Page 23 of Golden Rule

Already, this time feels different, and I’m grateful for that. It gives me hope.

We all sip our drinks, but when we lower them and silence creeps in, it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room.

“So, who wants to start,” Ricky speaks up, glancing at my brothers and me, waiting to see who intends to start griping first. I’m in no rush to rehashanyof it, so I take another drink.

“Where the fuck should I even begin?” Dane asks. “The part where our teammates looked like they wanted our heads on spikes, or the part where we realized we’ll never outrun the bullshit our dad did here?”

“Start wherever. Letallthat shit out,” Ricky says, unshaken by my brother’s outburst. “That’s why I brought you guys here, to get it all out in the opennow,so you’re not carrying it around. That’s the type of shit that’ll kill a man if he’s not careful. This is a safe space.”

Dane sighs and it’s like we’re all just now taking a breath. A breath we’ve held in for over a week now, since first touching down in Cypress Pointe.

“It’s fucked up,” Sterling chimes in, “knowing that no matter how talented we are, no matter how different we are from our asshole sperm donor, all anyone will ever see when we walk into a room is Vin-fucking-Golden.”

“I get it. It’s not exactly popular to be a Ruiz here either, but I own that shit,” Ricky says. “It’smyfucking name, regardless of who else claims it, regardless of the past. I live in the now, and whoever has an issue with that can go fuck themselves.”

He smirks and takes another drink.

If anyone knows what we’re going through, it’s him. Hell, our father’s criminal activity was directly connected to the Ruizes, so it’s all kind of come full circle, I guess. The men of the previous generation fucking things up, then there’s us, present day, working to right their wrongs.

“Is it bad I’m already wondering if this was a mistake?” Sterling’s question lingers in the air a moment.

“Not at all,” Dane says. “Not unless it’s bad that I’ve asked myself that exact question every single morning since we’ve been back. Joss and I had peace in Texas. We had the comfort of knowing we could walk outside and live our lives without any drama.”

It’s like he’s reading my mind, although I’d never say it outside this space. I get why Ricky brought us here. Blue is always ready and willing to listen when I vent, but she doesn’t need the added stress. Not with what we sacrificed to move home. Not with our decision to try another round of treatment.

But honestly, I have bigger problems than my father’s fuck-ups, bigger problems than feeling like a fish out of water in a city I used to call mine.

“Talk to me, Rich Boy. What’s on your mind?”

I’m caught off guard when Ricky calls me out, so it takes me a few seconds to find the words. But again, I remember I can speak freely here.

“Honestly? The last part of Pandora’s post has me reeling a bit.”

I leave it at that, knowing I don’t need to go into more detail. The secret Pandora spoke of was supposed to have been buried—my father’s final gift to me before my entire world fell apart years ago. A far younger, far more reckless, and farstupider,version of myself is to blame, but something tells me that wouldn’t matter a whole lot to Coach. There are some sharp edges that can’t be dulled with time, and I have a feeling this is one of them.

“Do you think Pandora would actually out you?”

I shoot a look toward Sterling when he asks, then stare at the ice floating in my glass as I shrug. “Who fucking knows?”

“I don’t get it. Why hold onto that for all these years, only to blast that shitnow?”

I have a quick answer to Dane’s question.

“Because she’s a bitch, and she’s always gotten off on the pain and misery of others.”

“Yeah, but not like this,” Sterling cuts in. “I mean, sure, she’s always been a pain in the ass, but there was a time she actually helped us. No way in hell I’d expect that from her now.”

“Maybe because it’s not the same Pandora.” Those words casually leave Ricky’s mouth as he pours himself a second glass. “I mean, think about it. I put the fear of God in that cunt back in the day. She’d have to be a fucking idiot to come out of the woodwork now, thinking she’s safe just because a little time has passed. Doesn’t add up.”

I’ve been tempted to think this, too, but there are a lot of holes in that theory. For starters, how the hell would someone pull this off, and why would they even want to?

“Just something I’ve been tossing around. I could be wrong,” he adds, but then seems to dismiss the thought when he leans on the bar. “Anyway, why was it so easy to get all three of you here today without any pushback from the ladies? They getting tired of your sorry asses already?”

“Probably,” Dane laughs. “But they’re hooking up for an early dinner, so it worked out. Then, they have their first Empress Circle meeting afterward.”

“Shit, that’s right. Dez mentioned the part about dinner, but what the hell is the Empress Circle?”

Dane rolls his eyes as he thinks about it. We all know from past experience that it’ll likely just be one big gossip session.

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