AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I zoom in on his face as I listen to the blank space that spans the distance between the two of us, my question hanging in the air like an accusation.
There’s an unmistakable falter when I ask the question. He tenses. I watch his sharp intake of breath and flared nostrils while he considers the right way to answer, and his eyes shift away from the camera for a beat as I recall them landing on me when he finally gives his answer.
They were cold as they landed on me, and clearly the rivalry between our families still affects him deeply.
“That’s a question for my father.”
At quick glance, he looked wholly affected by my question, but upon closer inspection, I see the way his mouth moves into a tight line, the way his eyes dilate a bit as he forms the measured answer.
To anyone else, he looks calm and collected.
To the person who once knew him better than anyone else did…I can tell even now how the question threw him off guard.
Maybe Marcus wants me to befriend the new coach, but maybe I can use our history to my advantage. It might be more fun pressing Lincoln Nash’s buttons than being his friend.
God, he’s hot—even hotter when he’s just a tad unhinged the way he became with that final question. Tension simmered between the two of us for the duration of the interview, and I watch his smolder at the camera all thanks to the woman sitting across from him.
I wonder if he’ll smolder like that during the press conference. Doubt it.
In any event, the women of Vegas are going to fall head over heels for him when I air this interview, and the men are all going to want to slide in line to become his new best friend.
He has this charm about him, this air that makes him seem like he belongs to all of us, like he’s already your best friend when the truth is he’s maybe more untouchable than anybody in this building.
How I wish we could’ve had a different ending than we did.
How I wish we could bury the past behind us.
The truth is…we can’t.
Befriending him now would be a huge stab in the back to my own father—just as it would to his father if he befriended me.
No, the days of the two of us are long over, a realization that came to me back when his father took my father to court over Rivalry.
It was an ugly battle, but I was mid-college by the time the court battles began. I was focused on studying and figuring out how I’d be launching my career, but my mom filled me in on every little detail when we talked.
My rage at the entire Nash family only grew, and I still have my suspicions that what Lincoln’s dad did to mine was on purpose.
It doesn’t matter now. We should bury it in the past.
But I still want to stay far, far away from the Nash family. They will lie and manipulate to get what they want. They will hurt others to protect themselves and their family dynasty, and it makes me sick.
My dad opened a bar here in Vegas that does very well. He named it the Gridiron and he happened to open it right across the street from the Complex. Just like he and Eddie wanted, it’s a place where the players hang out during the off-season and where fans hang out to watch the games during the season.
But it’s the barbecue joint my dad always envisioned combined with the sports bar feel that I guess Eddie wanted. The Gridiron is known for having the best wings in town, but to me, it’s like a second home.
It’s my family’s bar. It’s my father’s legacy.
I wrap up my story and send it to Marcus, and I glance at the clock as I close my laptop and stretch.
I have fifteen minutes to kill before I need to head down to the press conference, and I’m still sitting in the same conference room where I interviewed Lincoln.
I glance over at the chair where he sat, and then I turn my gaze out the window. Dave left after he sent me the film, so I’m by myself in here.
I decide to call my dad. I feel like I need his voice of reason to clear out the haziness my interview with Lincoln left behind.
“Hey, pumpkin,” he answers. “What’s the scoop?” He’s answered that way ever since I declared journalism as my college major.
I chuckle. “I’ve got a big story brewing.”
