“One hundred percent. I’d have been right, though. Look how it ended. Auston’s a fucking idiot and now Annie and Nelson are back under public scrutiny.”
“I’m not saying you’re wrong, Quinn, but this is something Annie’s got to take control of. It’s her life. Hers and Nelson’s. I don’t know what the right answer is and I’m a step removed. Her head must be all over the place. She’ll be hating that the whole thing’s gone viral.”
Sas leaves a conversation with the Bears’ Director of Communications and leans around Colton to tell me, “The agency has assigned a new PR exec to it. She’s done some work for my brother and she’s great. She’s doing what she can to quiet the noise around it.”
“Jax’s PR exec?” I scoff. “She must be good if she can keep your brother’s playboy lifestyle in check.”
“Right?” Sas agrees, finally making my lips curve up. “Colton’s got a security guy at the ranch, too, as of today.”
“Have the media been to the ranch?” I ask, my chest automatically puffing up like a silverback.
“Paps. Only one,” Colton says.
“One’s too many,” I tell him.
“You think I don’t know that?”
“Alright, guys, let’s not bicker among ourselves here,” Sas says, giving us an exaggerated toothy grin as a reminder of why we’re here tonight.
“I’m not picking a fight, I’m just saying it’s aranch,” I add. “One guy isn’t going to stop preying eyes on that amount of land, and what about when she goes to college?”
Colton widens his eyes at me in a way that reminds me of his sister. “She’s going to have to lay low for a few days, Pace.”
“Lay low? Hide with a ten-month-old kid? Stay indoors? She’ll hate that.”
“I know. All of this is exactly why I’m pissed. She’s got no experience or protection from all the attention. She doesn’t have a bubble around her like we do. I’m not angry withher, it’s the situation I can’t stand, but she’s exacerbated it.”
“Unintentionally,” I point out.
“Regardless,” he gripes. “How am I supposed to protect her if she doesn’t tell me what she’s doing?”
“Alright, you two, enough. Smile and applaud,” Sas says, doing as much herself when the charity’s Chair takes to the stage.
While she’s making a welcome speech, I take out my phone beneath the table.
Me
How’re you doing, Annie Quinn?
Given the time, she might be putting Nelson down, so I tuck my phone into my jacket pocket but it buzzes almost instantly.
Annie Sunshine
Why, I’m positively peachy, Tanner Pace.
My chest literally aches for her.
Me
As a cobbler?
Annie Sunshine
Something like that.
Are you with Colton? How pissed is he?
I consider the set jaw of my buddy as he pretends to focus on the stage.
