Five
Sittingin the office of Coach Travis Philips of the North Carolina Hogs made my stomach flip. The fact that I was wearing short jean shorts and a white tank top with flip flops did not help in the slightest.
“A social media smear campaign the week the season starts isn’t a great way to kick your career off, Briggs.”
Bo cleared his throat. “I get it Coach, but I have a life, and it’s not like I was picking up a hooker at four in the morning after an all night cocaine bender like Davies did a few seasons ago.”
Travis rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Look, kid, I get it. It’s your life, but the football community is going to pick it apart for your entire career. We’re going to have a press conference to clean this whole thing up later on today.”
I was a statue, barely even taking in a breath as Travis looked over to me. “You know that this might not be good for your career either, Miss West.”
I nodded.
“We’re going to leave your position as it stands and see how this afternoon goes.”
I felt a wave of relief and I finally took in a deep breath. “Thank you, sir.”
“You really love this girl, don’t you Briggs?” The coach smiled at both of us as he leaned back in his large leather chair.
Without a second’s hesitation, Bo’s gruff voice boomed in the room. “More than you’ll ever know, sir.”
“Then get up there later and tell your fans that. Don’t drag Zara’s name through the mud but casually mention that it wasn’t your idea to call off the wedding. This might end up spinning around and being fantastic for everyone involved. Now go home, take a shower, and put on a suit. Peyton, I suggest a nice sundress. Everyone is going to love this story and you need to start looking the part of a player’s girlfriend.”
With a wink, we were dismissed. Just like that, I went from feeling like my world was ending all the way to it being full of unicorns and rainbows.
Bo swung by his apartment to grab some clothes and went back with me to my house.
“You don’t have to escort me everywhere right now, I am a grownup.”
Bo held my front door open for me; chivalry was never lost on him. “Yeah, but I don’t want some news reporter trying to catch you off guard by yourself right now. That could be bad for business.”
I threw some food in Molly’s bowl and then made my way into the bathroom to start the shower. “So this is all happening pretty fast, isn’t it?”
Bo walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle. “I feel like we had been on pause and last night we hit the play button again. So no, to answer your question, I think this is happening as it should.”
“How much time do we have?”
Bo looked at his watch. “We need to leave here in thirty minutes.”
Wide-eyed, I spun around to look at him. “Shit! I have to get ready.”
* * *
It wasa mad dash to shower, do my hair, and get makeup on in that thirty minutes, but I did it. Bo’s fingers gripped mine as he parked his car.
With a deep breath, he looked over at me. “You ready for this?”
I tried to smile. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Lucky for you, I will be doing all the talking.”
It was all a blur from the time we left the car to when Bo sat with microphones in front of him talking to the media.
It all started off with a bang when the first reporter asked, “Bo, sources say that Zara Morton is devastated by the news that you’ve been cheating. What is your response to that?”
Bo coolly responded, “If she hadn’t called off the wedding months ago, then I would understand her being upset.”
Then the next guy, who looked like a sleaze bucket, continued the interview. “Is it true that you picked up your latest conquest from the new strip club, Vixens, the other night?”
