Page 112 of Game Changer
“Oh?” Kip said.
“Yeah.” Scott pulled a slightly bent envelope from the back pocket of his jeans. He handed it to Kip, who sat up a bit and removed his feet from Scott’s lap. He eyed the envelope suspiciously, glancing at Scott over his bent knees.
Scott watched him open the envelope, and readied the speech he had prepared. He could guess how Kip was going to react.
“Are you...What?” Kip said, visibly stunned. He had opened the little card and was holding the paper that had been tucked inside. “No. Scott. Come on.”
“I’m not sure if I got the amount exactly right,” Scott said calmly, “but I want to pay off your student loans.”
“This is a check for fiftythousanddollars, Scott!”
“I know. I wrote it.”
“No,” Kip said again, shaking his head. “This is dumb. You can’t just give me fifty thousand dollars for my birthday.”
“I figured you would say that,” Scott said, “but the thing is... I can. Easily. And you know it.”
Kip was still staring at the check, dumbfounded. “It’s too much,” he said quietly. “Waytoo much.”
“You mean your loan is less than that?”
“Well, yes. That too. But this is nuts!”
“You said you don’t like your job. You said you want to move out of your parents’ house. I want you to be able to do anything you want to do. So if that money can help you get started, I’m happy to give it to you. More than happy.”
“Jesus,” Kip mumbled.
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Scott said.
“Right. Um.”
“You’re uncomfortable.”
“Yeah.”
Scott sighed. He’d guessed it was going to go this way. “How about this? We’ll go to the bank and I’ll pay off your student loan. Forget the check if it’s too much, but at least let me take care of your loan.”
“That’s kinda still too much, Scott.”
“Please.” Kip started to shake his head again, so Scott said, “Look, I know. I know how it feels to struggle for money, and then suddenly not have to do that anymore. But I make... I mean, my salary is public record. You probably know what it is. It’s a whole lot of money. And then I have endorsement deals and all the rest. What I don’t have—” Scott took Kip’s hand “—or, what Ididn’thave, was anything worth spending it on. Or anyone to share it with.”
Kip blinked at him.
“I give to charity,” Scott continued. “I bought this apartment, and I travel a bit in the summers. Other than that, I just have a whole lot of money sitting in the bank. It would make me really happy to be able to help you with some of it.”
Kip pulled his hand away and turned his eyes back at the check, his brow furrowed.
“No,” he said finally. “Thank you, but no.”
“Kip—”
“No. Look, I get what you’re saying. I know it... I dunno, makes you happy to make me happy, or whatever. But...it...” He sighed. “I can’t explain myself.”
“It’s not a big deal,” Scott tried.
“Itisa big deal, Scott! It’s averybig deal! You can’t just...change my whole life!”
“Why not?” Scott said softly. “You changed mine.”
