“Did you call someone?” I ask, and Bubba shakes his head.
“This was before we had cell phones, and there wasn’t a landline in Juliette’s bedroom. I slept on the floor near the dresser, and when we got up the next morning, they were gone.” He tosses his hands up and lets them fall. “Just disappeared and left two kids in a hotel room alone. So Juliette used the phone in the living room to call Dad, who came and got us.”
Jules makes a huffing noise. “Delphine had the nerve to call the next day and threaten to press charges on Bubba because he’d broken her precious pervert Willie’s tooth. Can you believe?—”
She stops talking when I grip her arm hard. “Did you say Willie?” My sister nods, and I ask, “Did he have dark greasy hair?”
Bubba answers with a frown. “Yes, why?”
“Which tooth did you break?”
My brother taps his front two teeth. “One of these but I can’t remember which one.”
I shake my head in wonder. “That’s the same guy she’s with now, and his tooth is still chipped.”
Bubba smiles in satisfaction. “Good. I hope he thinks of my fist every time he looks in the mirror.” His nostrils flare in anger. “I can’t believe she’s still with that sleaze.”
Pops speaks up for the first time, his voice soft as usual. “Now you know the reason we threatened her. To protect all of you. We told Delphine not to ever come back or we’d take her to court for back child support. Money is the only language she understands.”
Yeah, Pops. I’m all too aware of that little fact.
I decide not to share the stupidity of me already giving Delphine money. I’m too ashamed I let her fool me into thinking she gave a damn about me, so I think I’ll keep that little nugget under my hat for a while.
“So what’s the plan?” Dad asks. “You’re going to announce you’re together and take away Delphine’s leverage?”
Phoenix answers. “Yes, sir. And I have a buddy looking into Delphine and Willie. We’re hoping he can find something we can use.”
“Like blackmail her back?” Bubba asks, perking up at the idea.
Phoenix grins. “Of course not. That would be wrong.”
Bubba stares at him for a few seconds before chuckling. “I don’t know what you have planned, Hale, but I think I like it.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to handle this?” Phoenix asks as we stand in an alcove in the back of the Dragons’ media room. He’s holding both my hands. “I can go out there and tell everyone we’re dating, and if they don’t like it, they can kiss my ass.”
Am I tempted by this offer? Yes. I can hear reporters taking their seats for the press conference that’s been called today, and it sounds like there’s a lot of them.
“No, I can do this. Iwantto do this.”
Phoenix went with me to meet with Lavinia and Winslow Harrison, the owners of our football team, and they wholeheartedly threw their support my way. Same with the coaching staff. I feel like I have the world at my back and the man I love at my side.
With all that, I can do anything.
So I step around the corner and up onto the low stage. I’m surprised to see three chairs at the purple-topped folding table. I take the one in the middle, and a few seconds later, my agent, Kam, takes the seat on my right while Jane, the Dragons’ media expert, sits on my left. I give them each a quick smile, grateful to have them beside me.
The room quiets, and I lean into the black microphone. I’m uncharacteristically nervous. Press conferences are something I’m good at, but they’re usually held after a game and I’m talking about football, but this topic is of a strictly personal nature.
“Can everyone hear me?” I see nods from the reporters. Jesus, there are a lot of them. Movement behind me draws my attention, and I swivel to see Heather, another receiver on my team, enter, followed by Jax, our kicker. They both give me a shoulder squeeze. Then Carrie Broxton and Sabrina come up to do the same. I gape as the entire Dragons football team files onto the stage behind me. Like,all of them. I hope this stage has reinforced beams underneath.
I turn back to the mic, bolstered by this show of support from my team, and I’m suddenly not so apprehensive.
“You’re probably all wondering why I called you all here today.” More nods. My eye catches on a blonde standing near the back. Juliette. As I shift my gaze from side to side, I see the rest of my family there, sans kids. Dad, Pops, Xander, Reno, Holly, and even Bubba have come to be here for me, and I almost freaking cry.
With a strong voice, I say. “You all know I’m not a fan of discussing my personal life with the press.” There are chuckles from everyone. “But this needs to be addressed, so here I am.”
“Are you here to announce you’re getting married to Miles Soren?” Bob, the same reporter from before, asks, and I tilt my head at him.
“Bob, I’ve already addressed this with you. Do you need your wife to get one of those little devices that cleans the hair from your ears?” I ask, making tiny circles beside my left ear. Everyone except Bob guffaws. “You seem awfully obsessed with Miles. Would you like me to give him your number?”
