Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 131271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
There’s a knock at my door and I yell ‘come in’. Shawn pushes the door open and lingers in the doorway, his eyes bruised by tiredness and his expression drawn. “Is she mad?” he asks. His hands grip the doorjamb as though he’s searching for support.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Mad is too simple an emotion. It’s just not ideal… she wasn’t ready for her business to be common knowledge. None of us were prepared.”
“She’s ours,” he says, sounding broken. It’s not a confident statement. “Last night, I made a mistake, but I want everyone to know it.”
“Me, too,” I say. “I’m not ashamed of what we have. And I don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks. But people are judgmental trolls, and there’s her dad to consider, and I think we’ve blown it there.”
“I’ve blown it.” He swipes his hand through his messy bed hair and stares hopelessly into the middle distance.
“And the impact on the team and our professional lives.”
“Fuck.” His face contorts with disappointment in himself and pain for the rest of us. I know my brother. He’d shoulder all the impact of his actions if he could. “What can I do, Jacob?”
“Go get Hayes, and we’ll work it out.”
***
We’re the last to arrive at Coach’s briefing, and when we walk in the door, all our teammates turn to stare at us. Coach maintains his focus on something at the back of the room, with a jaw so tight he could shatter diamonds between his teeth and a deeply furrowed brown that I know is our fault.
Shawn trails behind Hayes, his head bowed even though I told him he needs to keep it up. He’s inviting more of Coach’s wrath with his pitiful posture.
“Thank you for gracing us with your presence,” Coach growls just before we take the last three seats.
I lower myself into the chair and meet his narrowed gaze, glancing at my watch to emphasize that we’re on time.
The eyes of our team focus on the floor, but I maintain eye contact with the man who’s about to chew us up and spit us out.
“This team has received bad press because of the actions of a few. We should be talking about tonight’s game, but instead, I have to take up precious time to remind you about conduct.” The last word is spoken as though it’s sour tasting, and Coach fixes his eyes directly on Shawn. “What you do in your private lives is up to you. But when it becomes public, it becomes my problem. Sexually explicit photos, videos, drunken social media posts, drug taking… none of this is appropriate for men who are supposed to be representing this university with athletic excellence.”
“And when it comes to relationships…”
I wait for him to finish, but the pause lengthens, leaving everyone on a knife edge.
“Relationships are complicated,” he finishes, narrowing his eyes at me and my brothers. “There has been a lot of speculation about our team overnight, specifically about the love life of the Drayton brothers. As it’s affecting the team and has become the focus on social media and wider, rather than discussing our chances in the game tonight, I thought I should leave it to Jacob, Shawn, and Hayes to enlighten us.”
Enlighten him? And the team? He wants us to confess all.
At least if he was raging, I’d have something to push back against, but this?
“What do you want us to say, Coach?” I ask.
“You know,” he continues. “A few years ago, a huge scandal surrounded one of the students at Eastern. She got herself involved in a complicated relationship with a high-profile family. It hit the press, and she thought her life was over. But they turned it into a positive story and a reality TV show.”
“McGregors Uncovered,” Buttons whispers under his breath.
I remember that show and how fascinated all our friends were when it aired. We couldn’t work out why ten men, ten brothers, would want to share one woman. There was so much speculation about how it would work and focus on the logistics, but I remember thinking about how easy it would make family relationships.
“The McGregors are important donors to this university, especially the athletics departments. And we have to be careful about the optics of this.”
Optics? Realization dawns that he’s not worried about me and my brothers sharing Riley, but about whether it’s serious and how the university will approach the coverage.
“We love Riley,” Shawn says, his voice cutting through the silence with so much determination that it startles a few of our teammates. “How does that affect the optics?”
Coach nods slowly, focusing on me and Hayes, seeking confirmation that we’re of the same mind.
Hayes nods, and so do I, and Coach inhales deeply through his nostrils, flaring them slightly. “You might not like what I’m going to say next, but you will need to address this in the press conference later. And you’ll need PR to help you construct something appropriate.”