CHAPTER 15 KAYLEE
I hitch a ride with Jack and Kate to my mom’s house for dinner the following Monday. She smiles as she welcomes us in, and Luke and Ellie are just behind her. “Dinner’s just about ready,” she says. “I made a pot roast with potatoes and veggies.
“Sounds wonderful,” Jack says as he leans in to kiss her cheek.
“Are Josh and Nicki coming?” my mom asks as we all greet one another.
Luke shakes his head. “They had plans tonight.”
We all gather in the family room to watch the kids play as I wait impatiently for Ben to show up. Everyone’s enthralled with JJ’s ability to crawl as Nolan sits up watching him, so when the doorbell rings, I volunteer to answer it.
Nobody even glances away from the kids.
I walk clear across the house toward the door and find Ben standing on the other side of it. He’s looking down at his phone, and he glances up at me when the door opens. A sly smile tugs at his lips as he slides his phone back into his pocket. “Hey,” he says quietly.
I offer a small smile. “Hey. Come on in.”
“Where is everybody?” he asks before he takes a step inside.
“Watching the kids in the family room.”
“Then we have a second for this.” Before I have any idea what’s happening, he closes the gap between us and his mouth collides with mine. It’s far too short, and it knocks the wind out of me as I grab onto his shirt for balance.
“Damn,” I murmur.
“You got that right,” he says softly. He nips at my lips once more.
I lean into him for an extra beat as I find I don’t want to let go, but I force myself to. “We should head in.”
He nods and follows me in. Everyone is still in the exact place where I left them when I got up to open the door, and nobody suspects that Ben just kissed me in the foyer.
We sit down to dinner, and once again the couples are all together as they stare at their babies. My mom is beside Nolan, and she’s helping feed him.
I’m all the way at the far end, and Ben is beside me. Nobody sits at the head of the table down here since they all want to be close to their kids.
“Can you pass the potatoes?” I ask my mom across the table. It’s a test to see if anyone’s actually paying attention to my end of the table. I don’t get a response, but Ben grabs the bowl and hands it over with a twinkle in his eye. I laugh. “Thanks.”
I spoon a little onto my plate and set the bowl down.
I take a bolstering sip of wine, and I reach under the table for Ben’s thigh.
I can’t wait to find out exactly how excited he is for this dinner—or what’s potentially happening during it between the two of us.
My fingertips have barely brushed his thigh when Jack says, “Hey, Mom, I have a question for you.”
I freeze as all eyes at the table dart over to my brother. I glance at my mom, and her brows are raised as she waits for the question.
“Are you free on Friday?”
She narrows her eyes at him. “Why?”
He laughs. “There’s a hockey game and I have a suite. In fact, you’re all invited.” He glances at Ben just as I pull my hand away. “See if your dad wants to go, too.”
Um…what?
Is my brother trying to set my mom up with Ben’s dad?
Because if he is…ew.
Ben and I aren’t a thing, yet. It was one orgasm one time followed by a few flirty texts and a little bit of kissing.
Still, regardless of our secret status, I don’t want my mother dating anyone at all…least of all the father of the guy I’m interested in, no matter how casual I’m planning to be with him.
I get that everyone grieves in their own way, and maybe she’s ready to move on with her life. Maybe this is nothing more than Jack trying to find a friend for her.
My gut tells me it’s more than that, though.
“Sure, man,” Ben says to Jack, but when he glances over at me, his eyes are filled with the same sort of horror I’m feeling.
“When did your dad move here?” Jack asks.
Ben clears his throat. “Last June. He’s retired now and likes to be in the same city where I am so he can come to all the home games.”
“What an incredible support,” Ellie comments.
Ben shrugs. “He’s proud.”
My mom smiles at him. “As he should be.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Dalton,” Ben says politely.
“Please call me Carol,” she says. She glances around the table. “Or Mom. Everyone else here does.”
Oh God. If he calls her Mom, I might vomit.
He smiles. “Thanks, Carol.”
Whew. Close call there.
