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"You wanted to know. Now, come on—race me a couple laps."
“Why? You need to work off all that sexual energy?”
I winked at her. "You know it."
“You’re playing a dangerous game, sister.”
Everly always saw right through me, and I couldn't pretend to be anyone other than who I was with her.
She was right. Maybe this was a dangerous game I was playing. I’d had a crush on Cade for years in high school. I still remembered the sting of rejection. Although, it had never been an outrightrejection. More like a lack of acknowledging me as a girl. I was just the nerdy, oversized friend. And that had hurt. But things were different now, and I never liked to dwell on the past. What good would it do? I was a different person now and so was Cade. He definitely knew how to flirt and kiss. And I wanted more of those things.
Everly and I stayed in the pool until our teeth started chattering. She said she felt so buoyant that she could almost forget she was pregnant.
Once I was in my room, I showered and dried my hair before wrapping the bathrobe tight around myself. For dinner, we were going to a nearby steak house, and I couldn’t wait. I loved my steaks rare and was looking forward to a good one.
I was shocked when I noticed a package on my bed. It must have been there when I walked in, but I didn’t notice it. I opened it and gasped. Ladies and gentlemen, I was the proud owner of three bags of beef jerky and two bags of microwave popcorn. There was a note too:Miss Meredith, compliments of Cade Whitley.
Holy shit!The man had called the concierge and asked them to buy this for me.
I grinned instantly, snapping a picture and sending it to him. I glanced at the picture and deleted it. No, I wanted something to make a statement. I sat next to the bounty, stretching my arm up to take a selfie. Yeah, now he could see my silly grin. I snapped the picture and sent it to him before I could change my mind.
Meredith: Thank you for saving my evening. What would I have done without you? See, it's actually better that you're not here. This way, I can go ahead with my plan to treat myself to beef jerky and popcorn.
My phone vibrated a few seconds later.
Cade: Yeah. But if I were there, you could have beef jerky, popcorn, and me.
Oh yeah. The game was definitely on, and he was beating me at it.
***
Cade
"Dude, are you throwingthe game on purpose?" my half brother Maddox asked. On Sunday afternoon, I met him along with my other two half brothers, Nick and Leo, for a tennis match. We played every week at one of the fitness clubs Nick owned in Jamaica Plain.
"No. I’m having trouble focusing," I admitted, which sounded strange even to my own ears. I lived for tennis. I started playing when I was in college, and now it was my favorite pastime sport.
"You sure? Because you’re really bad. You must be doing this on purpose," Nick replied.
"Why don't we call it a game? I'm not in my best shape today. Don't want to ruin our reputation."
"Yeah, I agree," Maddox said.
"Not so fast," Leo replied. "We have a fair chance of beating you today, don't we?"
"It wouldn't be fair and square," I pointed out, "if I can’t focus."
"That sounds like a Cade problem, not a tennis problem." Leo gave me a shit-eating grin.
Nick frowned. "Dude, is something wrong with Gran that we should know about?"
"No, that's not it at all." All these years later, I wasn’t used to them calling her Gran. To us, she was Grandmother. My mother always insisted we call her that.
Nick looked at Leo. "You know, I wouldn't feel good about a victory today with this one having his head up his ass."
Leo waved his hand. "Fine. We'll continue next Sunday. Let's get something to drink."
The sports club was more of a hangout place for most members. I only used it to play tennis on Sundays with my half brothers. Sometimes it was still strange to hang out with them. After discovering my father’s infidelity, I'd felt guilty for wanting to meet them. Colton and Jake had been far too furious even to entertain the thought. But even though I was pissed at my father, I still wanted to meet my three other brothers. None of this was their fault, after all.
