Page 33 of Home Town Advantage
“Takes stupid to know stupid,” she quips.
I look at Layla and attempt to steer the topic of conversation away from childish comments. “Thanks for having us. I’m sure it’s difficult while in season and having a baby.”
She smiles in gratitude. “Our pleasure. Honestly, it’s been harder than I anticipated. Especially now when we’re both busy with our teams. I’ve finally agreed to more help. My mother-in-law is staying with us until my season is over.”
“Where is she?” Sulley asks.
Layla points her finger inside. “She’s upstairs. I invited her, but she was just as happy to go to bed early.” She lowers her voice. “The only issue is that she keeps telling me what to do with the baby. It’s driving me nuts. I’m like,bitch, I live with the kid you raised. Trust me, you don’t know everything.”
We all laugh. I love seeing Sulley smile. It’s so carefree and genuine.
I ask her, “How did your Gatorade commercial with Tyrese Maxey go?”
She pinches her eyebrows together. “How did you know about that? I had to sign a nondisclosure. They don’t want anyone knowing about it until it’s released.”
Shit. “Oh…umm…I was in Tanner’s office when the offer came in.”
She slowly nods. “Oh. I can’t say much, but it went well. Tyrese was a total sweetie.”
I can’t help the pang of jealousy that takes hold of me. He got to do a shoot with her and spend the whole day with her.
“Glad to hear it.”
She tilts her head to the side as if she’s remembering the day. “The marketing rep from Gatorade was weird though. I think he makes up words.”
I chuckle. “That would be Andrew Furman.”
She nods. “Yep. That’s him. He told me I was…” She places her finger on her lip as she tries to recall the word. “Stupenderific. What is that?”
I have to bite back my smile. “I think the movieThe 40-Year-Old Virginwas his biography.”
She giggles. It’s the first time she’s smiled at me in years. I feel like a million dollars.
She says, “Probably. But I’m excited to see the end product. The shoot went well.”
Daylen proudly announces, “I had a shoot this week.”
I lift an eyebrow. No, he didn’t. I was with him at training camp all week. He winks at me. “It was for a new fragrance in honor of Vance. It’s called,Leave Me the Fuh Cologne.”
A small smile finds its way to my lips, but I still manage to give him the finger. Kennedy snorts in annoyance. “Men are so immature.”
Daylen happily responds, “I consider myself a work in progress. Is that a red flag for you?”
She nods at him. “Immaturity is. Women mature faster than men because we get our boobs at fourteen and men get theirs at forty-five.”
Presley shakes his head. “Coach Jeffries is about that age. No man-boobs on him. Only muscles. He’s jacked.”
Layla bites her lips and lets out a moan. “Umm hmm. Oh god, yes. He’s so fucking hot. Have you seen those videos of him on TikTok? So many daddy videos of him.”
Kennedy sits there with her jaw open. “Are you all for real? You know that’s my father, right? Can we not discuss his status as a social media sex symbol? I had to delete most of my accounts because of it. No matter what I tried, it kept popping up on my For You page.” She scrunches her face. “Ugh. Disgusting.”
The guys and I all chuckle. I feel the need to defend Coach. “For what it’s worth, he hates it too.”
“And yet he allows topless videos of him working out to be posted,” she challenges. “He doesn’thaveto work out topless. He doesn’thaveto pose for the videos. Trust me, he loves the attention.” She mumbles, “He always has.”
I share a look with Daylen. We both know Coach is unaware of all of those videos.
Layla shrugs. “Sorry, Kennedy, but he’s my number one hall pass. That man is fiiiiiine.”
