Page 126 of The Jack*ss in Class

Tempest’s eyes went wide for a moment, but then she smiled at the woman and nodded. “I’m still getting used to the idea of being in the public eye.”

“You’re sure you’re okay with doing it today? We can strategically place you behind a whole defensive line of Kingmans if you don’t want to show your face, babe.” I smoothed a hand down her back and stared at the cluster of lights and wires now webbing across our living room.

“No, I’m sure. I’m faking it till I make it because I want to be here, with you. I’m happy for the entire world, or at least the ones who watch football, to be able to see how proud I am to be by your side. If they want to gossip about who I may or may not be, that’s up to them.”

I full well knew how much letting people see the real Tempest had cost her in the past couple of weeks. But she’d come out stronger for facing down those fears. “I’m the one proud to be by your side, my queen.”

“Good god, you two. Get a room. No one on the Sports Channel is here to film a mushy gooshy HeartmarkChannel special.” Isak pretended to wretch and I flipped him the bird while kissing my girl for the whole room to see.

The living room became chaos in a Kingman kind of way. Loud, overstuffed, full of bodies and snack plates and too many opinions on where to put the TV. Mom had never allowed us to have one in here. Said there should be one room in the house where football wasn’t the focus. But all of us and the camera crew didn’t fit into the home theater room downstairs, so Dad said he’d allow it for this one occasion.

Once Hayes, Isak, and Levi got everything hooked up, the League Draft lit up on the big screen, and Dad put the volume loud enough that the commentators’ voices tangled with the laughter, the teasing, and it all felt surreal. Familiar and foreign all at once.

This was our house. Our team. Our family.

And it was all about to change while the whole world was watching.

I planted myself in the corner of the room like a linebacker on fourth down, trying not to show just how nervous I actually was. I’d never been good at sitting still, and this? This wasn’t sitting still. This was sitting in a pressure cooker with every eye in the country waiting to see where I’d land.

Gryff sat next to me, calm as hell with his long legs stretched out and a plate of wings in his lap like this was just another Saturday. The only tell was the way he kept licking his lips, eyes flicking between the screen and his phone, like he was expecting it to vibrate at any second.

“You ready for this?” I asked under my breath.

He gave me that slow side-smile of his. “I was nominated for the Heisman, bro. I was born for this.”

Cocky bastard.

I was proud of him. Of all of us. But it didn’t stop the knot in my gut from twisting tighter with every second the clock ticked down. The Mustangs hadn’t called. Not yet. They still could.

The Bandits were supposed to pick at sixteen. But they’d traded up to twelve. The pick was in, but they hadn’t announced it yet.

Then Gryff’s phone rang. He waggled his eyebrows at me and answered. Whoever was on the other end of the line said something, then Gryff smiled, and said, “Yep. Let’s do it.”

The Sports Network’s coverage cut to the stage. The commissioner stepped up to the mic, flanked by two wide-eyed kids in custom jerseys. My entire family leaned forward like one collective beast.

“With the twelfth pick in the 2025 League Draft, the LA Bandits select... Gryffin Kingman. Safety. Denver State University.”

The room exploded.

Screams, cheers, hands everywhere. Jules jumped on the couch, sobbing and laughing through it all. Aunt June hugged Dad so tight I thought his ribs would crack. Our agent, Mac Jerry, let out a sharp whistle and clapped Gryff on the back as the cameras on TV cut to our living room feed.

And me?

I clapped. I smiled. I hugged my brother.

But inside, I felt like I was falling.

I wasn’t jealous. That wasn’t it. Gryff deserved it, he’d worked harder than anyone I knew, played smarter than half the League already.

But everything was so fucking for real right now. Our lives were changing. In huge, enormous ways. Ways I thought I was prepared for. But inside I was a god damn wreck. What if I had to leave my whole family behind?

What if I didn’t want to?

What if I wasn’t okay without them?

What if they weren’t okay without me?

This family was my everything, and only once in my whole life had we ever been broken up. And we were not okay after that. How could we have been?

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