Chapter 1
1
The house was gorgeous. Callie was surprised when she looked at the back of the house getting out of the car. It looked pretty big as well, even if the parking spot was really, really tight. It was a wonder that Ben had managed to get the car in, given how narrow the alley was.
“How big did you say this place was again?” she asked as Ben got out from behind the wheel.
“Five beds, four bedrooms, including a kitchen, lounge, dining room and two bathrooms.” Ben grinned at her. “I decided we should splurge for a little bit.”
“Splurge?” Matt chuckled as he squeezed around the car from the other side, wiping brick dust off his sweater. “We’re only here for three days.”
“And we might as well have a bit of luxury while we’re in Cardiff. It was cheaper than getting a hotel room each, wasn’t it?” Ben shrugged. “We certainly won’t be wanting anything here.”
Callie couldn’t argue with that. She was keen to get inside and have a look. The woman who was renting out the house to them had given them instructions to get inside. The keys were around there somewhere. Stepping up onto the back porch, she looked around the back wall, looking for the keysafe. Once they got the house open and they were inside, it would be a relief. Callie just wanted to lie down on the bed and stretch out. Sitting in a car for close to four hours, including a bathroom break, was not ideal for her body. She was going to be incredibly sore from it.
“Are you going to give us a hand, Callie?” Matt called. “There are quite a few bags here.”
“I know, I was in the back with all of them,” Callie shot back with a laugh. “Consider yourself lucky Daisy wasn’t able to come or it would have been worse.”
“We probably had enough room for the luggage and left Daisy at home,” Ben said, pulling suitcases and bags out of the boot. “Let’s get this moving. I want to get in and start making dinner. I’m starving.”
“Same here.” Matt bent over to check one of the bags. “I hope you’re going to make more than what we can eat.”
“I swear you have hollow legs, Matt.”
Callie momentarily stopped looking for the keysafe and watched the two of them. She got distracted by Matt’s sweater shifting up and revealing bare flesh above his jeans. Even though she had seen him so many times wearing just trunks while they were swimming, the sight of his skin in this way left her stomach fluttering. With his long, lean body with solid muscle mass, his dark hair flecked with grey despite only being in his early thirties, Matt was one of those guys who could easily be described as ‘dishy’. Callie was surprised that her mouth wasn’t permanently open as she gawked at him.
Ben was pretty similar, too. Closer to fifty, the man was handsome to a degree that made it slightly uncomfortable. Short than Matt and a little more stocky, he was very fit. Callie had seen him firm up and tone his body over the last year, and she loved feasting her eyes on the sight of him. How she managed to train when she was staring at the two of them, she had no idea. It was a wonder she hadn’t gotten injured because of the distractions before her.
You’re staring at them now. Just stop doing that and focus on finding those keys. You need to call Drew as well.
Ah. Drew. Callie did need to make sure that the kids were okay, and that Drew was looking after them. Her ex-partner had said he was more than happy to watch them while she was away, but Callie still had her reservations. Drew loved his children, but he did the bare minimum.
Hopefully, this would be enough for him to kick himself into gear and get things sorted. He was improving himself as a person, so perhaps he could improve himself in other aspects. Callie was willing to give him that chance as their children loved him.
Drew just needed to get his finger out.
“Callie?” Ben was now staring at her. “Are you looking for the keys or are you just going to stare at Matt’s bum all evening?”
Matt looked around and arched an eyebrow at her, his sensual lips curling in amusement. Groaning, Callie turned and darted out of sight, her face burning. Trust Ben to notice what she had been looking at. He would be ribbing her about it for the rest of the weekend; he was aware that Callie had a bit of a crush on Matt. Who could blame her, though?
God, how was she going to last three days in a house with just the two of them? Daisy would have been here as well but she claimed that she was too sick to come. Given how back she had been recently, nobody wanted to risk her coming and making things worse. Ben joked that she would only come to Cardiff to make the rest of them sick, which Callie wouldn’t be surprised about; Daisy was like the annoying little sister to Ben, and she would absolutely do that to wind him up.
Finding the keysafe, Callie got the keys out and unlocked the door. It looked like it entered into a small TV room with a sofa bed and a coffee table. Probably the fifth bedroom. Walking through, Callie entered the hall and found the lounge, which had a huge TV up on the wall. Stairs with mahogany wood and thick carpet went up to the floor above, but Callie decided to leave the exploring until later. All she could think was the house, despite being a terraced one, was far bigger than she expected. She was shocked.
Ben had certainly chosen well.
Walking through the dining room, Callie entered the kitchen at the back and unlocked the door, which opened onto the back porch. Ben gave her a smile and a nod as he carried bags inside.
