Brandon was the kind of guy who would stick by you no matter what. I knew we were going to be friends. Tina was very nice and it was refreshing to see somebody support their partner one hundred percent. I hadn’t talked to or texted Lexi since she informed me she met somebody and was moving out. How was that possible? We’d only moved here two months ago. My ego was bruised, but honestly, I was relieved. It was one less conversation I had to have with her. Besides, she never liked Crowbar. Since coming to the office with me, he had a bit more spunk. I had more important things happening than Lexi at this moment. I followed Brandon to our meeting room and looked at the excited and worried faces in front of me.

“Players and coaches, are we ready?” I wasn’t prepared for the whoops and hollers that answered me. The special teams coach joined us for the pep talk before we met with the media. When we broke to meet with the press, I seriously wondered where the time went.

“Coaches, follow me,” Bill yelled.

The five defensive coaches joined me, Brandon, Jim, and Jamal. We followed Bill to the press room. I did a quick scan of the reporters but didn’t see Duane Spitzer. The shit storm he’d tried to stir up had died down since the interview Grayson and I gave at the team charity night. Hopefully, no one else would try to revisit Duane’s line of questioning.

At the large table Bill sat in the middle. I was on his left, Marcus on his right, with the rest of the coaches standing behind us. I wasn’t going to say a thing unless I was addressed, and even then, I was going to keep my answers to a minimum.

“Welcome to the Cheetahs press room. This is a big day for us and for the NFL. We’re excited to show our team to the world.” Bill pointed to a reporter. “Maria, why don’t you start us off?”

“Coach Tatum, was it difficult switching up your offense after Myers’s accident? You built up your offense based on his abilities.”

“Grayson Moats is a veteran player. He stepped into the position with poise and confidence. There wasn’t a single hiccup when he took over,” Bill said.

Bill wasn’t wrong. Grayson fit in well and picked up the plays with ease. He even made a few suggestions on plays Jamal designed. He was going to surprise everyone watching today.

After minutes of answering questions, I looked at the clock and started bouncing my knee. We needed to get out on the field and ensure our players were stretching and practicing and getting mentally prepared for the game. I needed it as much as they did.

“Good luck, coaches.” Several reporters echoed Maria’s sentiment.