Page 56 of One Good Crash

Chapter 24

Over the next ten minutes, I listened as my mom gave me a full rundown on Jax and his brother. I had to admit, their story was pretty incredible, assuming all of it was true.

A few years earlier – at least according to my mom – they'd picked up a regional brewing company that had seen better days. Within a year, they'd completely rebranded it, fine-tuned the operation, and then kept on expanding until they'd gotten a foothold in nearly every market across the globe.

And they hadn't stopped with beer. By now, they owned a whole slew of brands including several that I'd that served personally. In fact, when my mom rattled off a few of their top names, I'd been completely blown away.

And yet, I still couldn’t quite believe it.

I was twenty-two years old. Jax was definitely older, but notthatmuch older. If I had to guess, I'd put his age at thirty, give or take a couple of years. And his brother might be even younger.

For guys so relatively young, their level of success was hard to fathom.

My mom finished by saying, "So anyway, he's worth at least a billion."

I almost swallowed my tongue. "A billion? With a 'b'?"

"Oh yeah," she said. "So when you get that check, make sure it's a nice big one."

Good grief."I already told you, I'm not getting a check."

"Well, don't count on getting cash," she warned, "because he might not have that much on-hand. That'sanothermistake I won't be making twice."

If this weren't so sad, I might've laughed.

Seriously, who even thought that way?

She did.

That's who.

Did I need to repeat it?I wasn't my mom.

And, I didn't plan on becoming her any time soon.

When our call ended, I remained under the covers for a long silent moment, trying to process everything she'd just told me.

In search of more reliable information, I pulled up the browser on my phone and did a quick Web search. For once, all of the details checked out.

One of the news articles actually had a photo of the mansion,hismansion, where I was currently staying. More accurately, it wastheirmansion, because the two brothers apparently owned it together.

Jax and Jaden.

The Bishop Brothers.

Who knew?

Not me, that's for sure.

But now that Ihadthe information, what was I supposed to do with it? The answer came almost immediately.

Nothing.

As impressed as I was, it didn't change anything. Probably, it just put him that much further out of my league.

But who was I kidding? I'd never been in his league in the first place. I was a college drop-out with no clear plans for the future. In contrast, he was beyond rich and apparently famous, too.

I felt a wistful smile tug at my lips. At least I'd gotten to dance with him. That was pretty amazing, right?