CHAPTER 5 KAYLEE
His knee is still against mine.
Should I move mine? Does he know his is there? Does he think it’s the table leg or something?
And when did he get so freaking hot?
Okay, he’s always been hot, but he’s also always been the meathead who smashes beer cans on his forehead like it’s funny. It’s not. It’s stupid and immature and makes him look like a douchebag.
But tonight, something is different.
He’s the only person at this table who’s actually interested in a conversation with me. He doesn’t need to come to these family dinners every week—he’s not even family—and yet he shows up.
Over the last few months, we’ve talked every week. We’ve gotten to know one another. And just as I ponder how we’ve become friends, I realize I haven’t even thought of Dane, my ex, in at least a week. Has Ben been secretly helping me move on from the heartbreak and I hadn’t even realized it?
And tonight it’s like we’re both telling our deepest, darkest secrets while everyone on the other end of the table continues to shout carrots at poor JJ, who looks like he wants to barf up his carrots at this point.
“What are you doing this summer?” I ask, mainly because it’s polite to return the question but also because I’m curious whether he’ll continue to be around for these dinners.
“I usually head to Montana for Memorial Day through the Fourth of July.”
“Where you grew up?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
“Are you still close with people back in Montana?”
He shakes his head. “Just my grandma. I own a four-hundred acre ranch on a lake and it’s where I go to reset. My mom’s out that way, and my ex, neither of whom I’d like to spend time with while I’m there but it’s inevitable that I will.”
“Why’s it inevitable?”
“My mom’s getting married and my ex is her next door neighbor. They’re basically best friends and it’s…” He trails off and pauses before he shakes his head. “It’s weird.”
“Hey, is that invitation still open?” Jack yells to Ben from across the table. I didn’t even realize he was paying attention to our conversation, but Ben’s deep voice tends to carry.
Ben nods. He glances around the table and eventually his eyes land on me. “You’re all invited to Montana for the summer. I’ve got plenty of space.”
“Kate and I were talking about it and thought we might come up for a few weeks,” he says, and Kate nods.
“Probably after our vow renewal wedding if it isn’t too much trouble,” she adds. They got married in secret and they’re planning a big bash early this June to celebrate in front of friends and family this time.
“Not at all,” Ben says. He looks at Luke and Ellie. “What about you two?”
They glance at each other and have one of those silent conversations couples have.
“We could work remotely as long as there’s internet,” Ellie says.
Ellie owns a public relations firm and currently her entire roster of clients are players on the Aces, and Luke is starting up a sports agency to work hand-in-hand with her now that he’s retired.
“I bet Josh and Nicki would want to come, too. We could bring Elizabeth if it’s okay with you,” she says.
When Ben’s brows dip as if he has no idea who she’s talking about, she adds, “Our daytime nanny who takes care of Nolan, JJ, and Warner.”
Luke nods and turns toward Ben. “Is there internet?”
He nods. “Yeah. But the price is you have to ride a horse.”
Ellie’s face goes white as her eyes get wide. She’s never liked horses, and an incident on a family trip to Hawaii when I organized horseback riding on the beach may have scarred her for life.
“I’m kidding,” he says with a laugh at the look on her terrified face. He turns toward my mom. “And of course Josh, Nicki, and the nanny can come. Is she hot?”
“Hands off,” Jack warns, garnering a laugh from around the table, but I can’t seem to muster laughter at the thought of Ben with Elizabeth.
“Mrs. D, you in?” Ben asks my mom.
She laughs. “You kids have fun. I’ll stay back here.”
“My dad will be here if you need someone local to have dinners with on Monday nights,” he says lightly.
He turns toward me. “What about you? You could always head to Michigan from Montana if you still want to go.”
I don’t really have to think about it. A month in Montana? A place in the middle of nowhere to just reset after a busy school year? It sounds like actual heaven.
“I don’t really have anything else going on,” I say rather than voicing the enthusiasm in my head.
“Glad to be your back-up plan,” Ben says dryly, and I laugh.
I guess I never noticed that his dry humor is similar to mine.
I need to get past this attraction, though. It’s just a crush that seems to have intensified ever since he stopped by over the weekend to work out and was wearing those sexy gray cotton shorts that did little to hide his…length. And girth.
I’m getting hot just thinking about that outline again.
I take a sip of water, and then I take a deep breath.
He’s ten years older than me and he’s my brother’s best friend. It’s just a little crush.
And I’m sure spending the entire summer at his secluded ranch is the perfect recipe to get over this newly developed crush.
“Are we all invited to your mom’s wedding, too?” Jack asks.
Ben laughs. “Uh, that would be a negative, my friend.”
“Aw, come on,” Jack protests. “We all want to meet the ex.”
Ben shakes his head with a wry smile. “No, you don’t. Trust me. Though I do need to find myself a date to this shindig to fend her off. If I show up alone, she’ll think I’m fair game and I am not okay with that.”
Jack’s eyes flick to me first, and then everyone else follows. Everyone. Including my mother. Including Ben.
I shake my head as heat creeps up my neck and around into my cheeks. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Why not?” Jack challenges.
“I don’t date football players.” My tone is pointed, like there’s something wrong with football players. And there is. It becomes their life, as proven by my family. I don’t want football to be my life. I’ve had it as my life for twenty-two years, and I refuse for it to be my entire future.
I want to be the center of someone’s universe, not playing second fiddle to a freaking game.
“That’s perfect,” Ben says. “I don’t do relationships. I just need a date—someone to play my girlfriend for one night only. One and done.” He turns to me again, and his eyes are pleading.
I glance around the table, and everyone there looks hopeful. They aren’t pushing us together. Instead, they’re simply rooting for Ben to find a solution to his problem, and it’s looking like I am that solution.
“Come on, Kay. Consider it payment for staying at his house this summer,” Jack goads me on.
Ben has been good to my family. He’s been like a third son to my mom since she moved out here. He might get Jack into trouble once in a while, but it’s only because they’re in a boys club having fun.
And he really is gorgeous. It wouldn’t be so bad playing his girlfriend for one night just to help him out.
I blow out a breath. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
“I’ll treat you real nice,” Ben says, and he tosses a casual arm around my shoulder. I can’t help a laugh.
“You better,” Jack threatens from his spot across the room.
And just like that, my summer plans seem to have gotten a little more interesting.