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That night,I’m sitting at the dining room table, earbuds in, listening to a new audiobook that Carys’s stepsister just released. A spiral notebook, my MacBook, and a whiteboard are all spread out before me, along with an assortment of colored pens and markers. Cinder lounges on the chair next to me, a bored look on her face, while Dixon and his friend, Watkins, play Madden on the Xbox in the adjoining family room.
Watkins is the starting tight end for the Kings with Dix. You’d think these two would get enough football, playing professionally, but you’d be wrong. Watkins and a few of the other guys from the team are here a few times a week, and they’re always playing video games. I don’t know how Mads manages to make them look cool on social media.
When Maddie gets home, she drops her dance bag by the door and smiles like the Cheshire freaking cat when she sees me.
I pop my earbuds out, knowing I’m about to get grilled. “Hey. Where’ve you been?” The best defense is always a good offense, and just maybe I can skate by without an interrogation if I get her talking about herself. “I didn’t realize you had class this late on a Sunday.” I eye her makeup pointedly, knowing that she doesn’t wear any to teach dance or yoga.
Mads’s eyebrows shoot up and dart toward Dix to see if he heard me. Once she’s satisfied he didn’t, she drops down into the chair on the other side of the table. “I could ask you the same thing, Goldilocks. Whose bed did you sleep in last night? Because it certainly wasn’t yours.”
My cheeks heat in response when flashes of last night run through my mind. I lower my voice. “Don’t act like you didn’t know where I was. I texted you guys.”
“Yes, you did.” She reaches across the table and steals my glass of water. “You texted to say you were leaving... with your boss.”
“What?” Dixon yells over the game before he pauses it and hops over the giant couch to join us at the table. “You went home with Bobby O’Doul?” Eyes pinched and mouth open, he’s not trying to hide his disgust before he shuts his mouth and curls his upper lip.
Watkins joins what’s quickly becoming a shit show. “Dude. He’s old enough to be your grandfather, D.”
Dixon groans, “You’re fucking gorgeous, D. You don’t need to be playing with shriveled up balls just yet.”
My life, ladies and gentlemen.
Water comes out of Maddie’s nose as she laughs at her idiot brother before she shoves him away from her. “What is wrong with you two? She didn’t go home with Coach O’Doul. She went home with Max Kingston.”
Dix and Watkins look at each other with wide eyes before they both turn to me with matching shocked expressions firmly planted on their chiseled faces. Dixon’s morphs into something else, but I can’t put my finger on it. “Max Kingston? You slept with Max Kingston?”
I close my laptop and stand from the table, so I don’t have to hurt my neck to glare pointedly at Dix. “That is none of your business, and this conversation is over.”
With lightning-fast reflexes only a professional athlete possesses, his fingers encircle my wrist and stop my retreat before it can start. “I’m sorry. That was out of line. I just... I was surprised.”
I tug my wrist away from him as Maddie moves in front of her brother. Big blue eyes beg me to stay calm. “We’re sorry. Don’t be mad, D. We’re just worried about you. I mean, it sounds like fun, but are you ready for the consequences of being with Max Kingston?”
“I’m not with him, Mads. It’s just a little fun. Pretty sure I deserve it after the last few weeks.”
Maddie pushes harder. “D. I’ve listened to your plan for Start A Revolution for the past four years. Do you want to risk that on a hookup with your boss? It would’ve been hard enough to be taken seriously as the owner’s daughter. I think it might be worse to be the owner’s girlfriend.”
I lift my eyes to see anger shining in Dixon’s. “Just be careful, D. You’ve lost a lot over the past few weeks. The last thing you want anyone thinking is that you’re going after him for his money or the safety he can give you.”
Maddie throws her arms around me. “We just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I squeeze her back. “Will you trust that I know what I’m doing? Please. I appreciate your concern, but I’m good. I swear. I just want to make sure everything is perfect for my Start A Revolution presentation tomorrow.”
“Anything we can do to help?” Dixon offers, and a new idea begins taking shape.
“Actually,” I look between the three of them. “I think I have an idea.”
* * *
After staying up all night, perfecting my presentation, I’m a nervous wreck the next morning. I’m finally going to get the chance to present Start A Revolution the way I’d always envisioned. Only instead of my father sitting on the other side of the desk, it’s the man whose name I screamed all night Saturday.
The way his eyes looked up at me from between my legs is seared into my soul. Never to be forgotten.
“Good morning, Miss Brenner.” His blue eyes stay completely impassive. He’s in business mode. Thank God. I’m so nervous I don’t know if I could do this any other way. Things got a little weird for a hot minute during the ride home yesterday. “Are you ready to begin?” He opens a leather-bound folio and grabs a pen.
I blow out a breath and run my sweaty palms over the front of my gray pencil skirt, trying to get my heartbeat to slow down to an acceptable rhythm instead of continuing to gallop away like a prized racehorse. The sleeveless baby-blue blouse with little ruffles at the arms and collar is one of my favorites, and my mother’s pearls hang delicately around my neck. I can’t resist touching them, reminding me I’ve always known I was going to run this foundation, just like my mom did before she met my dad.
Max sits across from me, elbows resting on his desk, with an expectant look on his handsome face.
I go through my entire presentation, stopping to answer the few questions Max asks along the way.