“Thanks, Callie. Well,” he looked around in approval, “this is bigger than I thought.”
“And you were the one who booked it,” Callie laughed, leaning out of the door. “Pass us some bags, Matt.”
Matt picked up Callie’s gym bag and handed it over, giving her a smile that sent shivers down Callie’s spine. She was glad that she was wearing her hoodie; her nipples would be showing through her shirt. Pulling back inside, she put the bag down and did her best to concentrate. They still needed to get things into the house and then Ben was going to start on the cooking for dinner. Callie was starving.
She couldn’t be gawking at two of the most handsome guys she had come across in a long time. That wasn’t going to get anything done.
“Why don’t you call your kids, Callie?” Matt suggested once all of the bags were inside and Ben locked the car. “Or do you want to grab a bedroom first?”
“I’ll probably do both.” Callie picked up her gym bag. “You said there were five beds and four bedrooms, Ben?”
“Yeah, one is a double twin bed.” Ben was putting the food in the fridge. “Matt and I can take that so you can sleep in one of the double beds, if you want.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s fine. We were planning on taking that one so you and Daisy could use the double beds.” Ben winked at Matt. “I’m sure we can find ways to…entertain ourselves.”
Matt rolled his eyes.
“Given you’ve claimed you only last about two minutes, I definitely need to find something else to entertain myself. Otherwise I’m going to get bored.”
“Hey, that’s not what you said last night.”
Matt stuck up two fingers in Ben’ direction, which just made Ben laugh. Callie giggled. The banter between the two of them was relaxed and hilarious. No sexual tension, just a lot of hilarity. Matt was not the jokester that Ben was - he was certainly more relaxed - but he joined in with the crude remarks without batting an eyelid. They were a good pair.
Callie realised that she was looking at Ben’ backside again and turned away.
“I’ll go and snag one of the double beds, then. I won’t be long.”
“Take your time. We’ve got plenty of it this evening.” Ben ducked his head back into the fridge. “It’s going to take me about forty-five minutes to get the food ready, so make yourself at home. I hope you are hungry.”
“I know I am,” Matt declared.
“You’re always hungry, Matt. I’m surprised you don’t stop eating.”
Matt laughed and picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. Then he nodded at Callie.
“Let’s go and explore the house, then. See what there is to last us for the next few days.”
Callie was happy to do that, but she hoped that she would get up the stairs quickly without thinking about Matt potentially staring at her backside. She certainly wasn’t going to let him go first, otherwise she would be eyeing his bum.
If only Daisy was with her right now. Then Callie might feel like she wasn’t going to go mad.
The upstairs was just as huge as the downstairs. The twin bedroom was at the back next to the main bathroom, which seemed to have a black and white decor with everything in the shape of a square. Callie eyed the toilet, wondering if it would be small enough. She had some curves, and she was worried if she sat on the toilet with a square seat she was going to fall through. That would definitely cause some hilarity.
She chose one of the two double bedrooms, one that didn’t have a floor-to-ceiling window across from the bed with full view of the house across the street. With the curtains open, Callie felt a bit exposed. The other bedroom had a bit of privacy, at the very least.
Setting her back on the floor, Callie sat on the bed and checked her phone. Even though she hadn’t used it, she had barely any charge. How was that possible? She needed a new phone if it was behaving like this. Putting her charger into the wall socket, Callie hooked up her phone and watched as it started to charge properly. At least there was plenty of signal; she would be able to talk to her kids. Bradley and Kara would have had their dinner by now and would be chilling for the evening.
She missed them. This was going to be the longest time she had been away from them, but Callie knew it would be fine. They were nine and eleven, not clingy little kids anymore. But they were also in the middle of being independent and needing someone to watch them. Bradley could manage for a couple of hours, but Kara was far too young. Callie hoped that Drew realised that; his mindset was if he could trust them he would leave them home alone for an evening.
He’d better not do that, or Callie was going to come down on him for something so stupid.
Taking a deep breath, Callie called her ex’s number. Drew picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me. We’re in Cardiff now.”
“Okay.”
There was a moment’s silence. Callie was used to having long conversations about nothing with Drew, but he kept their talks to a minimum. That was probably for the best; even all this time later, he was still hurting.
“Can I speak to the kids? Have they had dinner yet?”
“Yes, we just got stuff from the chippie.”
“The chippie.” Callie felt the first bubble of annoyance. “I thought you were going to feed them what I bought and put in the fridge.”
Drew sighed.
“It’s my first day of my holiday, Callie. It was a treat.”
“Okay, fine.” Callie didn’t want this argument. “Where are Brad and Kara?”
