CHAPTER 29 BEN
“Something smells fantastic,” she says as she walks into the kitchen. Two plates are set up on the kitchen counter, and to the top right of each plate sits one small cup like you get at a restaurant for dipping sauce and a little bowl with what looks like salsa in it.
“That’s probably either me or Buddy,” I deadpan as I pull a tray out of the oven.
She rolls her eyes. “Between those two choices, I definitely think it’s Buddy.”
I laugh, and the scent she sniffed when she walked into the room gets stronger as I set the tray from the oven on the counter.
“What are we having?” she asks.
“Barbeque chicken with pineapple salsa and cilantro lime rice.”
Both her brows rise. “You know how to make that?”
I shrug. “It’s not that hard.”
“But, like, you made it? It’s not just a reheat?”
“It’s not just a reheat.” I nod toward one of the stools at the counter, and she sits.
“And it’s all homemade. The barbeque sauce is my Gramma Jean’s recipe.
I came up with the salsa myself after I had something similar at a restaurant.
” I grab a piece of chicken off the tray and slide it onto her plate.
“And the rice is just a pretty easy, standard recipe.” I put some chicken on my plate, too, and then I grab the pot from the stove and scoop a little rice onto each plate.
“It looks delicious,” she says. “What’s for dessert?”
I raise both brows and lick my lips as I give her the heated look that almost always works on women. “You.”
She giggles. “Who knew you had all these hidden talents?”
My brows dip. “Football and cooking?”
She lifts a shoulder. “Don’t forget about the sex.”
I wiggle my brows and offer a cheeky grin before I toss a cup of food in Buddy’s bowl and sit on the stool beside her.
She digs in with her first bite, and she tips her neck back and closes her eyes like she’s in ecstasy. The monster definitely wakes up at that.
“Enjoying it?” I ask, and she nods.
“It’s fantastic, Ben. And it’s kind of incredible how you continue to surprise me.”
Surprises seem to be my specialty, I guess.
Or they were, the last time I was in any sort of romantic relationship. Back before I got totally burned by the woman I thought I loved. Back when I saw a completely different future for myself than the road I ultimately started to travel.
We make light conversation through dinner and take Buddy for a long walk after dinner.
We hold hands and don’t really care whether there’s someone following us who has a camera.
I stop and kiss her near the park—the midway point of our walk before we turn around to head back home, and when I get her home, I take her up to my bed and show her how deeply my feelings are starting to go.
As I pump into her, every thrust is another sentence I can’t say. It’s not that I don’t feel it—because I do.
Emotion hits me as the monster unleashes his venom right into her pretty little cunt. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to say the words to her. Communication is not my strong suit. But as I watch her unravel as her own orgasm plows headfirst into her, I wish I could tell her what I’m feeling.
I am in love with Kaylee. I don’t know how or why or when it happened, but it did. Without a doubt.
But for some reason, the words won’t form on my tongue.
I pull out of her and collapse beside her, the words in my brain unable to move from there to my mouth.
She snuggles into my side, tossing an arm over my chest. I feel her tits as they settle in against my ribs, and if I didn’t just come seconds ago, I’d be ready to go again.
That’s all it takes. Kaylee’s hot tits rubbing against me.
Her nipples in my mouth. Her hot, needy cunt as it grips onto my cock and takes everything from me.
I’m falling for you is an understatement. That I can say, but that doesn’t really encompass the true heart of what’s going on in my chest.
Saying I love you is another story entirely.
I love you brings back the feelings of the past. The three small words bring back all the huge emotions I felt when the little secrets Tatum had been keeping from me were finally exposed.
Those words are the entire reason why I don’t want kids in my own future, and it’s not just because of the way I grew up with my mom constantly harping on my dad and then eventually cheating on him.
It has a lot more to do with what Tatum did.
I don’t allow myself to go there. I don’t allow myself to think about it because when I do, it feels as fresh as the day it all happened.
I don’t want to see her. I have to, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. If Montana didn’t hold such a firm grip on me, the fact that she’s still there might be enough to drive me away for good.
But when I think of my place up there, I know I’ll never really be able to leave for good.
It’s my sanctuary. It’s the only place that’s ever really felt like home.
It’s the place I can escape to when I need some time to myself.
It’s all the things my normal, day-to-day life isn’t, and I deserve that refuge.
I know I do, and I won’t allow Tatum being in the same state to be the final straw that drives me out.
We fall asleep after we clean up, and when I wake up, it’s because someone is licking my hand.
And it isn’t Kaylee.
Buddy’s ready for a walk.
“Just a second, Buddy,” I say softly, and then I shift as slowly as I can so I don’t wake her, but I fail. She moans a little as she moves to stretch.
“Morning,” she says, her voice sleepy and sexy.
“Morning,” I say. “Buddy’s ready for a walk. Want to join me?”
“Does Buddy run?” she asks.
