Free Gunslinger: A Sports Romance by Lisa Lang Blakeney Page B

reason."
    "Well hopefully for New York, Coach Ryan can do something to get that offense going today, or they're going to have another long and miserable season."

    "Sheesh! They sure didn't have many nice things to say about him did they? I thought he was some sort of big deal in the league."
    "He is a big deal, and that's why they devoted ten minutes to talking about him. Always remember that any press is good press for an athlete. Regardless of what they're saying, at least they're talking about him."  
    "I get the whole any press is good press thing, but I guess what I'm not understanding is why he's being talked about at all if he's been playing so badly for so long."
    "There was a lot of hype surrounding him when he was in college. He was the number one college player both his junior and senior year. He won the Heisman Trophy which is the highest award a college player can receive."
    I remember reading about that in my file.
    "He also won Capital City a championship that same year. First time in the school's history. Plus he's from a football family. His brother plays in the league. His uncle and dad both played. I think a cousin did too. Not to mention that he's physically the biggest quarterback playing the game right now, and it takes several men to bring him down, which is called a sack by the way. The play in which a defensive player brings a quarterback down.
    "Anyway it's really quite unusual for the quarterback to be so big that he's hard to sack, but in addition to that, Stevenson's biggest claim to fame is that he can deliver the ball deep and downfield with speed and precision. That's why they call him the Gunslinger. His arm is like a very accurate cannon.  
    "I just think that all the analysts out there aren't totally convinced if he's actually the real deal or a college fluke. He has yet to deliver on his number one draft ranking. This is his fourth season with them, and they're still playing really badly."
    "I read up a little on our home team the Nighthawks. I see that they have had a pretty dismal record for a long time, so isn't that why they were able to draft Saint in the first place? Because they suck? Don't the bad teams get the best players in the draft?"
    Jason takes a sip of his beer, and looks up at me above the rim of the can. "I don't know why I keep underestimating you, Sabrina. Of course you did your homework."
    "Of course," I grin.
    "And you're right. Even though there's a lottery system in place, the worst teams typically get the best picks in the draft. The Nighthawks didn't have the number one pick, but they traded up for Stevenson. They needed a quarterback desperately, and he was the best pick that year. That's why he's in a tough situation. The organization gave away a lot to get him."
    "I guess there's a lot of pressure on him to deliver then."  
    "Twenty-two million dollars worth of pressure. Not such a bad deal to me. I'd take it."
    "True."
    "So you never talked about your initial meeting with him. Obviously it went well since he went ahead and signed the contracts, but did he say why he chose Carson Financial? I was just wondering, because the Stevenson family is infamous for not signing contracts with outside business managers or agents. His father is very big on keeping control of every penny. Did he have a split with the family?"
    "We didn't really talk much about why he signed with us. We were too busy debating hoagies versus sub sandwiches," I laugh.
    There's no way that I'm going to tell Jason the real story about how Saint Stevenson swiped one of my business cards during a chance meeting and only agreed to sign with us as long as I was the account manager. I take no pride in that. I wonder what Peter is thinking. His imagination has to be running wild about why this sports superstar would specifically request me.  
    "We did agree that learning about football is one of his requirements if I handle his account."
    "And so you are." Jason smiles.
    "That's right. I am." I