17. Connor
CONNOR
ONE WEEK LATER
“Today I’ll conduct our intake process, and ask you a million questions,” Grace says, tossing her hair. “All normal for our initial meetings with new clients.”
It’s been a week since Eden signed the engagement agreement, and with her game on Thursday as usual, we booked this initial meeting for the following Friday. Milo’s out of town for a few days, so Grace stepped in.
It’s been a shitty week. I keep wanting to text Eden and check in, like we did during my time in LA, but now that wouldn’t be appropriate—or, more specifically, it’d be too hard to keep boundaries. For me at least.
Maybe not for her. She has an unreadable look on her face across the table.
That doesn’t detract from her appeal, though. She’s clipped part of her hair back, which means I can see those beautiful features even more clearly. When her eyes pin themselves on me, I look down before she catches me staring.
“That’s fine. Bring them on.” Her tone is relaxed.
If she’s calm about this, you need to be cool.
My sister, oblivious, keeps the meeting moving. “Great. The first thing to review is this spreadsheet. We’ve detailed out all of your existing deals and the various terms. Can you make sure it’s correct?”
“Absolutely.” She picks up the paper that Grace hands her, and they go back and forth on each arrangement she has, making sure it’s accurate.
I zone out and watch her interact with Grace. For eight minutes.
Her reflexive smile when Grace gives her compliments.
The way she tucks her hair behind her ear every time she finishes responding.
The tug of her Tolliver tee on her tits as she adjusts her body in her seat.
The elegant line of her neck as she tilts her head, listening to Grace.
Eight minutes of cataloging Eden, unabashedly. I know because when I look up at the digital clock on the wall, I catch the time.
This is why I can’t hang out with her as “friends.”
“We’ve also gone through the emails proposing new arrangements.” Grace turns to me. “Connor, do you want to review our thoughts on those?”
“Uh…sure.” I stumble as if Grace and I hadn’t planned my role earlier today. She looks at me, confused, but I ignore it.
“This second sheet outlines the terms, where they’ve shared them already, and some initial pros and cons.”
I slide the paper over, and she reaches to pull it toward her. For a beat, our fingers are only half an inch apart, and I find a new thing to hyperfocus on.
If only I could touch her. Would she react? Like she did that one night?
Her eyes go big as if she knows what I’m thinking. Or maybe it’s the fact that I’m staring at her hand and holding the paper still. Then she pulls on the paper a little harder, and I snap out of it.
“Thanks. So this column is all the pros?”
I get my act together enough to explain all our findings. Praying Grace hasn’t noticed anything odd in my behavior.
Even if she has, after the initial information is confirmed, she steps back in to advance the meeting.
“We’ll pursue the interview requests too, if you’d like, and explore what would be feasible from a scheduling perspective.
I’ve worked with the Tolliver press office a bit, so I can run everything by them. ”
“Yes, that would be amazing. I don’t mind doing the interviews at all, but to not have to coordinate and plan everything will be incredible.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Grace responds with a huge smile.
“I’m grateful.”
My sister’s shoulders ease a fraction, the meeting functionally over. But I’m not surprised when she switches to light personal topics before Eden leaves. Making connections beyond business is her strength.
“How’s your dad enjoying coaching so far?”
“He’s loving it, I think? Maybe a little homesick for the field. Jeremy hasn’t missed yet in a game, so he can’t complain too much.”
“Yeah, it’s got to be hard. I can’t imagine what retirement will be like for our brothers or Johnson.” Grace flashes a look at me.
I don’t filter my answer. “They’ll be complete pains in our asses.”
Grace laughs. “It’s many years away, though. We need to win a Super Bowl first.”
Eden speaks up next. “For sure.” She looks back and forth at us. “Do you go to all the home games? I’m coming to the one next week.”
Wait, does she want to hang out? At a game? It’s hard to interpret that look.
“Oh awesome.” Grace’s face lights up. “You can come and sit in Joh—our suite, if you want? I keep forgetting it’s mine now too.”
“I won’t be alone? My stepmom and stepsister will be there. Nat is eight, fair warning.”
“Oh, that’s okay. The more the merrier. We always have Johnson’s niece and nephew there too.”
“Yes, Nat played with…is it Emma?”
Grace nods. “Emma was at the wedding.”
“Perfect. She’ll love that.” Eden’s eyes flick in my direction. “Will you be there, Connor?”
