Page 39 of Only You

Jack went into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he returned with two bottles of water and a bowl of snack mix. He handed Kayla water and set the bowl on the ottoman.

“Wow. You really are a good boyfriend,” she teased.

“Aw. Thanks,” Jack said. He sat down but didn’t resume the movie. “So what do you think of the concept of friends with benefits?”

Kayla paused with a handful of snack mix halfway to her mouth.

“In general,” Jack clarified.

“It makes for a cute movie, but in reality, I don’t think it would work.”

“Why not?”

“Inevitably, one person would fall in love, and the other might not reciprocate. Or worse, they’d end up hating each other, and ruin their friendship.”

“Wow. I’ve never known you to be so pessimistic. Do you have personal experience with this?”

Kayla shook her head and took a long drink of water. “Do you?”

Uh-oh. Jack was supposed to be asking the questions, not her.

“Of course you do,” she deduced.

“It happened one time with my friend, Sara,” he admitted.

“How did it turn out?”

“It lasted for a few months, and then we went our separate ways.”

Kayla pointed her finger at him accusingly. “See! You ruined the friendship.”

“She moved to California,” Jack said.

“With Stan?”

He burst out laughing. “Sara and Stan are probably happily married with five kids.”

Kayla laughed. “Or she’s still pining away for you?”

Jack shook his head. “I doubt that.”

Kayla reached for another handful of snack mix. “So, how did it work? Did you just sidle up to her and ask, Hey, do you want to be my friend with benefits?”

Jack chuckled. “Not exactly.”

“What then?”

He’d started this conversation, and this was his penance. “One night, we were having dinner together and commiserating that we hadn’t had sex in a while. We were drinking and after a while—”

“Your clothes fell off,” Kayla summarized.

“Very funny.”

“Sorry. Please continue.”

“Sara complained about how hard it was to find someone who was the whole package—a good friend and lover. She claimed you could have one or the other, but not both. I suggested we test her theory.”

Kayla raised her eyebrows. “Of course she was open to it, because look at you.” Her gaze roamed over him.