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“They do, and of course, Coach Undergrove was part of that decision-making process as well.” Her way of saying nepotism was involved without saying it. I nod again.
“So, with all of that, we need someone focused on Quentin full time. Rehabbing his image, making sure he’s involved in things in the city—charities, groups, events, local businesses. It all has to be part of the campaign to show he’s invested here. He also really needs to overhaul his social media. It’s certainly the kind of content that played well with a rougher team, onewith more edge that plays the kind of football his former team enjoyed. And definitely plays well with his female fans. But we need him to appeal to families. To season ticket holders. We want people buying Undergrove jerseys and rooting for him in the stands. The team has invested a lot of money, and it’s imperative this first year is a productive one. On all fronts.” She gives me a meaningful look.
“I understand. Is there some way I can help with that?” Just saying the words puts a bitter taste in my mouth—saving the man who broke my heart and now seems to want to bait my brother into trouble he’s never had before.
“Yes. That’s why I’m down here. The more we talked about it, we really feel like he needs someone full time. Someone who can monitor and run his social media, keep his social calendar, make sure he makes it to events—on time and looking like he’s excited to be there, helps connect him to organizations and people in the city.”
“He needs a babysitter,” I say flatly.
“Essentially. Of course, we’ll paint it like you’re just an assistant trying to help make his life easier and pave a path forward for him here. We don’t want him to feel like he’s being smothered. Those guys never handle that well.” The bitter taste in my mouth worsens.
“I see.”
“We think you’re the right person for the job. You’ve handled difficult personalities before, and you come from a family who’s been through their fair share of challenges in the last year. So you’re well-versed in the game. I know it’ll be a challenge given the tense nature of the relationship between your two families, but I wonder if we might not be able to smooth that out a bit in the process. Maybe the two of you finding common ground to work together would be an asset to other people in your family.”
So news of Easton’s trouble has already spread, and I’mbeing called to bring all the boys and their tempers to heel. Lovely.
“I understand.”
“Are you up for it? We can give you additional resources if you need them. Possibly even an assistant if he proves to be a lot of trouble.”
“I do have a close associate I normally work with when I have particularly difficult clients. Beatrix Xavier. She has a similar record to mine—and she’s familiar with Undergrove and his former team in Pittsburgh.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you. And I’m looking forward to the challenge.” It’s a lie. But I need this job, and I don’t want my brother’s career going down in flames because of Undergrove. So I’ll have to find a way to look forward to it.
When I finally get tomy rental car I want to cry. One of the tires is flatter than flat. Practically pancaked to the ground. East is long gone after I told him to get home and take my sister-in-law, Wren, to dinner to forget about today. So now I’m stuck trying to find the right number for the rental company to have someone out here to fix it. I feel a swell of panic in my gut. It’s just another straw on a rapidly growing pile. Between watching my brother get lectured by Coach Undergrove and dealing with Quentin’s attitude, I’m questioning why I came here at all. Why I ever thought this was a good place to be.
I open the door and collapse in the driver’s seat, kicking off my heels temporarily and dangling my feet out the door. It’ll get too hot if I close it and there’s no sense in wasting gas trying to run the air conditioning.
Everything gets profoundly worse only a few moments laterwhen I see Quentin come out of the same exit I did, freshly showered, and heading for his car. I’m praying he doesn’t look this way and see my predicament, but I have zero luck today. Absolutely none at all because he looks directly at me and almost immediately clocks the issue with the car, turns on his heel, and marches straight for me.
“Flat tire?” he asks as if it isn’t obvious.
“Yes. I’m calling the rental company to see if they can come out to fix it. I’m just on hold.”
His brow raises. “Pop the trunk.”
“What?”
“Pop the trunk. I’ll see if there’s a spare.”
“I’m sure there’s a spare.”
“You need the spare on if you want to drive out of here.”
“I’m aware.”
“So let’s see if you’ve got a jack to get the job done. If not, I’ve got one in mine.”
“I’ve never changed a tire in my life.”
“I assumed. Which is why I’m doing it.”
“You are not changing my tire.”
“Why not?”
