Fearless

by Maya Rossi

  “We’re here to honor men and women who have spread positivity and joy in their little corner of this great universe. But one person most of all has changed the narrative of a sport without taking a break on his quest for dominance and continued excellence. This man hasn’t just spread his positivity to a little corner but round the world. We’re here, gathered to honor one man most of all. Can we please give a standing ovation to a gentleman, an inspiration and a leader. Brayden Marshall.”

  All perfectly dressed two hundred and something guests surged to their feet as one to give a thunderous round of applause. Ava watched the breathtaking Brayden Marshall take a moment to receive the well wishes from those seated around him in awe.

  “I’m fucking surprise the legend made an appearance at all. Everyone knows this rodeo isn’t his thing,” Eddy murmured, inching on his tiptoes to see over the heads of people to Marshall.

  “Maybe he’s about to break the mold, show another side of himself,” Nance said.

  “And how long have we waited for that thinking no one as handsome and talented and freaking powerful as this man has become can be good?” Ava asked without peeling her gaze away as Brayden took long-legged confident strides to the stage after extricating himself from another long embrace.

  “He’s just too… much,” Nance said. “Can someone be so perfect? He must have a huge secret, something dark and dangerous. Maybe he doesn’t speak much not to give himself away.”

  “Only a prostitute, a backstabber and an idiot with the blackest heart can think up such drivel,” Eddy replied casually. “How does that adage go? It takes one to know one?”

  Nance features lost color, her fingers tightened on her wineglass and Ava rushed to run interference. “I’ll change my seat if I have to. Behave guys.”

  The hall went silent as Brayden grabbed the microphone. Like the ring general he was, Marshall took his time adjusting the microphone to his exact specification. He took another minute studying the crowd. After a second, the hall broke out into another spatter of applause.

  Brayden Marshall didn’t smile. Naturally, he was on the serious side which made his popularity all the more baffling. But as the most followed celebrity across all social media platforms, having topped the list of most influential persons four times in a row, and the highest paid sportsman, there was no doubt a greater part of the earth’s population loved him greatly.

  “Man, that guy is hot.”

  Ava didn’t bother with a reply to Nance’s obvious statement. Like many others she waited for Brayden to speak. It wasn’t a wonder why they waited so anxiously. Marshall was notoriously stingy with words, only speaking unless it was absolutely necessary.

  Finally, he leaned forward, his eyes and will held them all prisoners. “Thank you for the honor which I don’t deserve--”

  The crowd went all up in arms on his behalf at that. Even Eddy seemed offended. “Don’t deserve my ass. No one deserves it more.”

  “Don’t interrupt, please. I’m grateful yes, but I’m not just here for your esteemed recognition. I’m here for another cause. My foundation has pledged to provide clean water across an entire continent. Even for me, that’s an uphill task. I’m literally here to beg for your support. I understand addressing the whys will place us in a better position to proffer a solution but think of the millions of lives, think of the suffering children who will be saved. Like you, I wish we didn’t have to encounter such situations at all but,” his full lips tilted at the corner, “it is what it is and we shouldn’t stop fighting to make this world a better place.”

  Ava gasped. Why did those words feel familiar? Face cap guy. The applause as expected was thunderous as he took his seat. They honored Youri Richards next. He began by jokingly asking what else anyone had to say after Brayden had stolen all the limelight. He ended by thanking everyone who ever stood by him when he was down, ‘especially Ava.’

  “You deserve the accolade babe, forget whatever Frank and the boys have to say, no one deserve it more, no one works harder. He can’t stop you from shining.” Eddy rubbed a reassuring hand across her back.

  “I actually agree with Eddy on something, imagine how big that is, imagine how big you are,” Nance added.

  Ava smiled her thanks, wiping the tears of joy off her cheeks. At the end of the dinner, she made her way to the front of the hall to pay her respects to Youri. One look at the inspirational young man who rose above a tragedy to become a beacon of hope to many moved her to tears.

  “What happened to my Ava?” Youri’s head of brown curls glinted in the light, casting a shine over his fuller cheeks and healthy skin.

  “You look great,” she whispered.

  “I wouldn’t were it not for you.” He squeezed her hand. “Keep in touch?”

  Ava nodded, watching as Youri’s parents and siblings gathered around crying and hugging each other. The sight caused an old ache to echo somewhere in her heart. She walked down to the side entrance to avoid running into anyone in her fragile state. Her nerves felt stretched taut and sensitive. She sent Eddy a text to get the car. Outside, Ava kicked off her sandals and held it in one hand, staring up at the night sky.

  It was the cologne she loved that gave him away more than his words on stage. She smiled. Without taking her eyes off the beautiful stars in the dark skies, said, “Brayden?”

