Page 349 of Playing Dirty

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And for the first time since NYC started feeling real—

it didn’t feel like the end of a conversation.

It felt like the calm before impact.

Fifty Three

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

ROWAN

The email came in at 9:14 a.m.

Subject line:

NYC PRE-PLACEMENT EVENT — TEAM ASSIGNMENTS

I read it three times before it made sense.

Then a fourth time because it still didn’t feel real.

Mia leaned over my shoulder before I even said anything.

“Oh,” she said slowly. “That’s not good.”

“What do you mean ‘not good’?”

She pointed at the screen.

“Collaborative field pairing with athletic media division interns.”

I frowned. “So?”

Mia looked at me like I was missing something obvious.

“So you’re not just doing journalism now.”

A pause.

“You’re assigned to cover athletes.”

That landed late.

Not slowly.

Late.

Because my brain immediately filled in the blank before I even finished reading the list of names.

I scrolled down.

And there it was.

REED, MASON — ATHLETIC PROFILE ASSIGNMENT (NYC PRE-FEATURE TRACK)

My stomach dropped.

Not dramatically.

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