Page 27

N ASH

By the look on Kendall’s face when I walk in behind Walker, she wasn’t expecting me to show up at her Friendsgiving. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting an invite. I’ve never even heard of a Friendsgiving before.

It’s easier to pretend her presence doesn’t affect me when we’re in a crowded restaurant, but with only six of us in Bankes’ elegant home, it’s hard to keep my eyes off Kendall.

Rowan and Riley have done a shitty job containing their giggles, and their watchdog eyes have been trained on me for the past hour while Kendall has devoted one hundred percent of her attention to my daughter.

Walker and I manage to hide out in the living room for a good hour before the women call us into the kitchen for appetizers.

Paisley is in female Heaven, soaking up every ounce of being the center of attention.

Kendall hasn’t left her side, and even though I’ve avoided looking for her, I can’t help hearing her laugh.

Even with all the orgasms this week, it’s still not enough. After experiencing the longest drought since it realized its full potential, my dick hasn’t stopped turning to stone every time I think about Kendall.

Which is a lot.

All the time.

Every fucking second.

The doorbell rings, and I’m thankful for more bodies to hide behind and distract me from Kendall. I inwardly scoff at myself. There isn’t a person on the planet who could distract my dick from Kendall.

Well, maybe one. Thinking of Paisley while my dick wants attention is a bad idea. Or maybe not. My dick softens, and I have a few minutes of relief behind my zipper before Kendall’s laugh wafts through the house again.

I wait until the new guests herd into the kitchen before joining the crowd. Paisley’s hair is pulled back in a fancy braid thing, a French braid, I think. It’s the same style she wore after Kendall babysat her last month.

“Nash. Didn’t know you’d be joining us. This is great.” Jackson greets me with a light slap on my shoulder.

Walker’s brother is a cool guy. Football isn’t his jam, but he idolizes his younger brother, and since Riley is one of his best friends, he can’t help but be swarmed by all the testosterone.

Doubtful he minds, nor does Taylor, his husband.

Taylor’s more into sports, and I grab his attention as we talk about the Bruins and Celtics while we make a dent in the charty board, or whatever the hell Rowan called it.

Meat, cheese, crackers, and fruit. I don’t know why someone came up with a fancy name for it that no one can spell or pronounce.

“Your husband sent me over here to give you another drink. I think he wants to get you drunk so he can take advantage of you later.” Kendall takes Taylor’s empty glass and hands him another scotch.

“You can tell him I’m game.” Taylor holds up his scotch in a mock cheer and Jackson gives him a finger wave from across the kitchen.

“Ugh. You two are as sickening as Walker and Riley.”

“We can give them something to talk about.” Buck squeezes his way between Kendall and me and drapes his arm over her shoulder.

Where the hell did he come from? I’ve had my back to the crowd in the kitchen to keep my dick at bay, and whatever life Kendall gave to it a minute ago is now gone.

“Happy Friendsgiving, babe.” He hugs Kendall to his chest and kisses the top of her head.

Babe? I’ve never been jealous over a woman before. It would mean I cared enough to be jealous. I’m not thrilled about the irritation stirring in my chest from seeing Buck and Kendall together.

“Happy Friendsgiving, Bucky.”

“It’s Buck Nekked to you, Kendall Cakes.”

“What the ever living fuck?”

Three pairs of eyes turn my way. Guess I muttered that out loud. “For the love of not only your reputation but all mankind’s, please tell me you didn’t give yourself the nickname Buck Nekked.”

“What’s the matter with it? Kendall Cakes likes it.”

She doesn’t even try to control her laughter. Her green eyes shimmer with amusement, and I can only hope it’s not because she feels nothing for me, but because she’s enjoying seeing me uncomfortable.

Twice, I’ve made the mistake of accusing her of having something with Miles.

Showing my jealousy now will only piss her off and call attention to our relationship.

She may not want to toss a label on it, but I do.

We agreed to not sleep around and are in a monogamous sexual relationship.

Albeit a secret one. One that consists solely of sex and nothing else.

But our post coital time has increased every night we’ve been together. On Wednesday, she even let me feed her a midnight snack. Granted, we spent two glorious hours naked and worked up quite the appetite.

She was physically exhausted, and I worried about her driving home so late at night. A grilled cheese sandwich and cup of tea delayed her departure long enough for us to get to know each other on another level.

She told me a little about her mom and sister, even about her and Riley’s attempt to set their parents up. I gave her a little snippet into my family’s life and told her about my sister, Anna, and my niece and nephew, Libby and Joey.

It’s more than I’ve shared with the guys. They know about my parents, not that they’ve met them, and they’re aware I have a daughter, but until tonight, they couldn’t pick her out in a lineup.

Kendall is the only one I’ve trusted enough to open myself to, and I still have secrets, although they’re not my secrets to tell. Only three people know about Paisley’s mother, and my parents aren’t even in that closed circle.

“Daddy, Riley said I can have the fancy drink like the adults.”

I scoop her up in my arms and glance over my shoulder at Riley. I spot the bottle of sparkling wine on the counter and nod. “Fancy drink, huh? Next thing I know you’ll be asking for the keys to the Range Rover.”

She giggles and hugs my neck tight.

“Who’s this beauty queen?” Buck asks, dropping his arm from Kendall’s shoulder.

“Paisley, this big oaf is Miles Buckingham.”

“What’s an oaf?”

“A, uh, giant who isn’t always the brightest.”

“You are a giant, Miles Buckie.”

“And you’re adorable. Too bad your old man doesn’t share your good looks.”

