Julia pouts, and I pick her up and throw her into the air. “My goodness, I think you’ve gained ten pounds since the last time I was here.”
“Not true.” She giggles. “Do it again!” I throw her into the air one more time before I set her down.
“I think you’re taller too.” I tilt my head to the side. “How old are you now? Fifteen?” She giggles some more.
“No! I’m four, silly!”
“I could’ve sworn you were fifteen. Huh.”
“Killian, congratulations on the win!” My brother’s wife, Christina, gives me a kiss on my cheek.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “Two down, two to go.”
“You guys got this. Your brother cleared his schedule, so we’ll be there cheering you on at the next game.”
“Sounds good. How’s little man doing?” I rub the top of her pregnant belly.
“He’s content in there. The real question is, how am I doing? I’m ready for him to come out.” She laughs.
“Only a couple more months, right?”
“Nine weeks, four days,” she corrects me with another laugh. “Are you staying for dinner?”
“Of course. Julia and I have a new princess movie to watch, don’t we?” I shoot a wink to my niece, who grins.
“Yes!” she squeals.
“Okay, go handle business with your brother. Dinner will be ready in about an hour.” Her voice raises a beat louder to let my brother know that’s all the time he has to hold me hostage.
“How’s Nick doing?” Dylan asks, pouring us both a drink.
“He’s good. He and Olivia picked a wedding date and asked me to be the best man. They’re getting married in June.”
“Good for them. We should all barbeque soon.”
“For sure.”
He hands me my drink. “All right, let’s get down to business.”
We spend the next hour going over several contracts, endorsement deals, my bills, and a few new investments I asked him to look into for me. He commends me on making smart choices with several investments that have made me a substantial profit. Going into my career I knew many professional athletes end up broke and filing for bankruptcy. I wanted to make sure I’m never in that situation. If my career were to end tomorrow, I need to know I’ll be okay.
“Boys, dinner is ready,” Christina yells from somewhere in the house.
“You heard the woman.” I stand. “Dinner is ready.”
“I think you use my wife for food,” Dylan accuses lightheartedly.
“Hell yes, I do,” I admit as we head to the dining room. “You know I can’t cook, and your wife can.”
“Maybe it’s time you got a wife of your own,” Dylan says with a laugh. He sits down at the table next to his wife, and I sit next to Julia, who is already munching on her chicken nuggets.
“Your date to the party the other night was pretty,” Christina says.
“Who?” I ask, placing a piece of lasagna onto my plate and grabbing a roll.
“Well, I guess that answers the question I was about to ask…” Christina rolls her eyes. “If there’s a chance she’s someone serious.” She makes my brother a plate of food and hands it to him before she makes herself one.
“I went to a birthday thing for Olivia’s best friend, Giselle, the other night. I wasn’t sure if maybe the paparazzi got pictures.” I cut up my food then take a bite.
“I was referring to the woman you had on your arm at your endorsement party for that car.” She’s talking about Tabitha.
“Being as she was rented for the night, I don’t think it’s anything serious.” I shoot Christina a wink, and her eyes go wide.
“You paid for a hooker,” she whisper-yells. “Killian!”
“She’s not a hooker.” I laugh nervously, immediately regretting I said anything. “She’s an escort.”
“What’s an escort?” Julia asks, reminding us of her presence.
“Nobody, sweetie,” Dylan says. “Are you all done eating your nuggets?”
“Yes! Can I get the movie ready for me and Uncle Killian?”
“Sure, go ahead,” my brother says. Being as they never let Julia leave the table before everyone is done eating, I know I’m about to get shit from him.
Sure enough, as soon as Julia has skipped out of the room, he glares my way. “Bro, you can’t seriously think it’s okay to hire an escort. Do you know how bad this would look if it gets out?”
“One, Amber handles it for me. It’s done through my personal account and it’s all handled properly. It’s not like I picked her up on the street corner. The women have to sign NDAs and everything. You’d be surprised how many celebrities use escorts for different events.”
“How did it come to this, Kill? How did you become the guy who rents women instead of trying to meet one the right way?” My brother gives me a concerned look. “I’m not judging you,” he adds. “I’m just trying to understand. If I recall, you dated a few girls in high school, right? And several in college? What happened that scared you from settling down?”