He downed the drink in two gulps, then tossed the cup in the trash and grinned at her. “Nope. Just the way I like it.”
He shifted his gaze to Savannah. “What are you doing here?”
“Observing.”
“Did I pass or fail?”
“You didn’t punch any of the coaches or any of the other players, so I’d call it a good day.”
He laughed. “Come on. I’m not that bad, Peaches.”
“Aren’t you? I’ve read your file. You’re not exactly known for playing well with others.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Then we’ll take you to lunch,” Liz said.
He shrugged. “Fine with me.”
He showered off the grime and pieces of turf, changed clothes, and met Savannah and Liz in the parking lot. He wasn’t sure, but this felt a little like some kind of intervention. “You’re not both here to gang up on me, are you?”
Liz linked her arm in his. “Afraid of two small women?”
“Normal women? No. You two? Yes.”
Liz gave him a diabolical laugh. “Good. You should be wary of us. We’ve been plotting.”
He shifted his gaze to Savannah, who cast an innocent look his way.
Bullshit. He wasn’t buying it.
“Christ.” He raked his hand through his damp hair. “All right. Let’s get this over with.”
They drove to a restaurant. It was past lunch hour, but too early for dinner. Still, he was starving so he was glad the place was open. He was in the mood for a giant burger, which he ordered as soon as the waiter showed up to take their drink order.
Liz grabbed the bread basket, then pushed it aside. “No. Wedding. Must fit into my dress.”
Savannah gave her a smile. “Just one piece?”
“Don’t enable me. I’m resisting carbs until after the wedding. After that I’m going to devour an entire loaf of French bread. Possibly an entire bakery of bread. Poor Gavin. He might have to take me to a bakery on our wedding night.”
Savannah laughed. “You’re a stronger woman than I am. I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Cole frowned. “Why can’t you have the bread?”
“You’re such a guy. You don’t understand. My dress fits me. I mean really fits me. I have to watch everything I eat right now.”
He shook his head. “Women.”
“It’s only a few days,” Liz said, then turned to Savannah. “I’m dreaming of bread and pasta, though.”
“I would be, too,” Savannah said with a sigh. Then reached for the bread. “Sorry.”
“Bitch. I hate you. I’m going to watch you eat every bite.”
Women were odd creatures. He wasn’t even going to try to figure that out. Instead, he ate his salad, glad to be eating something and ignorant of the female species.
“So let’s talk media interviews,” Savannah said after they’d all filled their stomachs.
Content after the giant hamburger he’d devoured, Cole pushed his empty plate to the side and took a drink of iced tea. “What media interviews?”
“One of the local news stations wants to do a piece on your coming to the Traders for their ten o’clock sports cast.”
He looked at Savannah, then shook his head. “Me and the media don’t mesh.”
“They’re going to have to,” Liz said. “You can’t avoid PR forever just because a few guys with cameras have pissed you off in the past.”
“This is true,” Savannah added. “The whole purpose of me working with you is to get you media ready. You’re going to have to do interviews.”
He leaned back in the chair. “The media makes up shit about me. They’re going to go into this with preconceived notions about me. You know they’re going to bring up everything that’s happened in the past.”
Savannah nodded. “That could be. I’ll coach you on how to handle those questions, downplay the negative and accentuate all the positive aspects of you being with the Traders this year.”
“This doesn’t sound like a good idea.” He’d never volunteered for media interviews. Not since they started going south on him.
“It’s necessary,” Liz said. “The sooner you get started working with the media and turning your image around, the better it will be for you.”
“Maybe we could feed them the questions to ask.”
Savannah shook her head. “You can’t limit the media. That will only make them suspicious and more difficult to deal with. It’s best to be an open book. The more honest you are, the less negative they’ll be.”
Before he could object, Liz piped up with, “This is why we brought Savannah in. She’s an expert in this area.”
He knew he was going to get ganged up on. Good thing he’d already eaten lunch because just thinking about sitting down with sports media had his stomach clenching. “Fine. When?”
Savannah checked her phone. “In about two hours. They want it for the broadcast tonight.”
“You set me up so I wouldn’t have time to think about it.”
“Of course we set you up,” Liz said with a sly grin. “What kind of an agent would I be if I didn’t maneuver you into doing my bidding?”
He turned to Savannah. “How long have you known about this?”