Page 5 of Friends with Benefits

I sputtered to defend myself, but she laughed. “Don’t sweat it. I’m not their mom. They’re my baby sisters.”

“Ah, right. Sorry again.”

“Since you’re here, you can bring them in for me while I get their snack ready.” When I did nothing but stare, she waved me inside. “Come on. They aren’t going to bite. If we’re going to be neighbors, we might as well get to know each other. Besides, I feel shitty for yelling at you. I’ll get you a soda as a friendly gesture.”

With exaggerated care, I wheeled the stroller into the apartment as Red bustled around the kitchen, opening cabinets and cutting up bite sized pieces of fruits and veggies, ‘cause I had no clue. The toddlers slept in their car seats, but I didn’t trust them not to wake up and turn into air raid sirens again, so I didn’t make a sound as I waited.

She looked up, and her eyes danced with laughter. “You look like you’re going to set off a bomb or something. They aren’t going to bite you.”

“They might start screaming again,” I whispered.

“What’s your name?” she asked after shaking her head. “I guess I’d better know it if we’re going to be neighbors. This probably won’t be the first time you hear them screaming at all hours of the night.”

“Tripp. Tripp Wilder.”

She paused mixing the bottles. “That can’t really be your name.”

“It really is.”

“Is that short for something?” she asked.

“John Thomas III,” I answered. “Tripp, as in triple or the third.”

“That makes more sense.” She capped the bottles, tucked them under her free arm, and then opened the fridge and got a soda, which she handed to me. “Tripp suits you better than John, that’s for sure.”

“I get that a lot.” It was part of the problem.

“I’m Ember. These little boogers are Matilda, Tillie for short, and Molly.”

Ember.

God, her name couldn’t have been more perfect. It matched her hair, her fiery attitude, and how her presence seemed to heat me from the inside out.

Ember.

“I’m sorry for being a bit of a bitch earlier. I was in a hurry to get home because these two were fussy, and I knew they’d be hungry soon.”

She was a natural with them. I wouldn’t have had a clue how to take care of a kid, let alone two at once. But she sat the plates of food on the coffee table, unhooked the car seats, and lifted them out. Once she was settled, she situated one little girl on one side of her and the other in the crook of her arm. It was like some sort of kid-style Tetris. I was fascinated. The girls woke up in increments, but thankfully they didn’t start crying again. Food seemed to placate them. I needed to remember that.

“You don’t have to apologize,” I said. I scrubbed a hand over my neck as one started talking gibberish. “Do you need some help?”

Amusement danced lively in her eyes. “You? You want to help?”

“How hard could it be?”

She shrugged a little and said, “If you want to. Tillie says she wants some juice.”

I got up and found some apple juice in the fridge. Two sippy cups were on the counter next to it. I filled them up and brought them back. “You must be Tillie,” I said to the little girl, who smiled shyly. “Nice to meet you.”

The little girl happily took the sippy cup and babbled something back.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be chasing that girl you were talking to?” Ember asked with an amused smile.

I sent her a sly look. “What? Why be with one when I’ve got three right here?” She tried and failed to hide her smile. “So, where are your parents? Shouldn’t they be taking care of the kids?”

Ember merely looked down at the toddler in her arms. Molly was smiling around her sippy cup. “They aren’t what you would call involved parents. My dad’s at the bar, and who knows where my mom is.”

“Don’t you have school or a job?” I asked.