I nod. “Buddy does. Ben does not. Not this early, anyway.”
She chuckles softly as she sits up. “Ben’s going to start. Get your running shoes on, my friend.”
I have a meeting with my trainer later today and I’ll definitely be paying the price for an extra run later tonight, but her challenge paired with the pleading look on my dog’s face convinces me. “Fine. Meet me in the kitchen in ten minutes.”
“Make it nine,” she says, and one of the things I love about her is her competitive spirit.
Yep. I just said love. In my head, of course.
And I find that running isn’t such a chore when I get to do it with Kaylee. She makes it fun, even. And as an added bonus, I get to watch her perky ass bounce up and down.
When we get back from our run, we’re both breathless and sweaty, so we head out to the backyard to drink water and stretch while Buddy runs around in the grass.
It’s pure bliss here this morning, and that should’ve been my first clue that things were off.
History has proven that bliss doesn’t last very long, and today is certainly no different.
As I’m selecting a new song for our stretch playlist on my phone, a text from Ellie comes through. It’s to both Kaylee and me.
Ellie: Looks like it wasn’t just an empty threat. [Link]
“Shit,” I mutter.
Kaylee glances up. “What’s wrong?”
“New video,” I say. She comes over to watch with me, and I click the link. That goddamn fool Billy Peters pops up.
He snaps his fingers at the camera. “It’s a Celebrity Snaps Oh Snap Preview!
” he says with way too much enthusiasm. “Coming at nine PM Eastern time tonight, check out my one-on-one interview with Dane Parker, ex-boyfriend of sexy Vegas Aces tight end Ben Olson’s new girlfriend.
He’s got a ton of tea to spill today and it is piping hot.
” My face splashes across the screen when he says my name, and Kaylee darts across when he mentions the word girlfriend, which he finger quotes.
The shot cuts to Kaylee’s ex.
“We wanted different things for our future,” he says. “She wanted four or five kids, and at the time, I didn’t.”
The video cuts back to Billy. “She wants kids? Check this out.”
A video with me in it fills the screen, and it’s moments like these that I really fucking hate the digital age in which we live.
A freshly fucked woman took on the role of an interviewer after we had sex a couple of years ago.
I was drunk while she took video of me and posted it for the world to see.
“So, Benny Boy, are you ever going to settle down and commit to just one woman?”
In the video, I shake my head. “Fuck no. No commitment, no marriage, no kids. Not now, not ever. Football is life.”
“There you have it, friends,” Billy says.
The words flash across the screen with my voice repeating them three times.
No commitment, no marriage, no kids. “Tune in tonight at nine PM Eastern live when I’ll have Dane Parker in the studio with me as we play the interview and talk more afterward.
See you then!” Billy snaps his fingers and the video ends.
I draw in a deep breath through my nose and exhale through my mouth.
“Shit,” Kaylee says, and Buddy saunters over with a little whine, like even he’s getting annoyed with this asshole’s obsession with my life.
“Come on,” I say, nodding toward the house. “Let’s go inside and call Ellie.” Better to make this call inside rather than in the yard. I dial Ellie and put her on speakerphone.
“Hey,” she answers.
“What the fuck is wrong with this guy?” I ask.
“Doesn’t matter. We can only control our reaction. You still opposed to a marriage?”
I blow out a breath. Yeah. Still opposed.
“Why do we care?” Kaylee asks. “It’s just one guy’s opinion.”
“For one thing, we care because I don’t want your ex doing this shit to you,” I say. I try to keep the tenderness I feel for her out of my tone, but I’m pretty sure I fail. “Your relationship with him should have stayed between the two of you and it’s bullshit that it isn’t.”
“What do you think Dane wants?” Ellie asks. “Money? His fifteen minutes of fame?”
“Attention,” Kaylee says. “He’s a stubborn ass who will stop at nothing to win.”
“I know some guys like that,” she deadpans. “We have a couple options. We can sit back quietly and wait it out or we can respond. Thoughts?”
“I vote for wait it out,” Kaylee says.
“Kay, we can stop him from posting this shit,” I say.
She shrugs. “I don’t care if he posts it.”
“You don’t?” Ellie asks. “Even though he’s obliterating what we’re trying to do in front of the media?”
I nod at Kaylee as I widen my eyes pointedly. The only reason she wouldn’t care if he posted it is if we’re in a real relationship…which we are, but Ellie can’t know that.
Kaylee nods as she gets my secret meaning. “I just meant I don’t care what Dane says. I don’t want him back,” she clarifies weakly, but Ellie buys it.
“Okay. We sit back and let the shit show unfold, but can you two at least be out in public somewhere at nine PM Eastern to make it a little easier on me?” Ellie asks.
“Yeah,” I say.
And I know what I need to do. It won’t be tonight since I have a little planning I need to do, and the thought of what I’m planning terrifies the ever living fuck out of me, but right now…it feels like my only possible avenue.