Page 45 of Jockstraps & Newspapers

Chapter twenty-eight

Going to the press

Cassiopeia

N othing could have prepared her for an old school press junket.

About forty journalists all packed into a room in the gym like sardines, elbow to elbow, with their voice recorders raised and phones at the ready.

The only people not scrambling to keep up with the words being spoken were Mr. Pearson and Cass.

She was just there to help in any way that she could.

Which she was fully prepared to do—but didn’t have to.

..for some reason. The press junket was suspiciously fine.

Not a single question was asked about Stevie or the McMattersons.

No one inferred that Elliot was sleeping with Cass, or mentioned her at all.

No one asked about anything but the game and the season to come.

There was visible relief on Elliot’s face as he explained the complexities of their game strategy, with helpful quips from Toad.

Renner and Lee stayed stone faced, as if they were preparing at any moment to have to jump in. But they never did.

It’s as if everyone, and she meant everyone, forgot the whole reason for the press junket. Granted, everyone got their fill of her athlete’s fun quotes, recaps of the game, and what it’s like behind the scenes with the teams...but this wasn’t the shit show she expected.

The doors flooded open and fresh air pierced the scent of bodies cramped into an auditorium.

Cass pushed to her feet and waited for Mr. Pearson to finish speaking with someone else from the Salamander Press.

They were a part of the smaller print, there to do some recaps of the press junket and all the questions asked.

Normally, that would be Cass’s job, but Mr. Pearson already told her that her job tonight was PR deflection.

As Mr. Pearson finished with the other journalist, he bound off the seat of his chair and they headed back into the equipment room where Elliot and Renner were waiting.

“Anyone else think that was...odd?” Cass crossed her arms under her chest, stomping up to Elliot’s side.

“Beyond,” Renner grunted, pulling out his phone in irritation.

Whoever he was texting was getting an earful.

Cass directed her attention at Elliot, but his eyes were appreciating her in the dress.

She snorted, pushing on his arm affectionately.

The goofy, busted grin on his face as he ruffled the clear fur on the back of his neck made her heart flutter.

“Down, boy,” she teased under her breath.

“What? It’s a good dress,” he breathed sheepishly, leaning into her side. His breathy response against her ear made her shiver. “And you know how much I like your legs in those heels.”

“Careful, wouldn’t want to accidentally go back into heat again.

” She had to physically restrain herself from climbing him like a tree for the sharp inhale he took against her ear.

Not to mention to feel of his shiver, a soft hand brushing her lower back.

They’d promised to be as professional as possible today, but it was growing harder and harder to keep her hands off him.

Maybe she was the one in heat now—could that happen?

“ I don’t need to be in heat to want to knot you every moment of the day .” He nipped her ear lobe quickly before straightening up, glancing at Mr. Pearson. Him and Renner had gone suspiciously still and quiet. The pair furrowed their brows, eyeing them.

“Uh, guys?” Elliot broke the silence. Mr. Pearson opened his mouth to speak, holding up a finger, when the doors to the equipment room were opened. A rather perturbed Toad motioned for a Marvin McMatterson to step into the equipment room, followed by a lawyer and Lyra.

“Lyra?” Cass blurted out.

“Marvin, what great timing,” Renner snarled.

“Good, I’m so glad everyone is together.

It will make this announcement easier.” The rich, stone faced, millionaire stepped off to the side with his lawyer.

Lyra stomped over to Mr. Pearson, kneeling beside him to whisper at him tersely.

Unfortunately, Lyra had mastered the sharp whisper that no one else could hear.

Especially as Marvin McMatterson continued talking.

A stack of papers was distributed around the room to the people in it by the lawyer while he spoke.

“I would like this to be our official ceasefire. A truce, if you will. We’ve both slung some mud, but I think it would best benefit everyone if we left things to rest as they are. ”

“What!” Cass roared, nearly ripping the papers in her hand without looking at them. “Your son gets to just harass as many people as he wants, assault people, get off with a slap on the wrist, and you think for one second I’m going to stop holding him accountable?”

“Stevie has acknowledged his deplorable actions and is seeking help to undo years of childhood neglect that caused him to lash out and act out in order to receive attention he never got at home. You see, I was never truly home and his mother passed so young, you can understand how that effects the young psyche.” Marvin clapped his hands in front of him, as if closing the book on the matter.

