Chapter 156 154: Beautiful Assistant
Sophie Brook stood at the edge of the practice field, watching Lu Ke fiddle with a football in surprise. A hint of admiration flashed in her eyes, but the smile that curved her lips was teasing. "You should have a life of your own."
She was teasing Lu Ke for being too hardworking and diligent, implying his personal life was dull and unremarkable. Compared to the other players who enjoyed the bar scene, it was utterly boring.
"Is that just a friendly suggestion, or are you offering to be a part of it?" Lu Ke asked, raising an eyebrow with a perfectly straight face. The flirtatious undertone in his words, however, was unmistakable.
Sophie's lips curved up in surprise. She gently bit her bright red lower lip, her shimmering blue eyes slowly, ever so slowly, narrowing as she sized Lu Ke up and down.
Lately, the news about Lu Ke had been sensational and abuzz with excitement. Almost every media outlet was focused on this Chinese-American quarterback. His experience, his past, his resume, his performance—every little detail was a hot topic of discussion. But looking past the dazzling, bizarre spectacle, one was left feeling lost. That was because all the reports focused on shocking bombshells, the gimmick of his meteoric rise, and the fleeting heat of the news cycle. No one was actually discussing Lu Ke, the person.
'What kind of person was he, really?'
Without this core, all the reports felt inauthentic, capturing nothing more than a glossy image: the obscure practice squad player who had suddenly transformed into the star quarterback who dominated the field in the first week of the regular season. And on top of that, he was the first player of Chinese descent in NFL history. That was all.
As an assistant in the San Francisco 49ers' media department, Sophie had graduated from the University of Southern California's school of journalism the previous year. After an eight-month internship at a PR firm in New York, she successfully landed a job with the 49ers, becoming part of the team's public and media relations department.
Sophie didn't like Lu Ke. It had nothing to do with him as a person; it was because Lu Ke was from UCLA, and she was from the University of Southern California.
The two schools were bitter football rivals, as well as direct competitors in many other fields. Just seeing the name of his alma mater on a resume was reason enough to dislike someone. In the United States, situations like this were all too common.
But over the past six weeks, Lu Ke's focus and dedication, both on and off the field, had left a deep impression on Sophie. She could separate her personal dislike of him from her professional admiration for the starting quarterback's attitude. But with that one short sentence just now, all that goodwill instantly collapsed.
"I didn't realize you were a frat boy," Sophie shot back defiantly, her eyes glinting as she lifted her chin.
Fraternity members at prestigious American universities, like the Ivy League Schools, were known for messing around, partying, and wild revelry—and, of course, for shamelessly hitting on women. Lu Ke's earlier joke had been harmless, so Sophie's response was a deliberate, pointed jab.
"You're painting with a very broad brush there," Lu Ke remarked with a smile instead of arguing. He wore a slightly exaggerated expression, as if to say, 'There's no need to treat all men as the enemy because of one little joke.'
'Quick-witted, intelligent, and humorous.' Sophie tried her best to control her expression, but a small smile still tugged at her lips. "I'm serious. You should join them. For athletes, grabbing a casual beer is the simplest and most direct way to bond with teammates."
"Did I hear you wrong, or are you actually looking down on athletes? Calling them simple-minded enough to have all their problems solved by a single beer?" Lu Ke's teasing made Sophie pause for a second. Then she realized her slip of the tongue, and the smile in her eyes brightened. She bit her lower lip again, but a brilliant smile bloomed across her face anyway, creating a uniquely charming sight with her bright eyes and pearly teeth.
Lu Ke decided not to push it further and steered the conversation back on track. "I'm too far behind schedule right now, so I have to use my personal time to try and catch up. In China, there's an old saying, 'The clumsy bird has to start flying early.' What's more, I'm the only one on the entire field with a different skin color. I think the effort I need to put in will take more than just a beer."
There was no self-pitying complaint in his tone, only a clear-eyed self-awareness. The confidence and resolve in his words sparked a faint light in the depths of his ink-black eyes.
The smile on Sophie's lips froze for a moment as she stared, stunned, into his eyes. An image from the last game surfaced in her mind: Lu Ke, standing on the field, his calm and veteran-like composure as he dominated the game. The Lu Ke hidden beneath the media reports, the real Lu Ke, was slowly starting to come into focus.
A gust of wind made Sophie shiver, snapping her back to reality. She lowered her eyes and muttered under her breath, "Damn Brown Bear Team." Then, she put on a professional smile. "If you can keep up the performance you gave in the first game, the entire city will go crazy for you."
