“It’s Brooke,” she corrected me with a sour expression on her face. Oakley smirked at me, apparently finding the whole thing pretty funny. I wanted to stomp on his foot but remembered that he had a game this weekend. You didn’t need toes to run, did you?

Brooke turned her attention completely to Oakley. “I’m super excited to be working with you, Oakley! It’s just sooo amazing that you spend your time volunteering,” she chirped, her bubbly voice matching her appearance.

“Nick should be here in about ten minutes,” I interjected. “Then we can go meet Mrs. Kitchen.”

“Oakley, let’s use those ten minutes to give me a chance to get to know you better. That way, I can really give readers an accurate portrayal of their football hero! And if ten minutes isn’t enough, I would be more than happy to meet up later. Maybe over dinner?” Brooke looked hopefully at Oakley.

Good God, Brooke. Get your shit together. “Great idea, Brooke! There’s a table right over here where we can sit and talk while we wait for Nick,” I told her with a big smile. No way was I going to let her try and flirt her way into a late night meeting. I needed this article to be perfect. Brooke’s lips pursed into an actual pout. Brooke and Oakley, who had still not said a single word since I walked over, both followed me silently over to a round table and sat down.

She slowly crossed her legs and bit on the edge of a pen she produced from her purse as we settled in the chairs opposite from her. I glared daggers at her as Oakley’s leg brushed against mine. “So tell me, Oakley, what made you decide to work with this specific charity?”

Oakley leaned forward and rested one of his elbows on the table top. “Well,” he began, “both of my grandparents passed away before I could meet them.”

I turned to stare at him, surprised by these developments. I had all of my grandparents still and was incredibly close to them. I couldn’t imagine a childhood without Nana and Grandpa Dude—yes, his name was actually Grandpa Dude. “I guess you could say I just like the idea of seeing what I’m missing out on. I never got homemade cookies or twenty dollar bills snuck into my palm.”

Brooke grinned like Oakley was the sweetest thing since cotton candy, and if I weren’t completely charmed, I would have been rolling my eyes. “And who are you chatting with today?”