“Brad’s right here. I’ll go and get Kara.” A rustling and muffled voice came over the line, and then Callie heard her son. “Hi, Mum.”
“Hey, honey.” Callie smiled. “You doing okay? How was school?”
“It was okay. No problems from the usual people. Have you got to Wales?”
“Yes, I’m in the house right now. You would love it. It’s huge.”
“Will you send some pictures?” Brad asked.
“Of course.” Callie paused. “I miss you, honey.”
“I miss you, too.”
Callie kept the conversation going, wishing that she could talk to her son face-to-face. But she couldn’t expect her friends to be responsible for her kids while she was competing. Also, she wasn’t about to get into trouble bringing them out of school to come to Wales; that was a fine she wasn’t about to deal with.
It wasn’t long before Kara joined in, and she sounded so excited talking about her new game that Drew had downloaded for her. At least she sounded happy, and Callie felt an ache in her chest. She wanted to video call them, but neither of them were happy with using the video call and just showed her the top of their heads. This would have to do.
Once the kids had finished, Drew was back on.
“Okay, I’m back.”
“Thanks for that, Drew.”
“It’s fine. Bye.”
“Drew…”
But Drew had already hung up. Sighing, Callie put her phone on the bed and flopped back onto the mattress. She had wanted to remind him to use the food she had bought because he asked her to. Otherwise, it was a waste of food. Maybe she would text him later.
She could only hope that the place wasn’t in a mess when she returned.
“How’s the room?”
Callie lifted her head. Matt was looking around the door, his eyes landing on her after casting them around the room. Callie saw his gaze slide down her body, and she felt a throbbing start between her legs. Clearing her throat, she pressed her thighs together and sat up quickly.
“Bed’s very comfortable.” She managed a smile. “I think I’ll enjoy sleeping in here.”
“I bet.” Matt’s expression warmed as he moved into the room, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Ben and I are going to have fun jostling for the best bed in our room.”
“Why don’t you share one? I’m sure Ben won’t mind.”
“He might not, but I do. I like my space.” Matt paused. “You called the kids? They okay?”
“They’re fine. Drew got them food from the chippie instead of making them something.” Callie huffed. “What was the point of bringing the food in on his request and he doesn’t use it?”
“Have you told him that?”
“I was going to, but then he hung up on me.”
Matt shook his head.
“He’s just going to have to get his head out of his backside.”
“I said one takeaway was fine, so I’m hoping this is the only one.” Callie rubbed her hands over her face. “God, I’ve barely got here, and I’m already stressing about my kids.”
Matt didn’t say anything for a moment, but Callie heard him moving. Then his hands covered hers and lowered them. He was crouched in front of her, his knees brushing against her legs. Callie was used to him being close, but this was something else. It felt more…intimate.
It wouldn’t take much for her to lean in and just kiss him. But Callie wasn’t about to do that. Matt was her friend. One she fancied rotten, yet, but she wasn’t about to ruin that between them. She bit her lip instead and tried to think about something else other than seeing if those lips were as soft as they looked.
“They’re with their dad right now,” Matt said, his voice soft and gentle. “You don’t need to worry about any of that. Trust your ex enough to look after them.”
“I know that…”
“This is for you. You are with them all the time, so it’s only fair that you have time for yourself. Be selfish for once and do something for you.”
Callie managed a small smile.
“You sound just like my mum. She’s said the same thing.”
Matt smiled, his thumbs brushing across the back of her hands.
“At least you’ve got someone with sense in your family. Anyway, you’re going to be here with me and Ben. We’ll make sure you have fun and let loose a little bit.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
A twinkle entered Matt’s eye, but then it was gone as he stood up. His crotch was suddenly level with her eyes, and Callie had to look away.
“You’ll find out. We’ve got a few things planned for you.” Matt headed for the door. “If you’re wanting a shower or something, you’d better be quick. Ben is in full swing with making that curry, and I’m sure none of it will be left if you don’t hurry up.”
As if on cue, Callie’s stomach growled. Matt chuckled.
“Sounds like we’re not the only ones who are hungry. Ben is going to make sure we’re well-fed.”
“I know. I’ve had his meatballs.” Then Callie saw Matt’s expression and realised what she had just said. “I mean…”
“I know what you meant.” Although from the tone, Matt thought otherwise. He tapped his hand on the door. “I’ll see you shortly, Callie. Remember, this weekend is for you as well.”
He left, and Callie decided now was a good time to squirm. Her clit was tingling to the point it needed tending to. Being that close to Matt always did that.
How was she going to manage a weekend with two hot guys in the same house as her? She was going to combust, Callie was sure of it.