Page 25 of Risky Play

Oh. I hadn’t expected him to say that. I hadn’t thought about working this semester due to having a bigger course load since some of my credits didn’t transfer over.

He frowned. “But…I’m confused about whether you can do that with your visa.”

“I’m not on a visa,” I reminded him. “I was born here, and Mom made me apply for dual citizenship, remember?”

He glared at me. “That’s right. You ruined our family vacation to Disney World by coming early.”

I laughed. “Aren’t you over that already? You were five!”

He shook his head with a laugh. “So rude.”

“Get over it!”

“So, anyway, send me an email with your rates, and we’ll figure it out.”

“Sounds good to me.”

First, I had to figure out what those rates should be. I should reach out to one of my blogger friends and ask for their advice. Maybe look at what some of the publishing PR companies charged.

“You’ve been here for a while helping her,” Noah said.

“I was helping Matt, too.”

A scowl formed across his face. “With what?”

“Sponsored content. Like when I helped you with that beard wash ad we did last year. Am I not allowed to be friends with your teammate?”

“He’s older than you.”

“Noah, he’s one year older than me. We ran into each other last night, and I agreed to help him. Don’t read into it.”

As if on cue, Matt came up from the basement, and I tried not to stare. Even if he was a healthy scratch, he had to dress the part for the game. The sight of him in that blue pin-striped suit from the wedding had the memories of our night together rearing to the surface of my brain.

Noah got up from the couch, brushed off non-existent lint from his pants, and walked back upstairs to say goodbye to Dinah.

I checked my phone and saw a notification on my lock screen. I opened it and saw I was tagged in something. I beamed that Matt had tagged me as the photo credit for the sponsored ad. I checked his hashtags and then scrolled through all the comments. Jealousy reared its ugly head at all the women commenting on how hot he looked.

“Good?” Matt asked.

“Perfect!” I said with a cheery smile. “Hopefully, the brand likes it. Let me know. I’d love the feedback.”

A sly grin spread across his face. “You really like this stuff, huh?”

“It’s my calling.”

He shuffled his feet but glanced away when Noah and Dinah descended the steps. I watched with a pang of envy in my chest as Dinah stood on the steps and kissed my brother goodbye. He adored his wife so much; I could only hope to find that one day.

“Ready, bud?” Noah asked Matt.

Matt nodded to me, and then he and my brother walked out the door. As soon as the door slammed shut, Dinah crossed her arms over her chest and gave me a ‘spill’ look.

I grabbed my laptop and followed her up to her office.

“How did everything go with Matt?” she asked.

“Okay. But he was grumpy.”

She cringed. “He’s pissed he got benched. He thinks he’s going to be put on waivers.”