“He does. But Oakley Davis is a god. There’s never been a player like him. He knows he can get away with anything because there is no one that can match his talent or his mother’s wallet, you understand?” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I never understood why a large bank account made you immune to rules. “Coach Howard’s contract is up for consideration this year. He wants to keep his job, which means he needs to keep Oakley playing.”

“And what am I supposed to do?” I asked, sliding the phone back across the desk. From the looks of it, Oakley Davis needed a complete overhaul of his image. It was the type of job that would require a lot of hours and a lot of patience.

“Do what you’ve been taught to do—polish his image. Find opportunities to put him in a more favorable light. I’ve taken the liberty of enrolling you in the Intro to Sports Media class. It’s a freshman course, but it’ll help you this semester. Coach Howard will be grading you. He’s your boss. Keep him happy with Oakley’s progress, and you’ll graduate early just as you planned.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. I still didn’t know. Working with Oakley truly was a fantastic opportunity, but it wouldn’t give me the learning experience I’d envisioned. I wanted to work with people already in my field, not teach myself how to babysit a grown-ass man.

“If you don’t want to take this on, we will have to try again to find you a placement next semester. It’ll push you back, but you’ll get it done.”

I shook my head. I wanted to be done with college. I took eighteen hours this summer because I was ready to leave school behind. I worked my ass off to graduate early, and I didn’t want all of that to be for nothing. I was ready to start my career and my life.

“Fine. I’ll do it. But I want Dr. Haynes to mentor me through it.” My voice sounded strong, but I was nervous as hell. Dr. Haynes ran the Public Relations department and was well-known in the PR world. He had the most connections and would be invaluable to learn from. If I had to do this, then I was going to get a glowing recommendation from the top professor at this school, dammit.

“I’ll see if Dr. Haynes has room in his busy schedule. You aren’t asking ’cause you have a crush on him, right? His last TA became a little obsessed, so I have to ask.”