Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
12
RIGBY
The only thing better than the high from winning a game, especially at home, was watching Cleo fall apart in my arms.
The atmosphere in the locker room was rowdy and victorious. I was even drawn into it and exchanged a few congratulatory words with my teammates.
When things died down, I undressed and hit the showers, in a rush to get ready because I was anxious to collect my girl and get back to my apartment, where we could celebrate alone. As I grabbed my phone, I saw a news alert and my mood darkened. After the last misunderstanding, I’d set a crawler for any articles mentioning Cleo’s name with mine, or Gustavo’s. I wasn't about to let the world interfere in our relationship again.
So when I scanned the headlines, rage ignited inside me and I gripped my phone so hard I was surprised it didn’t break.
Gustavo’s mystery date revealed when caught cheating!
Will Rigby and Gustavo come to blows over being the other man?
Gustavo’s mystery woman caught cheating! Will he let Rigby steal her from him?
Cheating triangle! Who knew about who?
I quickly skimmed a couple of the articles to get the gist of things. Most of them showed a picture of me kissing Cleo at seven this morning when I put her in a black cab.
Son of a bitch.
The articles portrayed Cleo as a social-climbing bitch who cheated on her movie star boyfriend with me. I was pissed as fuck, but I was also worried about my girl. Cleo was bound to be devastated at being accused of something like that. And knowing how this could affect my career if my coach and team owner didn’t know me so well, I was concerned about what this scandal might do to Cleo’s future. There was a reason overdramatic and judgy people were called drama queens.
On a split-second decision, I stomped out of the locker room and made my way directly to the exit where I knew the press would be camped out. The crowd would be larger than usual since we’d just won, which was fine with me.
However, before I could open the door, a firm hand landed on my arm, and I whipped around to see Ames watching me with his brow furrowed.
“Are you sure you want to go out there right now?” he asked quietly. “I’ve never seen you talk to the press unless you have to, and I’ve never seen you this furious. Seems like that might be a bad combination.”
I balled my hands into fists at my sides to keep from snatching his hand off my arm and shoving him backward. Instead, I clenched my teeth and gritted out, “Are you telling me not to go out there and defend my woman? Or to claim her as mine once and for all so people stop painting her as a money-hungry whore? When I know damn fucking well that it’s all bullshit? Should I just let the press make a villain out of the most beautiful, sweet, and honest person I know?”
Ames’s eyes widened, and he shook his head as he took a step back. Then he walked to the door and opened it, gesturing for me to walk through and gave me a nod of solidarity. “Do what you gotta do, man. We’ll all back you up if shit goes sideways.”
As I stepped out into the open, I was momentarily blinded by the flashing lights and bombarded by a cacophony of questions. It was hard to single out any one query, but as I tried to get my bearings, I realized they weren’t all directed at me. Glancing behind me, I saw that several of my teammates had followed me out. At first, I thought they’d come to ensure I kept my cool, but they stood with their legs wide apart and arms crossed over their chests, with frightening expressions on their faces.
Just like they did on the field, my mates were there to back me up. The shouting subsided when the press didn’t receive answers out of any of us. Finally, I took a few steps forward and waited while they stared at me in disbelief, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Then the crowd exploded.
“How do you feel about being the other man?”
“Did you know Cleo was cheating with you?”
“How could you be with a cheater?”
“Have you talked to Gustavo about stealing his woman?”
“Will you stay with Cleo after stealing her from Gustavo?”
And on and on until I held up my hand, causing them to go silent once more.
“I’ve got one thing to say about this, so listen up because it’s the last I’m going to talk about it. I will not be answering any further questions. And no, Cleo will not be available for comment. Ever.”
Microphones stretched out in my direction, and a few more flashes of cameras went off. But no one spoke as they waited for me to continue.