“I promise I won’t.”
“I’ll admit it was to get laid, but we were together when we were in high school.” His mouth tilts up. “I guess I wanted to show her I’d learned a few things. Because, I mean, how good could it have been for her back then?”
I’m sure he’s a beast in bed. The thought comes unbidden.
All of a sudden, I’m sweating. I shouldn’t be imagining hot, sweaty sex with Ben Rodriguez, but I totally am. I blame the head injury.
I might as well start paying attention to the gossip because it was right about Cal—he’s a dog. And the gossips say Ben is built like a thoroughbred. Everywhere. That he’s sleek and muscled with tons of endurance. That he fucks like a machine and his partners always go home satisfied.
But that’s the thing. There are no overnights, and I’ve never seen Ben with the same woman more than once or twice.
That’s why I fell for Cal’s lies. Because he always told me he was looking for the right woman. Said he was tired of doing casual and he’d absolutely commit if he could find a partner, someone who was his best friend. And that lying asshole had the nerve to pretend I fit the bill.
“Anyway”—Ben coughs—“Janelle was not down to fuck. And after I walked into her motel room, I can say I wasn’t up for that either.”
I don’t make the joke that’s on my lips about being “up.” Inappropriate, Sienna!
He continues. “She, uh, wanted to see me so she could tell me about our daughter. The one she passed off as belonging to another man since we broke up three years ago.”
My mouth drops open.
Holy hell in a handbasket.
5
BEN
Johnny shakes his head at me like I’ve disappointed him. “Bro, didn’t you learn your lesson last fall with Poppy?”
Sienna is convalescing on one side of the couch, I’m in the middle, and Johnny is slouched on the other corner. Olly is sprawled in the Barcalounger.
Olly chucks an empty soda can at his head. “Can’t you add? Conception of Ben’s kid would’ve happened before that.”
Dear God, hearing I’ve spawned hits like a slab of concrete to my chest.
Shouldn’t fatherhood bring happiness or elation or some shit? All I feel is a sense of dread. I watched Rider struggle to deal with a baby last year, and I’m under no delusion that it’s an easy task.
Anxiety gnaws at my gut. Why the hell didn’t I try to get drafted last spring? Because trying to stay focused on football now is going to be a hundred times harder.
Plus, Coach Sully retired and the school hired Victor Krugman, who has all the accolades, but isn’t quite the coach we thought we’d get after winning the championship last year.
You shoulda gone for the draft, a little voice in the back of my head taunts. It’s only downhill from here.
I shove all that crap down deep, ignore my roommates, and pass the pizza box to Sienna before the guys hog the food. After our chat this morning in the park, I drove Sienna back to my place where she napped on the couch while we waited for Johnny and Olly to wake up. Not surprisingly, they didn’t stir before noon, and they demanded food before I put them to work moving Destiny’s shit out of Sienna’s house.
Johnny groans. “Does this mean you’re blowing off our trip to the lake now? You still gotta pay your part, no matter what.”
With all the craziness of the last twenty-four hours, I hadn’t even thought about our trip. I still have a week to figure that out, though, and I have a million other things more pressing at the moment.
Johnny shoves half a slice in his pie hole and talks around a mouthful. “We gonna ignore the elephant in the room?” His eyes dart to Sienna, who’s been quiet while I caught up the guys about Janelle. The only thing I haven’t mentioned is how Janelle wants to move in with me. Even if I get the guys on board, do I really want to be around my ex? Hell no.
When Johnny finishes his slice, he motions to our neighbor. “You can’t keep this a secret, dollface. My phone’s burning up with texts from teammates about the fight.”
I threatened life and limb if they accosted her about last night, so they waited a full half-hour to be nosy little shits.
Sienna looks so small and fragile right now. Her head is wrapped in a bandage, her eyes are bruised, and her beautiful long hair is matted with blood. I wanna tell Johnny to fuck off, but then her spine straightens and she huffs, “Cal Winston is an asshole. What more is there to say?”
“I need more than that. Give us some deets. Was he really banging five chicks when you caught him?”
“Dude.” I shove him so hard, he almost slides off the couch.
Sienna ignores us. “Three women, one of whom was my roommate, which is why I need your help this afternoon. And I wouldn’t really describe what happened as a fight, per se.”
He chuckles. “Someone sent me this pic.”
I stiffen, afraid someone took a compromising photo of Sienna, but it’s a shot of Winston’s front lawn with all of his stuff soaking up the rain. His laptop landed on the front walkway and smashed into pieces. I smirk, loving that Sienna isn’t taking his crap anymore.
She cracks a smile, but it fades as she sighs. “I’d say it’s what he deserves, but I’m the idiot who dated him for months. He told me to ignore the gossip, that people were jealous and talked trash about him, and I was dumb enough to believe him.”
“How long were you guys fu—” At my growl, Johnny holds up his hands. “I mean, how long did you guys ‘see’ each other?”
“Too long.” She swallows. “Since Halloween.”
Nine months, roughly.
We all cringe. Winston’s probably fucked half of Charming since then.
She takes stock of our expression and rolls her eyes. “We weren’t official until December.”
When we don’t say anything, because that doesn’t change much, her voice gets small. “That bad, huh?”
“Winston’s a dumbass, Sienna. I’m sorry he led you on like that.” I mean every word. Not only is she beautiful, but she’s loyal and kind and patient and funny as hell.
I watched her befriend my sister, who is just as fucked up emotionally as I am, and she got Gabby to let down her guard. Gabby and Sienna are thick as thieves now, which has to be rough for both of them since Gabby moved to Dallas to be with her boyfriend. I can’t even take credit for that realization. It came compliments of several sessions with my therapist where she wanted me to “explore my feelings” about my sister and how we were separated as kids.
Since I’m not big on talking about my emotions, the first session was mainly me hemming and hawing as I tried to find the words. But the anxiety I’ve always had around Gabby since our mother died was kicking my ass, so I didn’t think I had a choice in the matter. Not if I wanted to function like a rational human being.
Sienna’s phone buzzes on the coffee table, and Winston’s name pops up for the third time since we’ve been sitting here.
“Please answer that, and put him on speakerphone so we can hear him grovel,” Johnny says gleefully.
Not many of the guys on the team like Winston. He’s an arrogant showoff with a swagger that doesn’t always match up with his skills. I might have more experience with him than most since we went to rival high schools.