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RIVALRY
VEGAS ACES: THE COACH BOOK 1
CHAPTER 1: LINCOLN
Before I was even old enough to walk, my parents stuck a football in my hands.
I haven’t let it go since.
I wasn’t given the choice of what I wanted to play. Instead, I grew up fulfilling a destiny. I was meant to play football. I was meant to live this life.
And now, I have a shot to make my father proud. I have a chance to do something no one else in my family ever has.
A head coaching position for a professional football team.
It’s the dream. Well, it’s my dream, anyway.
When I was forced to quit playing after I blew out my knee, my father only looked at me with something resembling sympathy mixed with a bit of disapproval. He played for the Giants for a decade. His brother played for the Titans for just as long. My three younger brothers are all still in the game at ages twenty-seven, twenty-nine, and thirty-two.
And then there’s me, the failure who got hurt and never could quite get that knee back into playing shape.
He expected me to play for a decade like the rest of my family. Instead, I’ve been coaching a decade now. It doesn’t matter to him that I’ve been professionally involved in the game longer than he was. All that matters in his eyes is that I was too weak to play.
Somehow in my own mind, I feel like getting this head coaching position will make me strong again.
I suppose I haven’t exactly been a failure over the course of my football career. I finished my high school career with a state championship. I was a tight end at Ohio State, and I was drafted right out of college to the Saints, where I played for three years before the injury that took me out of the game.
And now it’s my time. I’ve wanted to be a head coach for as long as I can remember, but it just takes time to move up the ranks. And I put in my time. I’ve been with the Falcons, the Bengals, and the Rams in various offensive coaching positions for the last decade, most recently as an offensive coordinator. I know what I’m doing, and I have a lot to bring to this table. I know my shit, and I’m ready for this.
I wasn’t even nervous coming in. Talk about my career? Easy. How to win games? I’ve got a plan. My strengths? Solid. Weaknesses? None, so I’ll make up some shit about how I tend to neglect my personal life in favor of the game or how I’m my own biggest critic even though it’s a lie since my father owns that title. Regardless, I’ll turn whatever weakness I make up into an actual positive.
So when Jack Dalton, All-Pro quarterback and the new owner of the Vegas Aces, asks me what my coaching philosophy is, I know my answer is solid.
“I believe my job as a coach is to get the most out of my players by putting them in the best position. I’m here to motivate my players to realize the full potential of their talents. They made it this far, and my job is to continue to push them to their greatest heights. I believe in a powerful offense who will attack defense and make big plays. I enjoy creative play calling and I think catching a defense off-guard is one of the greatest pleasures of the game. Finally, we’re here to have fun and win games, and I believe I’m the right fit for this organization to do just that.” My voice is confident as I look around the room at the group interviewing me.
The rest of the interview is much the same. Jack leads the questions and keeps a blank expression on his face as I answer them, but the rest of the stakeholders, including the general manager, a few players, and a handful of different directors and vice presidents, are all nodding as they listen to what I have to say.
By the time I’m given a tour of the facility before I’m dismissed from the interview, I truly feel like I’ve got it in the bag. I’m a confident guy by nature, but the feeling racing through my chest as I leave the conference room is next level.
This place, these hallways…they already feel like home.
It’s called the Complex because it’s a sprawling place built for the Vegas Aces. It houses their front office staff as well as the practice fields, and it’s a place where the head coach will essentially live during the season.
But the inside joke is that it’s called that because it’s a complex maze of hallways. I glance out the window I’m walking by to try to orient myself, and I spot the rental car I picked up yesterday.
That’s when I see her walking into the building.
I haven’t seen her in…hell, probably around twenty years, but I’d recognize her anywhere. She looks the same as she did all those years ago when we were teenagers, from her round tits to her sweet little ass, and she tosses her long, blonde curls over her shoulder as she walks into the building chatting on her phone.
Jolene Bailey.
I snarl a little as I look out the window and wonder what the fuck she’s doing here.
I heard she was a reporter somewhere in Vegas, and when I got the call to interview with the Aces, that was my first thought.
I was hesitant to take the interview because I didn’t want to move to the same town where I knew she’d be—where her whole family is located now after they left New York.
But I’m not about to allow some woman who’s meaningless to me keep me from my dream job.
