“Well, I’m just glad to be part of a team. It really was a group effort,” he said, giving all the cameras his widest grin. After a few winks at a few female reporters, he leaned in as Sparky Monroe, from ESPN, raised his hand.
“What do you have to say about the rumors that you’re dating super model Giselle Danbury?” Sparky asked, tipping the microphone close to Zach.
Zach just laughed. Apparently, his PR rep had been right. A night out with Giselle had been a smart move. Hoping not to give away the truth, he shrugged. “I’d say don’t listen to every rumor that you hear.” But then he let his smile do all the talking. “Giselle is such a sweetheart.”
All the reporters had knowing looks on their faces as they glanced back and forth between each other. Zach chuckled inside. He knew it was wrong to be dishonest, but he loved feeding the media. They could be so salacious about everything it was almost ridiculous. He’d learned long ago to keep them at a distance. People in the media were not his friend and would use a relationship with him to get ahead.
A woman cleared her throat and out of instinct, Zach turned to find Danielle standing behind him with a quirked eyebrow and pinched lips. Zach’s heart instantly picked up speed as he met her stormy gaze.
Wow. It felt as nothing had changed even though it had been years since he’d seen her. Talked to her…kissed her. The feelings of betrayal raced through him as he muscled down his feelings. It was such an odd sensation of guilt, and what he used to think was love. But it had been wrong. All of it.
“Good evening, Ms. Danaher,” Zach said, leaning forward in some weird sort of bow. Then, feeling like an idiot, he straightened. What the heck was he doing?
Danielle studied him for a moment and he could see her thoughts swarming in her gaze.
He raised an eyebrow and smiled, hoping to calm her down. She was angry and he didn’t blame her. But what had happened was years ago. She couldn’t still hold a grudge, could she? They’d been hurt together. And sure, he’d stupidly kissed her, but he’d been confused and hurt—he hadn’t meant to insult her, or his brother’s memory.
“I just wanted to get your take on the game,” she said, her voice tight. Zach swallowed. It wasn’t the voice he’d remembered. But, even with all that had changed, he could still see the Danielle he’d known. The one who had grown up with him. The one who reminded him of home, even though the thought was so painful, it felt like a 400lb linebacker had just plowed into him at full speed.
He cleared his throat and gave her a weak smile. “Sure, anything for you.” Out of instinct, he gave her a wink—and then instantly regretted it. Why was it that he couldn’t act normal around her? He was a grown man and yet, he was crumbling in her presence.
She stared at him and then shook her head. “I wanted to know how you felt about the fact that Rigby could have thrown the ball to Hyde who was ready much sooner than you were, but instead threw it to you. Doesn’t really speak, teammate, does it?” She tipped the microphone closer to him.
He studied her, wondering where she was going with this, but then decided not to read into it. “Well, I’m sure that’s how it looked from the outside, but both me and the team executed the play beautifully. I couldn’t have picked a better outcome.”He gave her another smile, hoping to tell her that he’d moved on even if his family hadn’t, but that just deepened her scowl.
“But, how is it that out of all of your teammates, you are the one with the ball most often?” She adjusted her glasses as she reached into her suit coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She parted her lips as her gaze remained trained on whatever was written on it.
He stared at her. Was she serious? He cleared his throat as he hitched up his bag onto his shoulder, stopping her mid-sentence. “What can I say? My team knows who to throw the ball to. I’m not going to apologize for helping my team score goals.” He gave a quick smile to the other reporters who were there, all leaning forward and catching this strained and awkward conversation.
Danielle’s lips tipped down. “But—”
Zach snapped his gaze over to her. “If you have questions about how I played, then I’m happy to answer them. If you have questions about the supermodel on my arm last night, I’m happy to answer those too. But I’m not going to apologize for being good at what I do.” Zach saluted her as he turned to focus on the horde of reporters around him.
The shocked look on Danielle’s face cemented itself into his mind as he continued answering all the fawning questions that were thrown at him. None of them had the hint of distain like Danielle’s did and Zach couldn’t help the feeling of anger that rose up in his gut.
The hope he had that perhaps she’d forgiven him, disappeared as soon as she parted her lips and spoke. He’d hoped they’d both moved on and now, he realized how ridiculous that was. He hadn’t meant to hurt her that night. It had been his parents who cut all ties, not him. She’d left. She’d walked out on him…on Isaac. He wasn’t going to apologize to her anymore, no matter how much she was glaring at him right now.
What she didn’t realize was, he’d been hurt too. She wasn’t the only one who lost someone she loved that night. He’d lost his brother and that had almost ruined him.
But things had changed. He had changed. Or at least, he was trying, which seemed like a lot more than what she was doing.
Growing tired of the questions, Zach concluded the interviews with a wave of his hand and pushed through the crowd. Thankfully, security was there to keep the reporters from following him. As he pushed through the outside doors and stepped into the fresh Georgia air, he took in a deep breath.
Paul, his driver, was standing next to his Lincoln with his phone in hand. As soon as Zach neared, he glanced up.
“Leaving already?” he asked, straightening and reaching for the door handle.
Zach nodded. “Long night.”
Paul held the door open as Zach climbed inside. Just as he was situated, Paul pushed the door shut and rounded the hood where he slipped into the driver’s seat. He started the engine and pulled away from the curb.
Zach leaned back in the plush leather seats and took a deep breath. Why did Danielle have to show up? Wasn’t there another team she could be covering?
Zach closed his eyes and groaned. Just his luck, she had to pick the team he was on. And for some reason, from the way she spoke to him earlier, he was beginning to think that perhaps, it wasn’t just fate that brought them back together. Could she have asked for this assignment just to torture him?
He opened his eyes and glanced out the window, watching the city lights fly by. “I wouldn’t doubt it,” he said, to no one in particular.
“Did you say something to me, Mr. Stedman?” Paul asked from the front.
