Free City of Champions by Chloe T. Barlow Page A

Olivia Hayes from Fox Sports . I've gotten a lot of favorable press out of her."
    "There's a big difference between flirting with an unscrupulous cleat-chasing reporter and manipulating an actual orthopedic surgeon with a career impressive enough to be included in that folder."
    "We'll see about that. Besides, who said anything about manipulating her? I just want to give her the chance to have an open mind about my shoulder."
    "And you think she'll just start seeing things your way?"
    "I definitely had an effect on her. It's a long shot, but I need to use whatever advantages I can find to stay on the field."
    "Wy, I've had plenty of clients that have had to get surgery."
    "But none that's this invasive right when their contract is up. Gabe, you know as well as I do that needing to have surgery makes me about as unappealing as a one-eyed skinny pig at the state fair. Look at you, and what happened after your knee injury."
    A furious look streaked across Gabe's face and a stream of guilt ran through Wyatt's chest. Gabe had been an incredible running back in college, but a catastrophic knee injury and two surgeries cut his career short.
    "Dude, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"
    "Forget it, Wy. This isn't about me. You've got the possibility of several years left in you if you recover fully."
    "Gabe, you know how I feel about surgery. The only time someone's putting me under is when they bury me six feet in the ground."
    Wyatt felt a pang of pain in his chest. He remembered feeling weak, defenseless, and powerless when he lost his grandfather. Once he was gone, his absence tortured Wyatt — it still did. If something were to go wrong with this surgery, he’d be leaving behind the family he promised to take care of. He couldn’t do that to them — he wouldn’t do that to them .
    "Fine, Wy. Well, you better bring the charm to this pretty, young surgeon because you're gonna need all the help you can get if you won't take my advice or the doctor's either. You know, you're making life very hard for all of us."
    "Have a little faith in me, Gabe, and stop stressing so much, I know how much you hate wrinkles, pretty boy."
    "Fuck you, Wy. Try to be serious."
    "Oh, I'm serious all right. Completely. Ever since Dallas traded me, nothing's gone right."
    "It wasn't going that well in Dallas, either."
    "True. But if I want to get this two-year contract renewed, I can't be off the map with a surgery for months."
    Wyatt knew that he had no intention of ever having surgery, but he wasn’t going to tell Gabe that.
    "Avoiding surgery alone might not fix it. Word is, they've got their eye on a new backup for you. And he's supposed to be ruthless."
    "What the fuck? Who is it?"
    "I'm still trying to get his name. Everyone has suddenly clammed up on me, and you know that's never good."
    "You think he's really my replacement?"
    "Possibly."
    "And what if they do end up kicking me off as starting QB here?"
    "I'm testing the waters with some other teams, but with your shoulder and it being your third team in however many years, you may need to drop down to back-up somewhere."
    "And lose all that money and likely blow my shot of a broadcasting gig. You know that's where the stability is. I've got to think about my family. My mom, Claudia, my abuela…I'm all they have."
    "Fine, if that's the way you see it, just be careful. I know you're desperate, but this doesn't seem like you, man."
    "No. It's not me. Not, at all. But, you said it yourself, man, I'm desperate." And Wyatt couldn't deny that he was. This wasn’t just about his career; it was about the livelihood of everyone that mattered to him. As guilty as he felt for what he was about to do, sometimes you have to do something you hate to protect the people that you love. If it were just about his career, then he would be just like his father — and other than his playing abilities, he was nothing like that piece of shit. This was about keeping promises and seeing things through, no matter how hard