Page 58 of Hard Hitter

Warmth filled my chest at D’s hype. He meant it. I had my issues with his fame and perfect…everything, but D never made me feel inferior. Another way I didn’t live up. A nice sister would hype him right back instead of throwing sass.

I sucked at being a nice sister. “Right? Too bad you got stuck with all those attractive, athletic, charming genes. Everyone knows petty is where it’s at. What did you need?”

“I’m flying down for the spring game next weekend, and I was hoping to see my favorite sister for more than the length of a stuffy alumni dinner. You’re coming to the game, right?”

The spring game was the culmination of the spring season, basically a glorified practice with another team. The guys loved it because they got to show off. Their previous coach took the game seriously, but the current one seemed like he’d let them have some fun.

Of course, I was going. No way would I miss watching Noah play. I may pretend to not care, but I liked football. The challenge and skill involved always interested me, and I’d throw elbows to be front row for Noah.

I snorted. “Will your entourage be there? If so, I might sit somewhere else.”

He chuckled. “No. I’m traveling under cover. Em knows, but the publicity people don’t.”

“Is Nadia not coming? What about Soren?”

“She’s working that weekend, and Soren has a charity thing. I thought I’d stay the night on Mac’s couch and head back the next day. No offense, but the idea of staying in Eva’s apartment terrifies me. Other than sleeping, it’s just you and me next weekend.”

And Noah. And the rest of the crew. Honestly, I’d been sharing him with the others since he started college, but everything felt different now. Eva, Mac, Shaw, Noah—they’d all becomemyfriends, and D never even met Riley. I was a little nervous that with D’s return, I’d be dropped back down to Baby Asher status.

“Sounds good. Our couch isn’t big enough for you anyway, and I’m not giving you my bed.” Though, if I would just woman up and tell him the truth about Noah, he could stay in Noah’s bed. “Was that all you wanted—to warn me you’d be in town taking all the attention away from me?”

“No, I had something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

Sirens went off in my head, and my chest froze up.He knowsrepeated in my head over and over again, so loud I missed what D said.

“Sorry, what?”

He laughed. “Remember Harper, Soren’s cousin? She had to fire her last assistant for a reason I can’t remember, and she asked about you.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding, and the lightheadedness added to my confusion. “Me?”

“Yeah, she remembered the party you pulled together after the draft. Apparently, you impressed her with your organization skills and your take no shit attitude.”

I leaned back against Eva’s pillows, trying to wrap my mind around what he was telling me. “Wait, are you offering me a job?”

“Not me, dumbass. Harper needs an assistant, a virtual one so you could do it from there, and she wanted to know if you were interested.”

“What the hell, D? Why didn’t you just give her my number? Or my email?”

He cleared his throat, just like I’d done at the beginning of this fiasco of a conversation. “We thought you’d be more likely to say yes if your favorite brother asked. It doesn’t pay well, and it’s a lot of work, especially while you’re still in school. Are you interested, or should I tell her to look elsewhere?”

Was I interested? Yes, but the prospect was terrifying. I wouldn’t have the safety net of apathy if I crashed and burned as usual. Harper and the others would have front row seats to my ineptitude. The usual insecurities tried to get me to turn the opportunity down before I could fail, but dammit, I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life drifting.

I was good at organization. Theoretically, I could do this job, but I wanted to get it on my own terms, without D’s influence.

“Tell Harper to call me. If she’s really interested, I’ll discuss it with her.” I patted myself on the back for the mature answer. Old me would have grabbed any excuse not to take the risk. “And tell Nadia she’s my favorite.”

D laughed. “Sure, brat. See you next weekend.”

I stared down at my phone for a long moment after we hung up. The job offer scared the shit out of me, but so did D’s visit. I still hadn’t told him about Noah, but maybe that conversation would go over better in person.

The soft sound of dawning realization jerked my gaze to the bathroom door, where Eva stood holding Henry in a new duck diaper.

A slow grin took over her face. “Harper wants to hire you as her new assistant. Smart. You’d be great at it, and she could pay you shit because you’re still in school.”

I frowned at her. “Excuse me, I’m worth slightly more than shit.”

“You should put that on your resume,” she deadpanned. “I assume D is coming to the spring game too?”

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