CHAPTER 2 BEN
I paw around on my nightstand for my phone the next morning before it beeps again to remind me there’s an unread text message waiting for me. Usually I turn the damn thing off when I go to bed, but last night I was a little too…occupied to remember.
Thanks, alcohol.
The numbers on the top of my phone tell me it’s a little before eight, and I have more than a few words for the offending message that woke me.
And then I read it.
Mom: Exciting news!
There’s a photo accompanying the message, and I click on it to see an engagement ring.
Great.
My mother’s getting married.
Again.
I don’t even know this dude’s name and she’s already marrying him. I guess that explains how close I am with my mother. In fact…I guess that tells a lot about me in general.
Another message pops through.
Mom: We’re planning on this summer while you’re up here. Can’t wait for you to meet him. Tatum will be there. [smiley face emoji] LOVE YOU!
I blow out a breath of frustration.
My mom tosses the term love around so much that it’s lost its meaning—and not just to me. She’s in love with every man who pays her one second of attention, and this latest dude probably isn’t any different.
Of course Tatum will be there. My ex still lives in the town where I was born, next door to the house my mother took from my dad when he divorced her for her philandering ways. Sounds like a country song, right?
Nope, just my life.
Fuck.
I’m going to need a date to this wedding. No way in fuck I’m going solo when Tatum will be there, not when she’ll be all over me like a cheap suit on a bad lawyer.
I glance at the chick sleeping in my bed and tilt my head for a beat. I can’t remember her name. Probably not a good idea to bring her.
I have a month. I’ll find someone. I think through the women in my contacts, the modern version of a little black book.
It’s filled with gorgeous women, but nobody I’d want to expose to my mother or my ex.
I could bring Destiny, the porn star I fucked last winter.
I could bring Kitty, the stripper at Honeys who wants more.
I could bring Jennifer, the actress on that daytime soap opera whose friendship has benefitted me more than once.
But none of them will do. I need someone wholesome. They’ll see right through the porn stars and the strippers and the actresses. They’ll know I’m putting on a show with chicks who act by trade.
I need someone believable.
For just the strangest beat of a second, Kaylee Dalton flashes through my mind.
Now there is a young, wholesome girl who has turned into one hell of a fine woman.
I’m not sure I actually noticed it until last night when I walked into Jack’s kitchen. She was upset over her date, and though I must admit I’ve definitely noticed her cute little bouncy ass in recent months, I never really looked at her until tonight. I never saw her.
She’s pretty.
Gorgeous, really. Long, dark hair. Innocent, bright blue eyes. A sweet little fuckable body. And she’s smart, too. She’s funny. She’s a catch.
I shake out the thought.
She’s fucking twenty-two, and worse…she’s my best friend’s little sister—the sister of not just one but two guys I work with. And aside from all that, I’ve known her since she was twelve.
But fuck. She ain’t twelve anymore, and the things I could do to her…
When she issued that challenge asking whether I was one of the guys who would want her for her, it was the first time I really saw her. She’s all woman now, and if I was in the market for anything other than a night here or there, she might be on my radar.
But alas…I’m not there.
I glance at the chick in my bed. What’s her name again? She’s still sleeping, but I need to wake her up and get her out of here so I can get over to Jack’s for a workout. It was something different, a combination of two names. Like Erica and Marie. Marica? Or maybe it was Annie and Jessica. Assica?
I don’t have a clue.
And why do I have just the slightest tinge of excitement in my chest that I’m heading to Jack’s place this morning?
It’s not because Kaylee lives there. It can’t be.
She’s off-limits.
And fuck…that just makes her even hotter.
I shift around in my bed enough that it wakes Assica, and she sits up and wraps her arms around my neck from behind. “Ready for another round, baby?” Her breath is hot and a little wet near my ear.
“Sorry, babe, but I need to get to workouts. Another time.” There won’t be another time. There never is.
It’s easier this way. My mother has shown me more than one example of why committing to one person just isn’t natural. Besides, history has shown me one of four things. Women either use, cheat, lie, or run.
I’ll save myself the hassle.
Assica leaves, and I never did figure out what her name was.
I grab the breakfast of champions, which happens to be a large bowl of Honey Maid S’mores cereal with whole milk.
After breakfast, I change into some workout clothes, let my Golden Retriever Buddy out, and jump in my truck—a cherry red and black 1978 International Harvester Scout with a custom paint job to match the team I play for, and then I head over to Jack’s place.
And when I arrive, a beautiful girl sits on the couch in a tight white tank top that I can see through paired with a pair of short black shorts. My eyes flick to her tits, and I can see a vague outline of hard, perky nipples from the way the light from outside hits her at this angle.
Whoa. Down, monster.
Huh. A big ass boner. That’s certainly a new development when I’m looking at Kaylee Dalton.
I wasn’t expecting accidental nipple when I came over here today, but I’m always game for it. Any nudity at all, really. Accidental or otherwise.
“Morning,” I mutter as I think about my playbook to try to get this thing under control.
“Good morning,” she murmurs, and her voice is all raspy and hot like she just woke up. Assica sure didn’t sound like that. She stretches back, and I get a great view of those glorious tits.
Jesus.
I look away. “I’m here for a workout.” It’s a dumb thing to say, but I’m in a haze of need to fuck as I look at this chick.
She laughs. “I could give you one.”
“Excuse me?”
She stands and pads over to the kitchen, playfully punching my arm as she passes by me. “I’m just messing with you.”
Why the fuck did it take me so long to notice the sweet little bounce of her ass?
I guess she’s said things like that to me, and I to her, over the last few months as we’ve sat at dinner on Monday evenings with her entire family.
It felt innocent before. Silly, really. But now…
it feels different. This morning it feels out of context.
Maybe because I never realized how hot she is at those dinners.
She reaches into the refrigerator and bends down, and my eyes fall to her ass. Her shorts are short enough that I spot the creases where her ass curves as she bends over. My eyes move to her center, and I imagine the outline of her pussy.
Holy fuck. How sweet that must taste.
She pulls out a carton of eggs. “Want anything?”
Wow, she really has no idea what she’s asking.
Yeah, there’s something I want. Out of the blue and all of the sudden.
It’s like she changed overnight from a girl into this woman and I don’t know how I never noticed it before.
Maybe I’m just bored. The women I spend my time around tend to want me because I play professional football, not because they really want to get to know me. It’s always what I can do for them…which is why I make it about sex only and always.
Kaylee glances over at me and I realize I haven’t answered her question. I hold up a hand. “Nah, I’m good.”
“Jack’s out back,” she says, and she sets to work on making her eggs. I stare after her for a beat, and then the front door opens and Luke comes in just as my phone buzzes with another text.
I say my hellos then slide it out of my pocket. It’s the Aces team owner.
Calvin Bennett: My office Monday morning at 9.
Ah fuck. What now?