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And so today I’m dedicated to working my ass off to prove I can take on more. I take meticulous notes during meetings, and I get them to Everleigh nearly immediately afterward.

When I finish the tasks Everleigh has set out for me, I open the file on Cash.

I do some research on competitors, specifically celebrity-owned tequila brands. Flecha Azul, Teremana, 818, Casamigos, Calirosa…the list is quite long, actually, but I start with five.

They’re luxurious brands, all additive-free, and what I’m seeing here is that this market is already crowded. I need to come up with an angle that’ll make Cash stand out, and I think about the different angles we talked about during our first meeting. There’s the down-home Minnesota boy kicking back with tequila at home. There’s premium luxury, which already has its fill in the market.

But then there’s the high-energy party. Vegas nightlife. A little bit of chaos. Those are the things that represent Cash Maddox to me. He’s confident, hot as hell, masculine, a little impulsive, a little reckless, and that is the position we need to take with this. It’s different from the rest, so it’ll stand out.

I’m jotting down ideas as they come to me. I’m thinking about the bottle. It should be dark and minimal. Holding it in your hand should feel like you’re at a VIP table at a club. I want the vibes to feel like nighttime. Dark, sexy, moody. Like when we met in a club. Like when we first kissed on a rooftop and let go of inhibitions so much that we actually wound up married.

I want that feeling but in a bottle.

I type a few words into a translator, and I fall upon the Spanish adjective nocturno.

Nighttime.

Nocturno Tequila.

It’s perfect.

I jot down more notes, and it’s not a pitch quite yet, but it’s an idea. It’s taking shape. It’s a starting point that we can work with this weekend so we’re ready when Everleigh steps into the meeting next week. It’ll be my chance to prove that I know what I’m doing here. That I can take on more. That I don’t need to just be her assistant, but I can be a valuable asset to this company.

At least that’s what I’m hoping. I think.

Fuck, I don’t know.

I still don’t know what I want to do.

I guess I want to matter. I want to do something for myself. I love my sister, but I don’t want to work for her for the rest of my life.

I think of my siblings. Madden took over Bradley Construction Group and merged it with his fiancée’s company. Everleigh runs her own company. Ford invests in wedding venues with his wife. Liam runs a coffee shop with his fiancée. Dex and Archer haven’t created companies yet, but I feel like it’s not unrealistic that they might when their playing days are over.

And then there’s me. The baby sister with no direction. No sport to play professionally. No goals in mind for the future.

When I had to pick a major in college, I really wanted to major in social media management, but it wasn’t an option as a major in itself. It was more of a hobby. I enjoyed digital scrapbooking. I enjoyed making content with my friends.

My father made me feel like it wasn’t a viable career option. He told me I always liked fashion, and it felt like I’d be disappointing him if I didn’t major in what he thought I should. After all, he’s my father. He should know best, right? I couldn’t disappoint him.

Wrong. That’s what he brainwashed me to believe. All of us, really.

I was young. I still am, but I realize now that I was letting him dictate my life for me. It should have always been my choice. Just because I like fashion doesn’t mean I have any business in fashion merchandising. Four years down the drain and a useless degree.

At least now I’m working close to the field I wanted to be in in the first place. One of the things I love most about working with Everleigh is the content design. Creating a calendar for clients or visual pitch decks. Making graphics and tracking what’s trending. That’s my thing. That’s always been my thing. And that doesn’t have to stop. I can still make graphics for friends, and I can still do that here with Everleigh.

It’s just very closely aligned with what my sister does, a small segment of it, and I’m not sure how I’d ever really be able to branch off and do it for myself rather than for someone else.

So I won’t. I’ll work hard for my sister and appreciate that she’s giving me this opportunity.

My sister stops by my office at the end of the day. “I saw Cash on the calendar for Tuesday. I’ll be there to sit in, but I’ll have you run it. I’ll still need to approve the concepts anyway.”

I nod. “Sounds good.”

“Are you really okay over there?”

I sigh. “I’m really okay, Ev. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I know. It’s just…I do. I will. Always. You’re my baby sister.”