“Are you my old man?” Paisley asks me.

I let out a deep sigh and glare at Buck. “I’m your father.”

“Luke. I am your father,” Buck does a poor Darth Vader impression.

Paisley giggles and asks, “Who is Luke?”

“Oh, princess Humphries, looks like I’m gonna have to take you on some movie dates and get you caught up with pop culture.”

“She’s five,” I grumble.

“I’ll be six on Tuesday. Will you come to my birthday party?”

Shit. When she wasn’t in school, I could avoid the whole party situation, keeping it simple with my parents and me.

Now that she’s in school, it seems like she’s invited to a birthday party of some sort almost every weekend.

I have yet to attend one, sending my parents instead.

Mostly because I have to work, which is a problem I’ve never minded.

Paisley hasn’t mentioned wanting a party or asked any of her school friends to come over. Maybe my parents fielded those questions and redirected her to appreciate a small family gathering.

“Only if you promise to save me a dance. Maybe we should practice now.”

Paisley squirms out of my arms and lifts her hand to Buck, guiding him into the living room. He takes over the Bluetooth speaker and heavy rap music blares out.

“Sorry,” he hollers over it before changing to Taylor Swift. It’s sad how he can sing along to almost every song, be it hard core rap, classic rock, or pop music.

Regardless, my daughter is in Heaven being on the receiving end of Miles Buckingham’s charm. Sad to say, I’d rather have her there than Kendall.

“Hey.” I tip my chin at the object of all my nefarious thoughts and tuck my hands in the back pockets of my pants.

“Oh, you’re acknowledging my existence now?” she says with sass and a grin.

“I didn’t want to intrude on your time with Paisley. Because, you know, it’s not like you see her every day.”

“Monday through Friday, not every day.”

Still more than me.

Christ. Jealous of an almost-six-year-old. I need to get my priorities straight. “You look nice tonight. Not that you don’t always look nice, but...you know what I mean.”

“You’re just saying that because I have to wear a turtleneck again.”

My chest puffs out with pride. Hell. What can I say? I’m a guy. “Any other places you needed to cover up?”

I rake my eyes down her body, stopping at her tits where I know I left bite marks, down to her thighs, where I’ve done my share of licking and nipping. Her quads flex through her leggings and I chuckle at her reaction.

“Stop,” she whispers.

“Stop what?” I sip my iced tea and watch her squirm.

“Dinner’s ready,” Riley calls out.

“Saved by the bell.” We gather in the dining room where there’s a few minutes of commotion as everyone figures out where to sit.

Paisley wants to sit between Buck and Kendall, so I take the seat to Kendall’s right. Once everyone is settled and the food has been passed around, we bow our heads as Walker says grace.

As soon as he’s done, we all dive into our food. If my hand happens to find its way to Kendall’s thigh, and my pinky accidentally brushes up against her pussy, I can’t help it. She brushes my hand away, but every time she takes a bite, I put my hand back.

She kicks me and I chuckle. When I reach for my tea, I glance up and find Rowan and Riley staring at us with knowing smirks. She’s told them. A month ago, hell, a few weeks ago, this would have freaked me out. Now, I like people knowing about us. If there is in fact an us .

Walker, his brother and husband, and even Buck appear clueless to the chemistry between Kendall and me.

“Daddy,” Paisley interrupts my thoughts, and I lean forward, my eyes darting past Kendall’s boobs to see my daughter.

“Yeah, Sweet Pea?”

“Can Miss Wentworth and Uncle Jackson and Uncle Taylor and Uncle Walker and Aunt Riley and Auntie Rowan come to my birthday party and Buckie too?”

I start to ask her why everyone else is uncle and aunt and Miles is Buckie , but I shake it off. “We’ll see. I need to check our schedules before planning a party.”

“Buckie said we could have one tomorrow because you have to leave on Sunday for your next game.”

“He did, did he?” I roll my eyes at Buck, who beams at me with laughing eyes. “It takes time to plan a party.”

“Nah. We’ll all chip in,” Buck says, taking out his phone. “We can do a group signup form. Who wants to bring what?”

“Can I have a ballerina cake?”

“Ballerina cake. On it,” Buck says.

“And a unicorn pinata?”

“Pinatas are my specialty.” Jackson taps away on his phone.

“And ice cream and Cheetos.”

“That’s something I can handle,” Walker offers.

“Tell us what you want to eat. Rowan, Kendall, I mean, Miss Wentworth, and I will take care of the food,” Riley says.

Fucking Christ. My daughter has the entire table wrapped around her finger.

“Will you all bring presents too?”

“Paisley,” I scold.

Buck barks out a laugh. “That’s the number one rule when attending a birthday party. Do you have a list made yet?”

“No she doesn’t have a fu—” I bite my tongue and take a deep breath. “She’s five.”

“Turning six,” Kendall corrects, then curls her lips around her teeth to hold back her laugh.

“My daughter is turning six. She has everything she could possibly want. There’s no need to spoil her with more presents. Besides, I already got her a gift.”

“Can I have more princess dress up clothes and roller skates and a new sled to go sledding when it snows? And ice skates. Carly said they’re the same as roller skates but on ice.

And I like the books Miss Wentworth reads to me in class.

And cool hair ties so she can do my hair pretty when she comes over. ”

Buck jerks his head up and stares at me with a toothy grin.

Realizing no matter what I say I’ll be vetoed, I return to my meal and focus on my food instead of the details of the party I’m throwing tomorrow.

So much for maintaining my privacy.