Page 209 of Just for the Cameras
Not sparing him any of my time, I start to turn away, but he pushes off the wall and grips me by the shoulder. “Graydon, a word.”
From his tone, I know I don’t have an option in the matter, so I let him direct me away from the locker room and toward my coach’s office.
Great.
Can’t wait to see what they have planned for me this time.
We enter Coach Keenan’s office, where he’s sitting at his desk. Gretchen is perched on a chair as well.
“Take a seat,” Dad says, pushing me down into a chair but having a hard time doing it, given that I’m bigger and stronger than him.
Wanting to get the hell out of here and to Maple as quickly as possible, I don’t put up a fight.
“Did you have a good night last night?” Coach Keenan asks, and immediately, the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. “Because from the pictures I’ve seen, you had one hell of a night.”
Fuck.
My mind reels back to my room, where I fucked Maple on every surface. Were the curtains shut? I think they were. Pretty sure they were. It’s rare that I actually open them. But on the off chance, were they open?
Did OC say something? I don’t think he would, but he also is an idiot and could have said something without thinking.
“From the panicked expression on your face, I’m going to guess that you did,” Coach Keenan says as he turns his computer screen toward me and shows me a picture of Maple sitting on the tailgate of my truck, me standing between her legs, my hand obviously gripping her breast while we make out.
Shit.
But at least it’s not my bedroom.
“Gretchen went to visit Maple today at the zoo.” My eyes fall to Gretchen.
“What the fuck did you say to her?”
Is that why she went home with Hank? Gretchen better not have scared Maple away. There will be fucking consequences if she did.
“Your tone,” my father says.
I shoot a look at him and say, “This does not concern you. Why the fuck are you even here?”
“Because you’re my son, and even though you don’t believe it to be true, what you do in your everyday life affects me as well.”
“Right, forgot your reputation is far more important to you than any other real-life situation.”
“We’re getting off-topic.” Gretchen steps in, clearly not wanting to be part of another father-son fight. “I spoke with Maple today about your relationship and how your moving from a PR relationship to a real one would have been information we needed to know. I don’t like waking up to surprises like this, Graydon.”
“We’re kissing. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Your hand placement is a big deal,” Dad says.
“Oh, fuck off. As if you’ve been innocent throughout your entire career. You paid millions to get rid of a sex tape you made with some whore on a road trip.”
Dad’s eyes narrow. “This is not about me.”
“Exactly, it’s about me and my private relationship with Maple.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Coach Keenan says. “The moment you signed to be in a PR relationship with the zookeeper is the moment you gave up all rights to keeping this private.”
Eyeing my coach, I ask, “Shouldn’t you be talking to your offensive coordinator and figuring out why it’s so difficult for your O-line to stay up on their goddamn feet for more than three seconds? Seems like that might be a more productive use of your time.”
“You’re about to cost yourself a starting position,” Coach Keenan says, throwing around an empty threat. There’s no way they’d start without me. I’m one of the reasons our opponents aren’t able to run the score up as our offense struggles to reach a first down.
