“I’ve been impressed every night, even with your so-called simple meals.”
“Thanks.” I’ll take compliments from Jordan’s dad. He was quicker to approve of me than I expected back in April when I came out to visit Jordan in Connecticut. I couldn’t be sure how deep that approval ran. After spending this week together, I get the sense Ted isn’t just giving a momentary nod of acceptance to our relationship, but genuinely likes me too.
“I’ll be honest, Ted.” I turn to him, wanting to let him know how much I appreciate his willingness to welcome me into his daughter’s life so openly. “After being on reality television and not being portrayed so favorably, and then the recent stalker incident that put Jordan in danger, I was bracing myself for you and Colleen to disapprove of me.” Well, not being portrayed favorably from a father-of-the-girlfriend perspective that is, the rest of the viewers seemed to like me just fine.
Ted eyes me. “Well, we didn’t watch the reality show, but we knew you only agreed to do it in order to get visibility for Brazen. We’ve met Griffin now, and he’s a good guy. Brazen is Jordan’s sponsor. I’m not a real fan of reality TV so I didn’t watch it, and I don’t think Colleen did either.” He waves his hand in a dismissive gesture. “I don’t care too much about how they portrayed you so long as it doesn’t damage your or Jordan’s reputations too much. I’ve met you, I’ve spent time with you. That’s more important.”
“I really appreciate that,” I tell him, trying to convey my words are earnest, not trite. Jordan is their only daughter and in a way, depending on how you look at my small level of fame, I’ve got some baggage.
“As for the stalker, well, that’s frightening. I can’t say I’m real happy about it. But Jordan’s getting known better in her own right. From what I understand, something like this could have happened because of her connection to Brazen and Griffin whether or not you were in the picture. I’d be lying if I said your fame doesn’t unsettle me a bit, but your other qualities override it enough for me to give my blessing.”
“Your blessing?”
“Yes.” He nods. “I didn’t watch Shred Live but we did watch the Eileen Delarosa Show. It might be premature, and you haven’t asked directly yet, but while we’re talking in person I should let you know, you have my blessing.”
I try not to choke out my words, needing clarification. “To ask Jordan to marry me?”
He side-eyes me. “What? You weren’t just saying it for shock value, were you?”
“No.” I shake my head vigorously. “I meant it. But she’s only nineteen.”
“Well, whenever you both think the time is right. You two are great together, and I don’t see that changing.”
I’m too shocked and awed and happy to respond. Plus, Jordan’s getting out of the pool and seeing her dripping wet in a bikini while her dad is standing next to me is not the easiest position to be in.
“Thank you,” I manage to tell him before turning back to the grill to flip the burgers and distract myself from the image of my super-hot hopefully-future-wife.
My mind spins with possibilities, but I manage to calm myself down, knowing the word he used, “premature,” is accurate. It’s not time yet. But it will be. Someday.
Jordan comes up behind me and snakes her arms around my waist. “Mmmm, that smells so good. I’m starving.”
“Almost ready. If you want to change, better hurry.”
“I’m okay eating in my suit. What can I do to help?”
“Oh, now you ask?” I tease, turning to give her a kiss on the forehead. “Can you grab condiments and the pasta salad from the fridge?”
It’s just the four of us tonight at the house. Everyone else is at Coby’s place for a party. The invitation was extended to Jordan’s parents, but we opted for a low-key night. Between classes for Jordan, work for me, tourist-mode for Colleen and Ted, all on top of the follow-up about the Fliss situation, it’s been an exhausting week. Which reminds me of one more thing on Jordan’s plate.
“Hey, how’d your meeting with Scarlett go yesterday?” I ask as we load our plates at the table.
“Really good actually. You and Griff were right about her. Or Brie was, whoever recommended her. She’s easy to talk to and knows her stuff, from what I can tell.”
“Good, you need someone on your team who isn’t your boyfriend or friend. We’re here for you, but it’s always good to have an unbiased professional opinion to weigh in too. Not that anyone’s totally unbiased, but if you trust her, that’s what matters.”
“If Brie’s been working with her for years, and I had good vibes when we met, I think she’s trustworthy.”
“Are you guys talking about the agent Jordan met with yesterday?” Colleen asks.
“Yep. I’m going to have my own agent,” she tells her parents with pride. “I’m a real pro now.”
“And it sounds like you have lots of people to help you navigate this,” Colleen says. “Which is good, because Ted and I don’t have much wisdom to share in the way of pro skateboarding careers.”
“You mentioned you needed an agent after your big 720 because you’ve had a lot of sponsors reach out.” Ted dumps a serving of potato wedges on his plate. “What kind of sponsors?”
Jordan tells them about some of the companies who’ve shown an interest, and Ted asks if they pay her in addition to providing her with the product.
“Of course, Dad. Well, not of course,” she remedies. “A lot of pros don’t get paid with money, just the product. Or they don’t get paid much. But I think seeing real money supporting the offers is helping me get through this week. It’s not like I set out motivated to make money, but I’m realizing this is really happening. It’s legitimate. I can earn a living, way more than I made at The Swirl, simply doing what I love. It’s kind of mind-blowing.”
Colleen asks what kind of numbers she’s talking about and when her daughter tells her, Colleen’s jaw drops and Ted nearly chokes on his burger. We’re not talking six or seven figures – yet – but I think they were under a different impression about what kind of money was possible. They recover, and joke about how much they made on their side jobs in college thirty years ago.
“That’s really something, Jo Jo.” Ted doesn’t hide his amazement.
Jordan darts a glance my way. “It will be time to renegotiate with Brazen soon, and Scarlett has some pretty crazy ideas about what I should be asking for. When I expressed that I felt loyal to Brazen for taking me on before they knew anything about me, she had an interesting take.”
“Oh yeah?” Maybe Scarlett will be the one to get Jordan to see things clearly on this.
“Yeah, she said I shouldn’t feel like I owe Griff anything, because he really wasn’t doing me any favors. If he’d waited until later to offer me sponsorship, I would’ve been more expensive. Maybe he took a risk, and maybe he felt more comfortable taking the risk because he knew me, but it was good business sense at the end of the day.” She looks at me suspiciously. “I’m still not sure I buy it, I still feel like I owe Griff something because I needed that push and he gave it to me, but I get her point.”