The Star

Copyright © 2023 Earl Gray Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, at the address below.Earl Gray Publishing LLC www.bethbolden.com [email protected] Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental. Book Layout © 2023 Beth Bolden Book Cover © 2023 Book Brander Boutique The people in the images are models and should not be connected to the characters in the book. Any resemblance is incidental. Ordering Information: Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact Beth Bolden at the address above. The Star/ Beth Bolden. -- 1st ed. Chapter 1 “So you figure out where you’re signing yet, bro?” Aidan asked as he and Landry sat down in their seats. For reasons Landry Banks had never quite figured out, Aidan Flynn was his best friend. They’d been best friends since they’d met in college twelve years ago. He was just as much family as his own two brothers were. They’d made it onto the starting roster at Michigan, then onto the NFL Combine, and finally, they’d been both drafted into the NFL. Aidan had been selected by the Toronto Thunder early in the first round, and he was still their very popular, very successful starting quarterback. Which, in Landry’s opinion, hadn’t helped his friend’s arrogance and occasionally annoying swagger in any way whatsoever. In Toronto, he was practically revered as a god. But still, even now, despite all his obnoxiousness, Landry loved him. There was so much good—so much loyalty and kindness—buried under Aidan’s brash exterior. Landry wished more people could see it. But not today. Because Aidan knew very well Landry hadn’t decided yet if he was going to stay with the Bills or take one of the other offers he’d received—and yet Aidan had poked him about it anyway. “No, which you know,” Landry said, elbowing his friend in the side. “God, you kinda suck.” Aidan just grinned. “Hey, what’s that saying? You gotta make hay while the sun shines? You eliminate any of the teams that’ve offered for you yet?” “I think…” Landry hesitated. This decision was all he’d thought about over the last few weeks. Over and over, round and round, all the pros and the cons. He was pretty sure Elliot, his agent, hated him because they’d had three conference calls and so many texts Landry couldn’t even dream of counting them all. That didn’t count all the ones he’d sent to Logan and Levi, his two brothers, who also played in the NFL. “I think I want to leave Buffalo, at least.” “Really?” Aidan looked surprised. “Yeah.” Landry was grateful to the team that had drafted him eight years ago, but he was ready to move on. Maybe move somewhere where it wasn’t negative eleventy-billion below and didn’t snow buckets every winter. “Well, see, you made some progress,” Aidan teased. “So you gonna take the Falcons contract or the Condors?” “The Falcons low-balled me, so probably not them, but…” “The Condors are a garbage fire?” Landry made a face. “That was last year. Supposedly it’s gonna be different this year. Totally different. I talked to Logan. You know he plays for Asa Dawson, who they even brought in to consult on the Condors’ rebuild. And I talked to the new owner. I think…it should be better. Honestly, I’m tempted to take the Condors’ deal. Their offer wasn’t as good as Buffalo, but…” As usual, Aidan knew what he wasn’t saying. “But they’re closer to Miami.” Where Logan plays. As much as Aidan pretended not to understand how close the Banks family was, there was a reason they were both here to watch Aidan’s little brother, Riley, in his debut today. “Yep,” Landry said. “Charleston’s closer to Miami.” He was tired of being so far from his brothers. Charleston wasn’t necessarily close to Miami, but it sure was a hell of a lot closer than Buffalo had been. Aidan waved out at the field, changing the subject. “You think the kid’s gonna play today?” Landry rolled his eyes. I love my best friend. I really love my best friend. “First off, you shouldn’t call him the kid, you know that drives Riley nuts. And he’s what…twenty-four? Twenty-five?” Aidan shrugged like he didn’t know. He knew. “And,” Landry continued, “we’re here because he’s the starting quarterback. So yeah, he’s gonna play. I don’t know why I came all the way out here to Pittsburgh if he isn’t.” “You came because I asked you to,” Aidan reminded him. “For moral support. And to help me convince Riley to give it up.” Landry winced. “Maybe don’t phrase it that way, okay?” The Pittsburgh XFL team had just taken the field—for many years, so many organizations had tried to get a second professional football league started, but none of them had lasted very long. This was just the newest iteration, and Landry hoped they succeeded where everyone else had failed because it was a real chance for players who hadn’t made NFL rosters to shine. Riley Flynn could’ve been on a roster as a backup, but he’d chosen, stubbornly, to join the XFL because he wanted to play. Aidan had said it best when he’d called up Landry to invite him to Pittsburgh. “Nobody’s gonna take a shot on someone to start if he stands on the sideline the whole season, holdin’ a fucking clipboard, so that’s his big plan.”