CHAPTER 31 KAYLEE
It’s a Saturday morning, and Ellie and Luke popped over with Nolan so Luke and Jack could work out together and Nolan and JJ could have a playdate. I’m sitting on the couch sipping a Diet Dr Pepper as I stare blankly off into space while Kate and Ellie sit a few feet away with the boys.
“Earth to Kaylee,” Ellie says.
I snap to attention. “Huh?”
“You okay?” she asks.
I shrug, and then I decide to lay it out there. Maybe they can help. “My department chair sent an email asking what we want to teach next year.”
Kate’s brows dip. “Did you tell her seventh grade again?”
I shake my head. “I haven’t said anything yet. Her email also mentioned that if we know we’re not returning, we should let her know.”
“Are you not returning?” Ellie asks carefully.
I lean back and stare up at the ceiling. “I hate it,” I admit. “It’s just…I don’t know. It’s not my passion and it’s not what I was expecting.”
“What is your passion?” Kate asks.
“That’s sort of the problem,” I say. “I have no idea. You’re so lucky that you figured yours out.” My brows knit together. “Wait a minute.” I sit up a little and turn toward Kate. “Isn’t today your graduation day?”
She lets out a little giggle and a nod. “Can you believe it?”
“Why aren’t you getting ready?” I ask.
She lifts a shoulder. “I don’t have any interest in going. I already had the big college graduation. This one is for me. I did my coursework online, so it isn’t like I have a bunch of friends to sit with, you know? I don’t really care about the ceremony. I’m just glad to finally have the degree.”
“So proud of you,” Ellie says to Kate, who smiles. “And I’m so sad you’re leaving PCPR in a few weeks.”
“So am I. Which is why I’m still going to work at my little desk in your office.”
Ellie laughs like it’s a running joke between the two of them, and I love how close they’ve gotten because of my brothers.
I love how close we all have gotten in the last few months, and even though Vegas isn’t where I ever planned to land, seeing my family together this way makes me want to stay forever.
Ellie turns toward me. “Could you take a year off and maybe figure out what’s next?”
I could, sure. I have that money in the bank from the inheritance I received after my dad passed.
He earmarked it specifically for me to buy a house and get started in my career after I graduated college, but he thought my career would be in teaching, where the paychecks are minimal.
He thought he’d be helping give me the lifestyle I was raised with.
I can’t remember now specifically what Bentley, our family lawyer, said regarding my conditions in the will.
I know he said something about my career, and maybe I need the exact language to help me figure out where to go from here.
It feels like it’s one of those tiny details that will unlock all the answers I’m searching for even though the money has been in the bank since the day I graduated.
“I guess I could, but what would I do?” I ask. “I was raised with a strong work ethic. I want to work. I want to do something. I want to make a contribution and leave a positive mark on the world, but I have no idea how.”
Kate and Ellie glance at each other, and then Ellie says, “Ben literally said the same thing to me yesterday. Let me think on it and with this whole new agreement between the two of you, maybe we can come up with something you can do together.”
“We’ll brainstorm this week,” Kate says.
“I’d love to be in on the discussions,” I say.
“Wait a minute.” Ellie perks up, and then she leaps up from her position on the ground.
She moves so quickly that she startles Nolan, who starts to cry.
She picks him up as she giggles a bit and croons softly to him while bouncing him around the room, and then she looks at me. “I just had the best idea.”
Why does a little tremor of terror dart through my stomach at the way she’s looking at me? I narrow my eyes at her.
She’s already bouncing since she’s holding Nolan, but she bounces a little more with her giddy excitement. “I’m going to need help when Kate leaves me to take the interior design world by storm. You could come work for Prince Charming Public Relations!”
Uh…no. Like a hard no.
All her clients are football players.
I’m trying to escape the football life.
My soon-to-be “boyfriend” is a football player and I don’t date football players.
Nolan starts struggling out of her arms to resume playing with his cousin, and she sets her hands on her hips as she stares me down.
“I sense you’re going to say no, but before you do, just think about it, okay?
We can do it however you want. Full time, part time, whatever.
You could oversee all the editing since you’re so good with grammar.
You’d still be using your English degree without having to deal with an evil department chair or middle school kids who endlessly tease you because of your brothers. ”
“The boss is amazing and the pay is good, too,” Kate says from her spot next to JJ.
I can see it now. My entire life is becoming the game, and I don’t like it one bit.
But this is a job opportunity. It’s a chance to find a new path different from the one I haven’t been enjoying recently, and it would be fun to work with Ellie, who I adore.
“Fine. I’ll think about it.”
She claps her hands giddily. “It’s going to be so fun, Kay!”
“I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” I point out.
“You will,” she and Kate say at the same time.
Yeah, they’re probably right. When the dynamic duo has an idea in mind, there’s little anyone can do to stop it.
“No pressure, Kay,” Ellie says.
The front door opens and in walks the sexy beast of a man who’s posing as my new boyfriend.
He’s wearing those gray workout shorts that do little to hide the package in his pants, an Aces t-shirt, and a hat on his head flipped backwards, and hot damn does he look fine as fuck.
“We really need to change the code on that padlock,” Kate teases.
Ben nods to all of us with his eyes landing last on me. “Morning, ladies,” he murmurs, and the heat passing between us is positively blazing.
“Hey there, honey,” I say, and he chuckles.
“Ben, don’t you think Kaylee should quit her job and come work for PCPR?” Ellie asks.
