Page 27 of Playing to Win

I waved Braydon in. “Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.”

He rubbed the back of his neck then crossed to drop into a chair beside me. The seats had mic stands in front, already set up.

Braydon rubbed his hands on his sweats.

“You’ve done this before, right?” The Inferno had press conferences with the players.

He nodded, jerkily. “Just not when I’ve gone viral for a stupid rant and started a fake relationship to cover it up.”

“Let’s take this one step at a time. First, the Director of Player Personnel gives the news about De Vries. He’ll take some questions about that, ask for privacy for the family, blah, blah, blah.”

“Where will I be?”

“We’ll keep you back there, behind the curtain, until they announce you’re taking De Vries’s place. Then you’ll come out and sit here.” I pointed to where a card hadMitchellwritten on it. “You’ll be introduced, and that’s when you give your apology.”

He nodded. “Do I read something, or am I allowed to make it up myself?”

I stared at him.

“Right. I’m not allowed to speak without a script.”

I nodded and passed him a paper with the agreed-upon apology.Sorry, out of context, not true feelings, sorry again.“Practice reading it a few times, and sound sincere. If anything rings really false, I can adjust it.”

He looked it over. “I can do this. It’s good.”

It was. It was mostly my work.

“What about when they ask questions?”

“We have a few to practice. Did you know Faith before the game?”

He shook his head.

“Words are better. You never met her before the game last night, and she did a great job.”

He nodded slowly.

“If you didn’t know Faith, why did you say those things in the video?”

“That was related to something personal, and not about Faith.”

I smiled at him. “That’s good. They’ll come at that one a few different ways, but you can keep repeating that it’s something personal, and not Faith’s fault.”

“Right. What about when they ask what the personal thing is?”

I lifted a finger. “You aren’t going to share that, because it’s private.”

“But shouldn’t I say it’s about you?”

I shook my head. “There’s been a lot of response to the photos I posted last night. We wait till they bring up my name, and that’s when I come out.”

Relief washed over his face. “You’ll be here?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“Now, when they ask about Faith starting, you have to support it.”

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