he doesn't. It would tear him apart. Besides, I have enough to worry about today. I got a voicemail from Richard. I have to go meet with whatever members of the ethics board they could pull together on such short notice this afternoon. I mean, the meeting was already leaked on
Deadspin
, so I should probably get going." Jenna felt so defeated, but it was time to face the music — the very loud and depressing music.

"Jenna, you shouldn't go alone. Let me take you," Trey whispered.

"Sure, that would be nice, Trey, thanks."

"Jenna, I'm not done worrying about you," Aubrey said, breaking into their conversation.

"Griffen?" Tea whispered. Jenna was able to catch her meaningful glance at him.

"Yeah, got it. Trey, come with me. Let's give these three some privacy."

"Jenna, I can stay if you need me," Trey offered.

"No, Trey, I'm good, I need to talk with my girls. I really appreciate you going with me today, though."

Trey and Griffen walked out and two sets of anxious eyes immediately focused on her.

"I don't know why you would keep the news about these tumors from us," Aubrey huffed out.

"Ease off a bit, Aubrey. I know we're hurt, but you have to understand where Jenna is coming from."

"Thank you, Tea," Jenna whispered.

"Don't thank me, yet. It doesn't change that we're really worried about you."

"Please don't be. This is my problem."

"That's not how this works, honey. We're family. That means we are each other's problems. Nothing you could ever do would ever change that," Tea said, crouching in front of her and clutching Jenna's knees. "I wished you’d told us about all of it. We want to be here for you. Plus, Aubrey and I are really nosy."

"Seriously, Jenna, after all we've been through together, how could you keep that secret from us?"

"I'm sure each of us has secrets," Tea said, and Jenna was shocked to see Brey finally shut up, for once.

"I know, you guys. I should've told you. I'm sorry."

"You were going to tell us when you were ready. We won't torture you anymore. Right, Brey?"

"Right. We're here for you. It's not about us."

"Wow, Brey, you're really growing," Jenna teased.

"I know. Go figure. I still want to beat up this Olivia chick, so I'm not fully matured."

"If maturity means not wanting to boob-punch that bitch, then I'm a little brat, too," Tea exclaimed.

They laughed and Jenna finally felt the fear in her chest ease slightly as they sat together in silence. Aubrey and Tea gently stroked her back and she forced herself to be okay with how nice it felt to let other people comfort her for a change.

"I love you both so much," Jenna whispered.

"We love you, too. And we promise, this is all going to be okay," Tea added, just as softly.

"When?"

"Now
that
we can't say. Sorry," Aubrey answered.

"But we promise we'll be here for you the whole time," Tea added quickly.

"Thanks, you guys," Jenna answered with a sigh.

Wyatt paced back and forth on the linoleum floor of the hospital hallway, well out of sight of the conference room he'd left half an hour before. His legs wouldn't stop moving. He felt like a caged lion, desperate for freedom. Inside that room was a collection of doctors designated to decide Jenna's fate, and he couldn't do anything else to help her.

He and Gabe had made every call, and pulled every string, they could think of to get him in front of that ethics panel before Jenna faced them. In the end, his head coach had come through. It filled him with a sense of gratitude and loyalty that had rarely invaded his heart related to the game of football.

When he'd walked into the room, three older men stared back at him. He'd never been very good with words, but he had no choice but to try.

"Mr. McCoy, I'm Dr. Richard West, head of Dr. Sutherland's department. I've been informed you wanted to meet with us first."

"I do, sir. Dr. Sutherland did nothing wrong. Her opinion was delivered to my team well before anything happened between us — romantically."

"Those pictures imply a relationship began much earlier."

"I pursued her from the first second I met her. That's no lie. But she was always professional. If you could punish me somehow instead, I would jump at that chance, because she did nothing wrong."

"Fine. Then why does the article say you were scheduled to have a meeting with your team this week that would 'change their minds'?" an elderly doctor asked.

"She had nothing to do with that. I had my agent schedule it. I have no clue how it made it into that article. Trust me, I'd love to know. I was going to tell the team I was willing to make sacrifices to stay in Pittsburgh. I'd given up on changing Dr. Sutherland's mind. She never would've compromised herself that way. I shouldn't have even considered she would."

"Yes, let's talk about your desire to change her opinion. Seeing as you were quoted in the article to that effect…"

"I never approved that article. I didn't even know it was being written."

"But you don't deny that you said it?"

His heart nose-dived into his stomach. It took a quick swim with the shame already swirling around in there, before he found his voice again.

"No, I don't. I did hope to persuade Dr. Sutherland to change her mind, but she would never do something like that. If anyone is the problem here, it's me."

"The issue is, you're clearly biased in this situation, and that article doesn't establish you as very trustworthy. Though, it does seem quite unlike Dr. Sutherland to do anything of this nature with a patient. Consult or otherwise," Dr. West mused.