I laugh, and Ben’s brows shoot up.
“Is that something Kaylee wants?” he asks.
I shrug and maintain a passive expression, but the truth is my heart warms that he considered my feelings first before badgering me the way everyone else in my life seems to do.
He studies me for a beat before he turns to Ellie. “I know she’s not happy teaching, but I actually had a different idea for her. Now that I think about it, she could probably do both—work for you and my idea. If she wants to.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What’s your idea? Full time live-in girlfriend?”
He laughs and shakes his head a little wryly. “Aside from that. Something that isn’t teaching but something that you’re in a unique position to do.”
My brows draw down. “What are you talking about?”
He moves through the room a little closer to me and lifts his leg so his foot is resting on the ottoman in front of me.
He’s acting all casual, but if I lean over just a smidge, I can peek up the leg of his shorts and spot his boxers.
Even from here I can tell they have Bugs Bunny on them, and something about the fact that every pair of underwear I’ve seen on him has featured a cartoon character makes him even more endearing to me.
Plus I know about the monster he’s got hiding in there.
He glances at Kate and Ellie before he leans forward as he stretches out his hamstring then rests his arms across his thigh as he turns to look at me.
“I got to thinking about some of the things we’ve talked about, like your students bringing up your brothers or those bad dates where the conversation inevitably turns to football.
You lean so hard away from the spotlight, and I totally get that.
But have you ever thought of leaning into it instead? ”
My brows dip further. “What are you talking about?”
“Monetize your position.” He lifts a shoulder, and I’m completely clueless as to what the hell he means. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
“Oh my God, Ben,” Ellie murmurs. “That’s it!”
I sit up a little. “What’s it?” I’m monumentally confused.
Ben glances at Ellie, who clearly approves of this idea that I still don’t quite understand, before he looks back at me.
“Sponsors would pay you top dollar to talk about their products on social media. You’ve got an inside track to two pro football players—now three,” he says, brushing off his own shoulder in jest. “People want the intel. What’s it like on game day?
What’s it like in the off-season? What’s it like being the little sister of not one but of two professional athletes?
How do you decide which jersey to wear? These are the questions millions of people might ask but only you can answer. ”
Ellie’s nodding eagerly. “The team shop. League gear for ladies. Brands you wear to professional events, clothes, jewelry, make-up. Stylists. Supplements you take to maintain your figure. Athletic and health companies in general.” She ticks off the items on her fingers.
“That’s just off the top of my head. And if we put a charitable spin on it, you’ve got the perfect conditions for the sort of positive legacy you were just talking about. ”
Ben glances at her. “A positive legacy? Is this something Kaylee and I could work on together?”
“Abso-freaking-lutely!” she says, and she’s getting all giddy again.
I swear I need to bubble wrap this girl because when she gets excited, she gets clumsy, and it’s just when I have that thought that she trips backward and just barely catches herself on the front of the entertainment center—mere inches away from knocking over the television.
“Oops.” She calms down but only for a beat as she regains her composure and her cheeks redden.
“We just need to agree on what angle you’d want to take on it as far as charities, and I can take care of the rest. Sort of.
I don’t have any clients who aren’t currently playing for the Aces, but I could make an exception for our Kay Kay, particularly since you two are a package deal now. ” She air quotes package deal.
“Wait just a hot second,” I say, sitting up a little straighter. “By sponsorships…do you mean you’re going to make me Instagram famous?”
Ellie giggles, but then she shrugs. “Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly what I’m saying.”
I shake my head. “No way. We’ve talked about this, you guys. I value my privacy. My account is private and I only accept people I know.”
“Right,” Ellie says. “Your brothers also value their privacy.” She glances at Kate. “Well, Luke does, anyway.”
Kate laughs and shrugs.
“But that’s the thing—just because you’re giving people the inside track to your life doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your actual life and privacy. You’re showing them whatever it is you want them to see. You’re creating the narrative.”
“And with those legs and that ass, you’ll be Insta-famous overnight, Peaches,” Ben says.
I roll my eyes as Kate and Ellie laugh.
“Sticking with Peaches, huh?” Kate asks, and Ben lifts a shoulder.
“I don’t want to be Insta-famous,” I argue. “I don’t want to talk about football all the time.”
“But you also don’t want to teach,” Kate points out. “So, like Ben said, you can lean into what you’ve been blessed with rather than looking at it as a curse.”
“And you don’t have to talk about football.
You can include Ben, who can help you grow your followers, or you don’t have to.
You can talk about whatever makes you excited, and we’ll find sponsors who want to support those initiatives.
We can set it up however you want, but maybe half of all the proceeds can go to a charity of your choice.
Brands freaking love charity work, and if they know you’re donating to a cause, you’ll have offers lining up.
Plus you can use it to leave your positive mark on the world,” Ellie finishes.
“Something you said you wanted literally ten minutes ago.”
I stand from my spot on the couch, forcing Ben to move from his casual position with his leg up on the ottoman.
“You’ve all given me a lot to think about,” I say.
I move toward the kitchen to ditch my empty pop can and grab another.
I’m not caffeinated enough for all this so early on a Saturday—especially since it’s the one day I take off from my usual morning run.
“But I haven’t even totally decided I’m not teaching anymore.
I need a little bit of time to figure all this out. ”
Ben follows me to the kitchen. Ellie and Kate are a persuasive team, but if anyone could get me to agree to this…it’s probably Ben.