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After I’m dismissed from the meeting with the head honchos, I walk back to the lobby to pick up Victoria before we head to the press conference. Seeing her face brings me an immediate sense of peace despite what went down in that office.

“How’d it go?” she asks as I take her into my arms. She’s stiff, and she doesn’t melt into me the way I’m used to. Everything is changing before my eyes, and I have no idea how to navigate any of it.

“About as good as I expected. They’re talking about in-house punishments but I won’t find out about any of that until after the arraignment,” I say.

I draw in a deep breath of her strawberry scent before I let her go, and I grab her hand as we walk toward the media room for the press conference.

I pause before we make our way too much closer, and I turn toward her. “They also talked about potentially sitting me, releasing me from my contract, or trading me. I have no idea what they’re thinking or if those are just threats, but I can’t be traded.” Harper’s face pops into my mind, and I can’t imagine uprooting her after I just bought a new house for us to set down roots here .

The thought makes me sick to my stomach.

“Any chance we can get him to drop the charges?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Not likely.”

And that’s when I spot a woman walking across the lobby who looks very familiar.

It takes me a second to place her, and then I realize it’s because she’s wearing clothes.

Fuck.

It’s the woman from Coax…the one whose name I’m not sure I ever knew. The one who wanted more. The one I avoided for weeks.

This is the last thing I need right now.

Victoria’s gaze follows mine to the woman, and she seems to stiffen more.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She nods. “Yeah. Fine. Let’s get you in there for your conference.” Her voice is bright. Too bright. Fake bright.

But I have to let it go because I have to face the press. Ellie rushes in through the doors, a bit of a chaotic whirlwind in her skirt and white top, and she beelines for us.

She’s a flurry of energy as she gives me a few tips on what to say. “Start by being thankful they’re here. Be apologetic and grateful. Take ownership of what you did, and be honest. It’s okay to say what happened, but be clear and concise. Any questions?”

I shake my head. “Thanks, Ellie.”

She squeezes my arm. “You’ve got this, Travis. Just be you. There’s a reason people love you. Show them what they love.”

I nod and we head in to face the reporters.

Victoria stands beside Ellie in the small group gathered as I take a seat on the stage. Bright lights shine into my eyes as I glance out at the crowd. It’s hard to see how many people are here with all the lights, so I begin by speaking from the heart.

“Good afternoon and thank you for being here. I’d like to begin by apologizing for my recent actions. I’m committed to learning from my mistakes, and I’m sorry if I let anyone down.”

A voice breaks into my thoughts before I really get a chance to say anything else. “What are the charges against you?” I can’t quite see who asks the question, so I can’t look him in the eye to address him.

“I’ve been charged with misdemeanor vandalism,” I say. Be clear and concise. Ellie’s voice rings in my head.

“Can you tell us what happened?” another voice asks.

I nod. “I entered an acquaintance’s home with his permission, attempted to get back something that didn’t belong to him, and then looked through the house until I found it. He felt I destroyed some of his property.” I leave out the part about punching his jaw even though the fucker had it coming.

“Did you?”

I lift a shoulder and press my lips together. “I wasn’t exactly neat in my pursuit of the item.”

A little vibration of laughter echoes through the crowd.

“What was the item?” someone asks.

I fidget a little, unsure what to say. I don’t want to involve Victoria in this, and worse, I don’t want her to feel like I blame her when I don’t. I own my actions, and I don’t blame anybody but myself.

“A special memento that belongs to someone important to me.”

The next question comes quickly. “Will you plead guilty or not guilty?”

“I plan to plead guilty. I take ownership of what I did.”

“What is the impact of the charges on next season?” a voice asks.

“That remains to be seen. I won’t find out until after the arraignment what my punishment is for violating the personal conduct clause, and the Aces will determine my fate after that.”

“Will you be at training camp?”

“Yes.” That’s one answer I know without a doubt…provided they don’t cut me before then.

“What is your message to fans?” I recognize the voice of Jolene Bailey, a local sports reporter who has been an Aces supporter since I’ve been here.

“I’m grateful for the support, and I promise to do better. I will think through my actions and all their potential consequences moving forward.” I don’t say how stupid I think this entire thing is. If the asshole would’ve just given her the ball back, we wouldn’t even be here.

But he didn’t, and I reacted poorly, and here we are.

“Is it true you got married over the weekend?” a female voice asks.

This has nothing to do with the charges.

“Yes, that’s true,” I admit.

“Is it true you got married because you knew these charges were coming and you were trying to protect your daughter?” the same voice presses.

I want to shout no, that’s not why but I find I can’t. I’ve always been a bad liar, and Ellie just coached me on being honest before we walked into this conference.

Thankfully, Ellie shouts out from the crowd before I get the chance to say anything. “That is unrelated to the reason we’re here for this press conference.”

I’m grateful for her running interference, but it doesn’t change the fact that the question was asked and now it’s in everybody’s head.

Everybody’s wondering the same thing.

It’s public now, and it could easily get back to the Callahans, which could hurt my case for keeping Harper.

I wish I could’ve seen who asked the question…and I wish I knew how she knows what happened. We didn’t tell anybody .

That line of questioning has the potential to damage my reputation more than the arrest did.

I use the awkward silence as my transition to get the hell out of here. “Thank you for your time today and for letting me tell my side of the story. I look forward to the upcoming season and working hard to earn a starting position.”

I get up from the chair where I sat as they grilled me, thankful it’s over, and then I exit the room and practically run toward the locker room just to get away from the prying eyes.

The locker room is empty, and I collapse onto a bench and hang my head as I contemplate everything that just went down.

I pull out my phone and check the live broadcast to see what people are saying.

I always knew that kid was a punk.

Trade him! We don’t need criminals on our team!

I love Travis!

He’s so hot.

It seems the crowd is split fifty-fifty.

I should know better than to read the comments on anything about me. The negative ones always seem to speak louder than the positive, and people are already calling for my trade. I wonder if Calvin will listen.

I know Victoria is in good hands with Ellie, but I also know I shouldn’t have ditched her. I give the press a few minutes to clear out, and then I head back toward the lobby to meet her.

She’s standing with Ellie, and they’re talking quietly as I approach. “Sorry. I just didn’t want to hang around while the press left.”

“Understood,” Ellie says with a smile, but Victoria still looks jittery and nervous…and maybe even a little mad at me.

Well, she’s not the only one.

Half of Aces Nation seems to be Team Anti-Travis. I just have to figure out how to fix this.