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“The last time I checked, we come here to relax. Not that you know the meaning of the word.”
Liam scoffs, kicks my chair, and flips me off when I yell, “Hey!”
“Get your lazy ass up and come join us for some ping-pong.”
“No.” I lie back, eyes closed again, and then suddenly, I’m in the air. Chair and all, I’m hefted into the air and headed toward the water. “Put me the fuck down. What is wrong with you assholes?”
But before I can jump off, I’m tossed into the pool, and when I come up sputtering and drenched, Liam, Drew, Ike, and Hudson are all laughing like a bunch of loons.
“You’re all going to pay for that.”
The threat only makes them laugh harder, but Ike has the decency to offer me a hand to help me out of the pool.
Instead, I plant my feet on the side and pull him in with me, much to the hilarity of my cousins, including those who have joined us.
“You’re all a bunch of assholes.”
“Come on,” Drew says and, stifling his laughter, really helps me out of the pool. “You have to wake up, or you’ll miss all the good stuff.”
I wasn’t sleeping. I was listening to the conversations going on around me. I’m quiet because I like to take everything in and absorb what’s being said. If I make eye contact, people want to pull me into conversations.
Which is fine, but sometimes, all the chaos gets overwhelming.
And with a family the size of mine, chaos is the norm. Will invited all the men in the family over for some fun, since the weather is so nice. The only guy missing today is Vaughn because he’s in LA on location.
“What did I miss?” I accept a towel from my dad, who’s also laughing, and wipe it over my face. It’s nice enough today in the sunshine that I’ll dry off quickly.
And if need be, I have a change of clothes in my Bronco.
“Uncle Will is about to give us some inside dirt on the team,” Drew says. “But he only wants to tell the story once.”
I glance at Ike, who’s still standing nearby. “Do you know the dirt?”
“Dude, of course, I know.” Ike shakes his head and walks ahead of me to the covered patio, which isn’t a normal-sized patio, but rather a giant outdoor space that Will had built about ten years ago so we could have parties like this one.
I hover just outside, where the sun can still hit me and dry me off.
“Is everyone here?” Will asks, glancing around.
“We woke up Keaton,” Liam says with a smug grin. “Now, spill the beans, Uncle Will.”
“The team finally sold,” Will begins, and all of us go still.
“Did the family buy it?” Hudson asks.
No one in our family is a billionaire on their own. But combined? Yeah, it would be possible for the family to invest together and own a professional football team.
“No,” Uncle Luke says. “We thought about it, and had plenty of family meetings about it, but we decided to pass.”
“Damn,” Finn says, shaking his head. “Inheriting a piece of a pro team one day would have been cool.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Matt, Finn’s dad, counters. “We’re all going to live forever.”
“Right.” Finn smirks, and Will keeps talking.
“So, some billionaire bought the team?” Uncle Caleb asks. “Who is it?”
“It’s a brother and sister team, Rome and London Ambrose.”
“They’re not billionaires,” Uncle Dom says with a frown.
“No, but their father is.” Will shrugs. “I’m sure he put up a big chunk of the money, but Rome and London are listed as the owners.”
“Aren’t they known for being computer geeks?” Uncle Nate asks. “What do they know about football?”
“Probably not much,” Ike mutters next to me, as he’s also standing in the sun to dry off.
“They’re the money behind it,” Will says calmly. “They don’t have to know the game to put up the money to buy the team. I’m the one who has that knowledge, and they’ve asked me to take on the role of general manager and president of operations for the organization.”
We’re all stunned silent for a moment, and then there are whoops and cheers of excitement.
“As it damn well should be,” Uncle Isaac says and claps his brother on the back. “You know more about that team, and the game in general, than anyone else could.”
“There’s always something to learn,” Will says. “And I haven’t accepted the position yet.”
“What?” My dad scowls at Will and crosses his arms over his chest. “Why the hell not?”
Will exhales and rubs his hands over his face. I don’t believe that he invited all the men in the family over for one of his guys’ day parties just to get our opinions on if he should take the job of a lifetime.
But maybe he needs to talk it through.
