Page 173 of Studs Up
Terry shrugged. “Think about it.”
“I think the fans would be on board,” Alice interjected. “The Rover fan base is pretty upset with how you were treated that night.” Alice expertly didn’t call out Goldstone but also called him out simultaneously. “They would be disappointed if you joined the Guardians, but they’d understand.”
“Something to consider,” Sebastian said.
“The fuck you will,” Goldstone snapped.
“He’s a good striker,” Sebastian said. “It would be a good move for us.” Sebastian stared down Goldstone, and everyone could hear the grinding of his teeth. I squeezed Holden’s hand.
Instead of responding, he got up and left. The mood and tension in the room lifted dramatically when the door slammed behind him.
Allen glanced at us with raised eyebrows.
“Finally,” Alice muttered, and Frank rolled his eyes at her. “Okay, now we can get down to business.”
“What business?” I asked. We were here to secure Holden’s contract for at least the remaining year. We did that. What the fuck else could we possibly need to talk about?
“The business where you two do an interview about your relationship.”
“Fuck no,” I snapped without thinking.
Alice met my eyes in a challenge I was willing to accept.
“You owe the fans an explanation.”
“We owe the fans ninety. They don’t get to have our private lives.”
Alice leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and her legs.
“This is a big deal,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “You two are rivals from one of the longest standing and most bitter rivalries in the league. It’s not nothing, and there will be questions about how this came about and what kind of relationship it is.”
“The kind that’s none of their fucking business.”
“Nolan,” Holden took my hand in both of his. I took a breath.
“Here’s the deal,” she continued. “We front load the information. Do an interview, get it all out there, and by the time the season rolls around, it’s all been mostly forgotten.”
“It won’t be forgotten,” Holden said stiffly.
“I said mostly. We answer the big questions, so they stop asking them, and it will all die down.”
“I highly recommend doing this,” the national team representative said. I forgot his name, and I didn’t care too much to ask.
“You can highly recommend whatever you want,” I said.
Next to me, Allen stuffed his fist into his mouth to keep from snickering. I'm glad someone was entertained.
“We need to do it,” Holden said quietly.
“Why?”
“Because we need as many of them on our side as possible, and this is how we do it.” He pleaded with his eyes. “I don’t want to, but we need to.”
I relented again, because of course I did.
“Fine.”
“Good,” Alice said, not even attempting to hide her victory. “Moving on. With the interview.” My stomach churned. “I hear you’ve purchased a nice little cabin-”
