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I laugh. “Sure. She’s off today, and I can swing by the house anytime to introduce you. The boys get home from school around three-thirty.”
“I have a working lunch but I have an open window from one to two. Does that work?” he asks.
I open my calendar app to check. “Yep. I’ll see you then.”
“And, hey, if your best friend needs to, you know, go to the store or something while I’m there…”
“Did this just become a booty call?”
“Excuse me, ma’am,” he scoffs. “I’m a gentleman.”
“Yeah, a gentleman who likes the booty.”
“Your booty. Nobody else’s will do.”
My cheeks grow warm at that. “I’m gonna be late for my meeting.”
“I need to run, too. I’ll see you around one.”
We say goodbye, and my chest aches a little as we end the call.
I wish it could just be easy for us, but I’ve also learned over my thirty-four years on this planet that the things in life most worth fighting for usually don’t come easy.
CHAPTER 22: JOLENE
I walk into the meeting after everybody else, unsurprisingly, but I’m right on time. “Sorry,” I apologize anyway. “I was chatting with someone I’ll be interviewing later.”
It’s not a lie, exactly.
“Great,” Marcus says, and he gets started talking about his vision for this week.
I glance up when I feel Rivera’s eyes on me, and his are narrowed as he studies me. I let my brows dip when my eyes meet his as if to say what are you looking at or maybe go fuck yourself, but I don’t say anything out loud.
“Bailey, how was Nash’s speech?”
I focus on the question and not on Rivera as the attention in the room lands squarely on me. “The speech was incredible. He talked about taking risks on and off the field, and I’ve already pulled up the footage from his time as OC where we see him taking risks. I snagged some sound bites and even scored a breakfast with the guy, so I have plenty of material to carry through a few different angles.”
“Amazing work as usual, Jolene. Rivera, where are we at on the high school recaps? Graduation is right around the corner.” Marcus keeps talking, but I lose interest as I jot down notes about additional stories and features I can create out of the speech I listened to over the weekend.
Who else on the team takes risks both on and off the field? I could do an entire spin-off series if that’s the coach’s game plan.
And I know his brother Asher is a risk-taker. Obviously he avoids anything that could get him in trouble with his team, but he’s an extreme sport enthusiast.
Having siblings on the same team is rare in the league, but having a brother coach his younger brother is almost unheard of. What a great dynamic to talk about as we head into a new season. Just like the Kelce brothers were the talk of the big game when they faced off against each other, the Nash brothers will be the talk of the season here in Vegas, and I could not be more excited to feature brothers in my stories all season.
I just wish the pairing wasn’t two brothers from the Nash family.
It’s a tough pill to swallow, but as much as my parents have conditioned me against them…I have to admit, a large part of the open wound I felt where he was concerned was healed this weekend. I think I’ll always have something against his father, but that doesn’t mean I have to punish the sons forever…does it?
I just pray it doesn’t all come unraveled once again. If it does, I fear this time I’ll be left with scars that’ll never heal.
The meeting ends, and to my extreme relief, Rivera doesn’t say a word. We each head out to our own cubicles to get some work done, and I text Sam to let her know the plan.
She’s in for meeting her new boyfriend.
It’s a little before lunch time when Rivera approaches my cube.
“I heard you went into Nash’s hotel room this weekend,” he accuses.
