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I took a deep breath before I let it all spill.

“Okay. I think you’ve come to the conclusion that my family is… well-rounded.”

Hart snorted and folded his arms over his chest, temporarily distracting me with his forearms. “Well-rounded?”

“I can’t think of another word for it. Um… as you know, my sister Danielle is a bull-rider, Snoh is a professional snowboarder, Kandace is ArKane—”

“What about you?” he asked, impatiently cutting me off.

My mouth gaped. I hadn’t expected him to take charge of the conversation, and sadly, my first instinct was to distract and tell half-truths.

“I’m a student and sugar baby.”

Silence fell over the table as he stared me down.

“Verydian.”

I swallowed the lump that had built up in my throat. He said my name like thunder rumbling in the sky. I had to give him something.

“Okay… my family owns Gray Social Lager.”

Family Legacies

Hart

I blinked repeatedly as I attempted to process the bomb that Vera just dropped on me.

Did she really casually announce that her family owns Gray Social Lager? I don’t think I heard that.

But it would make sense. Vera’s last name was Gray; she was obsessed with beer and was even pursuing a biochemistry degree to become a brewer and work in R&D.

But still…

“Hart? Say something.”

I anxiously rubbed the back of my neck while trying to find my words. I eyed the beer sweating between us before speaking. “Gray Social Lager? Your family owns it?”

“Well, technically, my Aunt Millie is the majority stakeholder since she founded the company, but everyone has a little piece of the pie.”

I nodded, recalling our visit to Bellamy Vineyards. “Is that why you seemed disinterested in the internship offer from Colin?”

“Yes. I already have an internship waiting for me.”

“So, you’re a nepo baby?”

“If you want to get technical… sure. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t put in the work. I’ve learned everything about that business from the ground up, worked some summer jobs there, and my senior research project directly correlates with the direction we want to go in the future.”

“You’re not a fan of that word, are you?”

She shrugged. “I just don’t think it paints the full picture.”

Something a nepo baby would say. My little nepo baby is in denial.

“Okay, so your family owns one of the largest and most successful brewery companies in the PNW. What else?”

She reached over, took the beer, and downed half of it before proceeding.

“Let’s take it from the top so you can get the full extent of my family.”