I swallow, making a split second decision. “I will.”
Grace looks at me curiously. “You will? I thought you had—”
“I will.” Which means bailing on the Grady McConnell brunch with Milo. The prospect of missing out on time with Eden? I can’t stomach it.
My sister shrugs. “Okay, he will too.”
Eden gives me a small smile. “Great.”
Grace taps the papers in front of her lightly. “I think we have everything we need to get started. Do you have any other questions?”
“None for now.”
Shit, she’s about to leave—no more Eden. I give in to my impulse to prolong our proximity.
“I’ll walk you out.”
Grace looks at me again before turning back to Eden. “Nice to meet you, officially.”
“Likewise.”
Everyone stands, Grace exiting first with a last wave. I gesture for Eden to go next, and as she steps into the hallway, I can feel the heat rising off her ahead of me.
Two more steps, and I succumb to the compulsion to touch her, resting my palm on her back with the barest of contact.
“You look beautiful today.” Fuck, why did I say that? At least it was a whisper, so only she could hear.
Eden seems to stumble slightly. “Thank you. Isn’t that…”
It’s like I can read her mind. “It’s not fraternization to give you a compliment. Not to mention it’s true.”
She doesn’t press me on whether the hand that hasn’t left her back counts.
Regrettably, I’m forced to drop it anyway, as we reach the glass doors of the office building.
“See you soon, Eden.”
A few minutes after Eden leaves, Grace appears in the frame of my office door with a keen look of suspicion on her face.
“Connor Joseph Battle, what the heck was that?”
I play dumb. “What do you mean?”
Her eyes narrow. “Listen, I know you’re the secretive brother of mystery.” She’s clearly rocking her eldest-daughter mode. “Is something going on with you and Eden?”
My sister can sometimes live in her own world, but when she focuses on something, her intuition is scary.
“Why do you say that?” Deflecting again.
“Con, don’t play dumb with me.” Whoops. “You were making googly eyes at her, which is only notable because I’ve never seen you like that before.”
“I was not.”
“You were. And you’re going to give up your Sunday plans to meet a soccer legend so you can go to the game?”
“Well…yes.”
“So? Answer my question.”
“There’s nothing going on…now.”
Grace gasps in triumph and sits in my office’s guest chair. “But there was?”
“We’ve…hung out before. And we were going to again, until this.” I wave my hand in the direction of the meeting room. “When Milo signed her.”
She wrinkles her brow. “I thought you were the impetus for that.”
“I was, unfortunately. Then Milo sealed the deal. Which also meant no dating a client.”
“So let me get this straight. You already liked each other. Maybe more—” She shakes her head. “I don’t need the details. Then Milo and you pitch the company to her, and she signs. So now you can’t be together?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“As your superior, great job on following the code of conduct. As your sister, I’m bummed for you. You really liked her?”
“I did. I do. But we’ve only spent a handful of hours together.”
She rubs the arms of her chair. “Well…thank you for telling me.”
“Just don’t start spreading this sad tale around, please. The last thing I need is pity from Johnson and Landon.”
“Since nothing’s going on, I promise.” She bites her lip. “How are you liking the internship after a few more weeks?”
I debate how honest to be, and then I decide to go for 100 percent. “The analysis for today—evaluating her options—it’s a sweet spot. I appreciate how Milo is exposing me to this world, to the profession. I can see why you love it.”
“But?”
“I—it’s missing something for me. I’m not a schmoozer, and I don’t love the daily coordination and planning aspects of our clients’ lives, like you do.
Sure, I can do it, and I need to have a job, so the easiest path is to stay at SLP after the internship, if Milo wants me.
Something about it doesn’t feel like…me, though. ”
She nods. “I hear you. Maybe you should explore grad school? An MBA could open even more doors.”
“Maybe. But that means more debt, with no clear outcome. It buys me time, at a cost.”
“Well, not necessarily at a cost. Any one of us would help you financially.”
Frustration fills me at this familiar refrain from my siblings. “I don’t want that. I’m sick of not being able to stand on my own.”
She blinks at my tone before softening.
“Alright. So we need to find a way for you to do something you love while being able to make a real income. In the meantime, I’ll talk to Milo about having you lean into the analysis side whenever possible.”
I don’t want her to put herself out for me again, but I force myself to make a polite, simple reply.
“Thanks, Gracie.”
If only something could go right, without needing an assist from my siblings.