Page 337 of His Hungry Wolf
“Is that his name?” Coach asked before opening a door and ushering me through.
In a full panic, I scanned the room. There he was standing next to the guy behind the camera. When our eyes met, I saw his pain. Had I done that to him? I’m sure I had. Everything in me wanted to rush over and throw my arms around him. I couldn’t. And when I didn’t, his gaze fell to the floor.
“You ready, Nero?” Coach asked me pointing me in front of a large green screen. “Nero!”
“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said slowly remembering what I had to do.
I didn’t know what it meant that Kendall was here. Maybe he was forced to be here like I was. I couldn’t let him distract me, though. His presence didn’t mean anything. No matter how I felt about him or who he was to me, football was still the only thing I could count on in my life and I was going to do whatever I had to to hold onto it.
The guy behind the camera approached me and gave me an earpiece.
“On the other end of that is a producer at the station. He’ll give you a countdown to when you go live with Jill Walsh.”
“The sports reporter’s a woman?” I asked turning to Coach wondering how it was going to change things. He nodded encouragingly.
“You know they have those now?” the cameraman said before returning next to Kendall.
Of course I knew there were female sports reporters, I wanted to yell. I wasn’t a stupid thug. I was tired of dealing with the way everyone saw me. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was going to show them.
“You there? You ready?” the guy in the earpiece asked.
“I’m here. I’m ready.”
“Standing by. We’re going live in five, four, three, two…”
“Tonight we have a special interview with Nero Roman the East Tennessee football player in the center of a far-reaching scandal. Nero, thank you for joining us.”
“It’s my pleasure to talk to you. I just wish it was under more pleasant circumstances like a game-winning play.”
“And, just to let the audience know, you’ve had a lot of those, the most of any freshman in Tennessee state history.”
“I didn’t know that,” I said sincerely. “I just play the game the best I can. If I’m blessed with stats like that, then it’s thanks to the teammates I’ve been lucky to play with.”
“So, you seem like you have your life together. How did you end up in the middle of a scandal like this?”
“I honestly don’t know. After the game, someone suggested that we go out. One thing led to another and I guess one of my teammates recorded it.”
“And posted it online.”
“And posted it. But, I’d like to point out that, we were just blowing off steam. It wasn’t like I was cheating on anyone. There’s no one. I’m single. We were just having a little fun.”
“So, this is a case of boys being boys?” She suggested to my surprise.
“I guess. Though, I can now see how I was showing poor judgment. I deeply regret the embarrassment I brought to the East Tennessee Football program and the school’s community. If I regain the trust of everyone around me, I think I could make everyone proud,” I said speaking out of my ass.
“I’m sure you will. As for East Tennessee’s perfect record so far this season?”
“We’re gonna do everything we can to maintain it and bring another national championship to East Tennessee.”
“There you have it. The sincere words of a present and future star in Tennessee football.”
“And, we’re clear,” the producer said returning to the earpiece. “Great interview. Even I believed you. Good luck for the rest of the season.”
“Thank you,” I told him before handing the earpiece back to the cameraman whose inner asshole had softened.
“Roman, that was fantastic! I didn’t know you had it in you,” Coach said with a smile. “You are gonna go far in this world. Very far!”
I smiled and subtly looked around for Kendall. He looked as devastated as I thought he would be. Looking like he would burst into tears, he rushed out of the room.