Page 3 of Home Game

“Good, isn’t it?” Shawn said.

“That might be one of the best beers I’ve ever tasted,” I said.

It wasn’t a lie. The beer had the slightest hint of apple and clove in it, just enough to evoke everything autumn without overpowering the yeast and hops.

“You like it?” Harlan, the burly, lumberjack-looking head brewer called out from across the room.

“You’re an artist,” I called back over to him, holding up the beer glass.

Harlan came over to our table, dipping low and dropping his voice. “The secret ingredient? Just a little bit of allspice.”

I gave Harlan a high-five. “Called it. I knew it was allspice.”

“Cheers to that, too,” Shawn said, and we all clinked our glasses again as Harlan walked off, chuckling.

“I like your ambition, Emmett,” Shawn continued. “But I know we’re still the underdogs. The last major Racks brand deal was with Taylor Swift. Now, I think we’re cute enough and all, but we ain’t Taylor, in fame levels or anything else.”

I gave him a nod. “Well, once we get you this brand deal, you’ll have Taylor herself calling you up to ask for invites to your parties.”

Nathan and Shawn laughed, but I was only slightly kidding. I always strove to make magic happen for my clients.

“Well, we’re ready for the meeting next week,” Shawn said.

Nathan gave me a wicked grin. “And we do have one more thing up our sleeves.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked.

He nodded. “I think you’re going to be excited for our next renovation client for the TV show.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “I’m intrigued. Tell me more.”

“Well, as you know, we already have an amount of football fans who love our show,” Nathan said.

“Right,” I said. “Because of Kace.”

Kace Tomlin was a star player on the Denver Ferals football team. He’d been featured as a past renovation client on the Fixer Brothers show, but he had also been dating Nathan ever since, and made frequent appearances on the show. The two of them were lovebirds, and the fans ate it up. Marketing-wise, Kace Tomlin was one of the silver bullets in my portfolio for taking the Fixer Brothers to the next level. He was beloved, and the most famous client they’d ever had.

“Ournextrenovation client,” Nathan said, with excitement in his eyes, “is the hottest new addition to the Denver Ferals team. Storm Rosling.”

My chest tightened immediately.

No.

He couldn’t be serious.

No, no, no.

I gripped the cold glass of beer in my hand, shifting on the leather booth. Shawn and Nathan stared at me, smiling expectantly, waiting for me to react.

“You… you’re kidding, right?” I asked, a tendril of worry curling its way around my ribcage.

“Nope. Isn’t that awesome?” Nathan said. “Storm needs his mansion renovated, and it’ll be a huge project. Amazing for both of us, right?”

They had to be joking.

Storm Rosling.

TheStorm Rosling, who had certainly been making headlines, but for all the wrong reasons.

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