Lu Ke shrugged, tossing the football in his hands again. "Looks like I'll have to double my extra practice today, or a certain someone will be disappointed." On the surface, he was talking about the fans, but his gaze landed unabashedly on Sophie. Yet, he looked so open and innocent that Sophie couldn't argue back—doing so would only make her look guilty of caring.
A light laugh danced in Lu Ke's eyes, and he broke into a grin. He then changed the subject, done with the jokes. "Did you need something from me? I'm heading to the gym now." Strength training had to be done indoors, and with three hours left until dinnertime, Lu Ke wanted to get back in time to eat.
"Oh, right!" Sophie exclaimed in frustration, biting her lip. She had rushed down specifically to catch Lu Ke. "I'll walk with you to the gym. We can talk on the way and save some time."
Lu Ke tossed the football into a nearby cart and started pushing it toward the chain-link gate of the practice field.
Sophie glanced back, then hurried over to pull open the field's gate. Her movements were a bit clumsy because of her high heels, but she did her best to help. Lu Ke nodded with a smile and said, "Thanks," then pushed the cart out before jogging back to help Sophie close the gate.
The wind howled, whipping Sophie's wavy hair into a mess. Her fluttering skirt didn't help, leaving her flustered. Then she noticed that Lu Ke had silently shifted his position. His tall, sturdy frame now blocked the wind, slightly alleviating her awkward situation.
Even though everyone said Lu Ke's frame wasn't sturdy enough, to Sophie, his athletic build still seemed immense. His broad shoulders blocked most of the setting sun. The smile on Sophie's face became a little awkward, and she quickly explained, "Milo chewed up my sneakers, and I didn't have time to buy new ones today."
She paused, then added, "Milo's my dog."
"You gave me a scare. I thought he was your boyfriend," Lu Ke quipped, but then he couldn't hold back a chuckle. Sophie rolled her eyes dramatically, but ultimately couldn't suppress a laugh of her own.
As the two of them walked toward the gym, Sophie finally got down to business. "Before joining the team, did you have a criminal record? Or any disciplinary actions from school?"
For football players, violence was a part of life, so having a record or disciplinary history was actually quite normal. As long as it wasn't a law broken mid-season, or a star player crossing the Alliance's line—with something like domestic violence, for example—it usually wasn't a major issue.
But Lu Ke's situation was somewhat special. He was of Chinese descent. There was no precedent in the entire Alliance to follow. Furthermore, the issue of racial discrimination was impossible to avoid. The San Francisco 49ers were dealing with such a situation for the first time ever, so they had to be fully prepared. They needed to conduct their own investigation before any problems surfaced to avoid being caught flat-footed, and perhaps even nip any potential issues in the bud.
"Oh, so that's what this is about. No," Lu Ke answered simply. "Not that I can remember, at least. If necessary, I can go home and ask my parents if I ever cracked a neighbor kid's head open when I was little." Seeing Sophie's unamused expression, he let out a soft chuckle and said more seriously, "I can look up the contact info for my old schools, and you guys can double-check. But I'm pretty sure I was what you would call a nerd."
"A nerd?" Sophie looked Lu Ke up and down in disbelief. Quarterback and nerd. Those had to be two of the most unrelated words in existence. Even the most subversive Hollywood movie wouldn't create a character like that.
"Why else do you think I joined the football team?" To get the girls. Lu Ke's answer left Sophie speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. When she thought about it, though, she couldn't argue with his logic.
So, Sophie began to jab back, "Well, it seems to be working. I guarantee you there are plenty of girls in San Francisco just waiting for you to look their way."
"All the more reason to keep this momentum going. I'd better get to my training." Lu Ke handed the cart full of footballs to an equipment manager, pointed to the nearby gym, and said with a smile, "No other questions, right?" After Sophie confirmed there were none, Lu Ke didn't linger and headed straight off.
From a distance, Sophie heard Lu Ke's voice drift back on the wind. "Stop staring at my back, or I'll get the wrong idea."
Sophie opened her mouth to retort, but in the next instant, the heavy wooden door to the gym swung shut, severing their connection. All Sophie could do was clench her fists in frustrated indignation.
As a top journalism graduate, Sophie had immense confidence in her own skills. But in their brief exchange, she had repeatedly found herself on the losing end. The feeling was just... infuriating. 'What just happened?'