  “I thought the face cap was enough disguise,” he said.

  “It might have been for someone else in a different place and circumstance,” Ava turned to smile up at his handsome face with its unusual brown-gold eyes, “but it is what it is.”

  Puzzled, he frowned. “What is?”

  “You use those words a lot, no one has mentioned it?”

  His gaze skittered to a point over her left shoulder before returning to hers with a self-deprecating grin. “I’m not exactly known for my social graces and small talk.”

  “Your friends?” she pressed.

  “No.” His eyes moved over her slowly, like he was taking careful note of every inch of her appearance. In another man, Ava would have sworn it was sexual but Brayden lifted guileless eyes to hers. “You’re beautiful in a going out way.”

  She laughed, amazed at how easy it was to talk to this man who many worshiped. “Going out way?”

  “Isn’t that what you did?” his eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled.

  “You know it was the cologne that confirmed my suspicions,” she said.

  “Damn, do I have to get another?”

  Ava looked away. “No, I just really liked it.”

  A comfortable beat of silence pulsed between them. “What of the boyfriend?”

  She shook her head. “Fiance, doofus.”

  “The fiance is a doofus? Figures.”

  They chuckled at that. Ava let out a breath, shoulders dropping as she finally let herself relax for the first time since running into the crying Nance.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Don’t you have a world to save, children who need you?”

  “Not at this time. Seriously, you looked so tense before--”

  “My boss is an asshole.”

  “Ah. Not that I know anything about asshole bosses. What did he do?”

  Just like that, the story came pouring out. As the night cloaked them in a comfortable embrace, Ava was glad she took off her sandals. When the telling was done, she let out a breath of relief. Somehow, telling someone about it made her feel better, like a load taken off her shoulders. Eddy had been furious on her behalf but his hands and emotions were tied. The man in question was his boss.

  “I feel better already, thank you.”

  Brayden remained silent for so long Ava thought he wouldn’t say anything else. “Even with his successes, Youri always had a great head on his shoulders.”

  “Youri?” How had they gone from the topic of her shitty job to Youri?

  “He thanked you during his speech. You must be good at what you do to get such praise.” He eyes searched hers almost intrusively
. “What are you doing in a network I didn’t even know existed?”

  Ava looked away, playing with the lock of her sandals as she tried to get the right words to answer his question. “I wanted a small network to learn the ropes and--”

  “Isn’t that what internships are for?”

  “Well, yes, I also did my internship with HTV.”

  “They must have been incredible bosses once, then.”

  “I just… I chose them because… they needed me, I guess.”

  He took more than a minute to mull that over. Finally he sighed, muscled chest lifting and falling with his breath. “Because I’m not you, I won’t pry. But,” he continued over Ava’s relieved laugh, “do you need me to do something about it?”

  “No!”

  The curious glance she got from departing guests reminded her Eddy was taking too long. Again. He took too long with everything.

  “Sure?”

  “Yes.” Ava pushed at a lonely pebble with her foot to avoid his gaze. “I had offers from bigger networks but I chose HTV because I want to prove I could be in control. That there’s a part of my life not decided by forces or situations beyond my reach.”

  “What made you feel not in control before?”

  The question stumped her. It slashed at her insides, spilling blood and making a mess. Tears rolled down Ava’s cheeks. It was meeting Youri again that had her feeling raw. When he pressed a handkerchief into her hands, she took it blindly. “I thought you wouldn’t pry.”

  “I shouldn’t have pried, but I wanted to.” His phone vibrated, the sound overly loud in the night's stillness.

  As he checked the caller I. D, Ava studied him closely. Brayden Marshall was actually her face cap guy? Freaking hell. Except for a phone call to Robin during the week, she hadn’t really given much thought to face cap guy as she focused on reviving her dying career. In that moment, Ava savored how glad she was to see him.

  “I can’t believe Brayden Marshall is my face cap guy,” she enthused.

  “Your ‘face cap guy’?” His eyes crinkled at the corners in a way that made him even more attractive.

  “Yeah, like we totally connected I would have talked to you all night, Eddy teased me enough about that by the way.”

  “I wasn’t teased, but I hadn’t laughed so much in years. Thanks.”

  “Robin isn’t letting go off the hand fan soon, if you wanted it back.”

  “She can have it,” he said absently, eyes tracking the movement of cars in and out of the driveway. “You’re a journalist.”

  “Ermm, I think that’s obvious after--”

  “It wasn’t a damn question.” He grimaced. “I apologize.”

  Ava forced her mouth shut with an audible click. “You curse,” she said faintly.

  “Rarely but yes. Why?”

  She blinked and shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “I’ll like to be friends,” he intoned, “I liked talking with you. I had a great time at Navesink. But you’re a journalist.”