Just when I think the conversation is going to shift somewhere else so I can slide my hand back onto his thigh, Jack starts in with more questions. “So where’d he move from?”
The attention is on Ben, and that means there’s not a good opportunity for me to do the things I want to do under the table.
I settle for slipping off my shoe and running my foot along his shin.
He shifts a little but doesn’t break the conversation he’s having with my brother.
A moment later, his leg falls open and he moves it until his knee bumps into mine.
He leaves his there, and I sure as hell don’t move mine away, either.
It’s his way of letting me know he still wants this, and leaving my leg there is my way of letting him know how disappointed I am that we are unable to do the things we’d planned for this night.
“I have an early morning tomorrow so I need to head out,” Ben says once we’ve finished eating dinner.
“What’s on the agenda?” Jack asks.
“I’m volunteering at a soup kitchen.” He glances over at Ellie. “Thanks for hooking me up, by the way.”
She offers a smile. “Anything to help that bad boy image, Ben.”
Ben heads out with one last, longing gaze at me, and disappointment fills me that we couldn’t figure out some way to meet up in private tonight…and that gets me thinking about something.
It really is time for me to find a place of my own.
I can’t live with Jack and Kate forever, and having a place of my own would give me a place for a private rendezvous with whoever I want to have them with, whether that’s Ben or somebody else.
There’s just one problem. I have no idea where to go.
And so when I find Kate and Ellie alone in the kitchen, I bring it up. “Do either of you know of any apartments for rent in the area?”
Kate’s head whips around toward me. “Are you leaving us?”
I shrug. “It’s time, don’t you think? I just don’t know where to go.”
“Didn’t your father leave you money to buy a house?” Kate asks.
I nod.
“Why haven’t you?”
I lift a shoulder. “Lots of reasons, but I guess I just never pictured Vegas as the place where I want to settle.”
It’s so contradictory since I was the one who always wanted my family to be together.
And I still do, but I chose Vegas because everybody else was here—not because it’s where I want to be.
I already miss the cool autumn air. It’s freaking October and the temperature still hits the nineties some days.
I shrug. “It all feels…temporary even though we’re finally all in the same place.
I don’t want to spend the money Dad left me maybe because it’ll make it more real that he’s gone, but also because I want to find a way to make my own way in the world, you know?
The inheritance was generous, but I’d rather have him here with me. ”
They both shoot me looks of sympathy, and I wasn’t expecting this quick kitchen convo to get so emotional.
“It just sucks that after fifteen years living in different states, he’s not here to enjoy being within a few miles of everybody.” I swipe at a tear, and Kate scoots closer to me. She reaches an arm around my shoulders as Ellie reaches over to squeeze my hand.
“He’d be so proud of how close you all are,” Ellie says. “And you’re a big part in facilitating that, Kaylee. You pushed for those annual family trips. You created time together that you might not otherwise have had. And it’s okay to want something that’s just for you.”
“I know. But where do I even go?” I ask.
“Figure out where you want to live and go from there,” Kate suggests. “If you don’t want to spend your inheritance, we can help you find something within your budget. If you aren’t ready to buy, you can rent. Are you thinking a house, condo, or apartment?”
Ben’s place comes to mind. I shake that thought out.
I twist my lips as I think it through. I just want something temporary, honestly—a place of my own while I finish out this school year and make some bigger decisions about my life. “An apartment.”
Kate whips out her phone and taps around.
“Oh look at this one! It’s close to your school and the Complex,” she says, naming the facility where the Aces practice.
She scrolls down a bit. “And it looks like they’ll rent month to month.
” She glances up at me. “That way if you get in and decide it’s not for you, you’re only locked in for a month.
But they only have one apartment available, so you need to grab it if you want it. ”
“I can look into it tomorrow,” I say.
“Or I can click this button right here and you can apply right now,” Kate says with a shrug. She presses the button before I can protest, and I laugh.
“I love you guys,” I say.
“Right back at you, Kay Kay,” Ellie says, and while I don’t have a lot of friends in this place, it feels good having this dynamic duo on my side.