“Bullshit,” Cass growled, taking a step forward only to freeze as Lyra put a hand to her shin. Her suave, chic sister stood up in a smooth, fluid movement. She took the papers from Cass’s hand and smiled at Marvin with her shark teeth.

“We shall have the NDA’s signed and returned shortly. We have much to discuss.” Lyra clapped a hand over Cass’s gaping maw as she spoke, knowing her better.

“Thank you, that’s all I ask that we all lay this issue to rest and give the good people what they want—sports.

A good, wholesome sport to talk about and nothing but the sport to talk about.

” Marvin beamed at Cass who was physically held back by the hips with the strength of a god—a.k.a.

Elliot. Lyra kept her hand firmly over Cass’s mouth as Marvin and his lawyer backed out in a swish of fabric.

After they were gone, Lyra cast a silence charm upon the room with one hand before pulling her other off Cass’s mouth.

“What the fuck Lyra! An NDA? Absolutely the fuck not! His son is ‘seeking’ help, my fucking ass. I’ll help him seek help in the form of a backhand and three more fucking articles. I swear to the dragon’s above, how dare you—”

“Will you shut up?” Lyra snapped, glaring at Cass.

Cass clamped her mouth shut, grumbling to herself. Elliot rubbed his hands against her sides before speaking up, “What’s going on? Why did that just happen?”

“Stevie is in prison.” Mr. Pearson sighed, turning all of Cass’s fire into frosty, confused silence.

“McMatterson has called for total silence on the subject, but that can only help so much. He’s trying to spin it that Stevie checked himself into a sex clinic to help with his clinical obsession with objectifying people.

He’s asked anyone who can’t run with that, simply just not speak on it. ”

“What? And we’re just gonna accept that?” Cass spat.

“Ms. Darling, something I’ll teach you at Salamander is knowing which battles to pick and which ones to let fall to the wayside.

There is so much more I need you to tackle, you’ll have to let the public decide if we keep talking about Stevie.

..but as for Salamander, King’s Fall Daily, and all our other outlets have decided to go radio silent about this particular subject.

As my employee, I hope you understand my stance.

I cannot run lies, but I can accept to merely move onto the next thing.

” Mr. Pearson tucked his phone away. “Lyra, I expect you to have them sign those and ship those off in the morning.”

“I’ve got this covered.” Lyra saluted him with two fingers as Renner and Mr. Pearson left the room. She waited till the two were far enough away that the spell fell down between them. Then her attention snapped to Elliot. “I think it’s best if you talk to your folks about why Stevie is in jail.”

“What?” Elliot barked, stumbling to the side of Cass.

“What is he even in jail for?” Cass cocked a brow.

“He was found in Tritus, behind the wheel and under the influence of narcotics in a stolen vehicle. A vehicle he then crashed into the side of a very rich, very unhappy businessman that is in competition with McMatterson. Where Tritus Enforcers found him and threw him in the darkest, dampest dungeon they could manage.” Lyra pulled out a pen from the large purse propped on her shoulder. She handed it to Cass first.

“And what does that have to do with Elliot’s family?

” Cass took the pen, relenting her fury.

She wanted to be a journalist, not an obsessed blogger.

She would have to give up her pursuit of Stevie’s reckoning.

Mr. Pearson had a point, she needed to move onto the next thing to talk about.

Especially given that somehow karma got to Stevie first. She flipped to the first page of the packet in her hand and began to sign.

“He knows,” Lyra whispered. “I was told upon no circumstances was I to tell you of my own accord, but apparently Mr. Bonesaw does not appreciate what Stevie did to his son, or what he’s done to all the players.

But, of course, from a legal standpoint, this was purely a drunken accident on Stevie’s part.

Too bad he stole a councilman’s car from Tritus, meaning that any immunity he would have in King’s Fall is moot, because his father doesn’t have sway in Tritus. ”

Cass peeked up from the paper to Elliot. A somber, broken expression filled his face as he nodded. “I’ll speak with him, but I know the answer. Stevie’s not getting out of prison. If he survives being there, I doubt he’ll ever see the sun again.”

“Wait, what?” Cass nearly dropped the papers before Lyra forced her to hold onto them and sign on the last line.