Page 19 of Golden Rule

Every major news outlet is here and no more than ten seconds pass in between camera flashes. Off to the side, from the shadows of the room, Tammy nods, signaling Micky to begin. He leans left to whisper briefly to Coach Wells, then adjusts the microphone on the table in front of him as the room goes silent.

“Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us,” he begins. “As you all know, today is an extremely momentous day. The Cypress Pointe Emperors aren’t only gaining threephenomenalnew players, we’ve brought the city’s beloved Golden Boys back home where they belong.”

Micky pauses to glance toward me and my brother’s, flashing a proud smirk our way. To my surprise, most of the small, curated crowd of reporters begin applauding, too.

Most.

Definitely not all.

Coach Wells leans toward his mic to speak next. “We arebeyondexcited to get these three out on the practice field,” he says. “It’s gonna be a real joy watching them mesh with the rest of the guys, getting integrated into the family. And having them back on home turf is this old guy’s dream come true.”

Quiet laughter fills the room.

“But I know you’re not here to listen to Micky and I ramble on with hearts in our eyes about our latest acquisition,” he jokes. “So, we’re gonna give the guys a chance to speak.”

Off on the sidelines, Tammy points at me, nodding my way.

Shit. Of course, it has to be me.

Joss’s pep talk from the week prior has been on repeat in my head ever since. I’m supposed to keep things short, sweet, and friendly to the best of my ability.

I focus on Blue when I open my mouth to speak, pretending it’s just us here.

“Morning, everyone. It’s an honor and a privilege to be in this room, back in this city, and especially on this team. It’s common knowledge that my brothers and I were born and raised here, and that it was in this city that we discovered our love of football. Eventually, we were able to live out a childhood dream, playing football for North Cypress U. And it was at the university that we had the opportunity to play for one of the hardest men to impress in the division.”

Coach wells nods, proudly accepting my description of him when everyone laughs.

“But in all seriousness, it’s truly a dream come true to be here, and I hope we make you all proud.”

When I lean away from the mic, Coach Wells speaks up again. “On behalf of this team and this city, welcome home, boys.”

The audience applauds, and Coach shakes each of our hands before addressing the room again.

“At this time, we’re opening the floor for a few brief questions before we conclude.”

As soon as he finishes, it’s like the flood gates open, and everyone’s vying for our attention. Luckily, Tammy avoids this turning into a free-for-all when she steps up to a podium off to the side, pointing toward a small, grey-haired woman standing to the left. The woman accepts the microphone that’s handed to her, and I brace myself.

“Firstly, congrats on an incredible opportunity to return home. I, for one, am excited for the season to begin.”

“Thank you,” I say with a nod.

“My question is for any one of you three gentlemen. How did this deal come together?” she asks. “From the outside looking in, it feels a bit like fate.”

“You’re not too far off,” Dane says with a smile. “Honestly, the moment I heard Coach Wells got pulled up into the league, I was buzzing. There was just this gut feeling that this seemingly far-off goal was suddenly within arm’s reach, and it’s just been a whirlwind ever since. Speaking for myself, when I got the call from Coach, saying yes was a no-brainer. All I needed was to know my brothers were on board, too, and it was a done deal.”

“What an awesome opportunity,” the woman says. “Besides getting to play with your brothers, what are you most looking forward to about being back home?

Sterling leans toward his mic to take this one. “Having discussed this amongst ourselves many,manytimes over thelast few months, I can safely say that what we’re all looking forward to most is being close to family again. Our mother is still local, our closest friends are all here, and for me, I’m grateful to be back in the same zip code as my son. Now that I’m pretty much settled, I’m planning to spend as much time with him as possible.”

The woman takes her seat, and the volume in the room picks up as the crowd clamors for Tammy’s attention. She doesn’t get rattled by the noise, casually pointing toward the back of the room where a gentleman has his hand raised.

The crowd goes quiet again as he makes his way toward the center aisle.

“Good morning,” he says, and I squint at him through the bright lights, taking in his features—dark haired, average height, mid-thirties. But despite his nearly non-descript appearance, I know exactly who the hell he is.

Ira-fucking-Woods.

My hands tighten where my fingers are interlocked on top of the table. I remember every single detail of this asshole’s article last week, piggybacking off the drama Pandora stirred up. Joss had the same idea about him that I did. That he’s trying his damnedest to get noticed and make a name for himself.

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