  “I imagine for a media shy guy that’s like--”

  “A huge risk.”

  Ava scowled. “I was looking for the perfect analogy.”

  “Just call as it is.”

  “What were you doing over at Navesink?” she asked without thinking.

  His mouth turned down at the corners. “You’re a journalist, should have guessed from the hundred questions.”

  “Hey! They were ‘get to know you’ questions.”

  “You’re a journalist, Ava,” he said like that explained everything.

  “An out of work one. Maybe you should reconsider being friends if you think I’m the type of person to leak your secrets,” she said with no small amount of irritation.

  With a precise, controlled movement, Brayden put his phone away and gave her his full attention. “You’re right. But hear this, if you use me to further your career underhandedly, I will bury you.”

  The words carried no heat. The declaration fell from his tongue in a matter-of-fact way. A gentleman indeed. “And they call you a gentleman.”

  “I’ve never seen myself as one. Can I call sometimes?”

  Ava looked away. It wasn’t like she never had men proposition her before and she never hesitated to mention Eddy. Why was it so hard now? “I-I don’t know, I mean I have, you know,” she ended lamely.

  His dark brows pulled together in genuine puzzlement. “Know what?”

  “Eddy,” she whispered.

  “I don’t want to be friends with Eddy,” he returned bluntly.

  “I have a fiance, Brayden,” she enunciated succinctly.

  More puzzlement. “I know that.” An eyebrow flew to his hairline. “Do I need his approval or something?”

  Ava chewed the inside of her lip to hold back laughter. If she said yes, how would he reply? “No, I’m just wondering if that would be a problem later on.”

  “Why would it? I’m not interested in having sex with you — that’s what you’re asking, isn’t it?”

  Shocked, Ava could only manage a nod.

  “And you-- you love your fiance, yeah?”

  A simple question. One Ava didn’t see coming. Did she love Eddy? Her mouth went dry and the muscles of her hand spasmed. Her hands tightened on her clutch purse.

  “Ava?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I do.”

  “Remember our conversation about supporting Arsenal? Why do something just to win versus whether because it gives you joy?”

  “Yes.”

  “My life is literally a succession of punches, I take my joy where I can. Especially when I can afford it. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” she cleared her throat, “I think I do.”

  “Good. Come on.” Now, he seemed impatient. As they exchanged numbers, Ava glanced at the time on her phone and was shocked. They had spent almost thirty minutes talking.

  “Where’s the boyfriend, anyway? He’s keeping me waiting.”

  Ava didn’t bother correcting him. “Are you dating anyone?”

  He stopped and eyed her warily. “Is it the reporter or the friend asking?”

  Her hand landed on his shoulders before she could stop herself. “Shit, sorry. Eddy has warned me about that--”

  “You hit like a girl, I’m good.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Really? I’m disappointed.”

  “Don’t be. Women are great, many are doing great things--”

  “But?”

  “Men have the advantage of muscle mass which makes the achievements of women even more amazing.” He glanced at his watch once. “Let’s go find the boyfriend.”

  Eddy’s orange colored Nissan pulled to the curb. He wound the windows down and waved her over. But when he caught sight of Brayden, Eddy lost it. It was embarrassing. He fell three times on his way to them. Nance was worse, giggling and batting her eyelashes.

  Though after he vowed to suck Brayden’s cock if they ever met, she shouldn’t have been surprised by his squeals and exclamations right now. Had she really found that crude joke funny? Now, picturing Eddy on his knees before Brayden gave her the willies. Ava shuddered.

  Brayden gently refused the request for a selfie and extricated himself when Eddy launched into an over the top narration of how they almost met as teenagers and on and on he went. Had she behaved the same way?

  After listening to Eddy and Nance rave about Brayden for over ten minutes on their way home, Ava could feel a headache coming on. They dropped Nance off five minutes later.

  Eddy asked, “What was he doing talking to you, fucking God.”

  Her stomach tightened with an emotion she couldn’t name. “He was on his way out and I had a fangirl moment and prolonged it.”

  “Thank God you did, I would have fucking missed it.”

  It was an innocuous question, why did she feel the urge to lie?

  Round two

  Chapter five

  “Benjamin!”

  Jack jumped from the couch where he had fallen asleep after
a game of FIFA with Brayden last night. He blinked, shielding his eyes from the light coming from the flat screen television. The echo of Brayden’s shout pierced the lingering fog of sleep. In the next second, he was wide awake.

  The back door opened. Someone crossed the threshold, and stepped on the plastic foot mat Jack placed there for just that purpose, making a crinkling sound. Ears tuned to the sound, Jack waited, unmoving. When he recognized the footfalls, one lighter than the other, his shoulders relaxed.