Page 13

13

BEN

It’s later, Precisely four hours later and I have no plan. I’m screwed. Not only am I still uncaffeinated, but I’ve also not eaten anything since yesterday. My stomach's growling and I’m too worried to leave my office.

I own the fucking building,

I’m a multi-billionaire.

I’ve squared off against the world’s most influential and powerful businessmen.

But I’m fucking terrified of my assistant/crush outside.

Pathetic.

A knock on the door whips my head up as a grinning Jenson enters, carrying takeout from the Nelson’s bistro. I could bloody kiss him.

“I came to check in on Buttercup, but she's not here, so you have the pleasure of my company. I hope you like grilled cheese, cause that’s what you got.” He plops the bag on my desk and slumps himself into the sofa behind me.

“We call them cheese toasties in the UK, and I’m more than fine with them. I’m starving.” I rip open the bag, dig out the sandwich, and take a bite. As the melted cheese hits my tastebuds, I groan in pleasure.

“Yo, dude, don’t make sex noises when we’re in here together. If I get caught slumming it with you I’d look bad. Plus, if Angie hears any rumours about us, I think she’d try and get me to act them out. And you know I can’t say no to my kitten.” His grin is wide as he waggles his brows at me suggestively, but I ignore him, swiping his drink off the coffee table and taking a sip. “Hey, that’s mine. You have boundary issues.”

I splutter the water all over myself and him as I laugh incredulously. “ I have boundary issues? You practically kidnapped me and forced me to agree to come to Brady family poker night or else. You’ve invaded my personal space on numerous occasions, and you think I have boundary issues for taking your drink? I’m thirsty and haven’t been able to leave my office all morning.” I sigh and lean back in my seat, taking another bite of my sandwich.

“Why not? And you have a cup of tea right there. Drink that.” Jenson narrows his eyes at me and places his now empty container down. The man inhales his food, but what do I expect? He grew up in a household with two brothers and Penelope. I’m assuming it was a fight for survival when they were younger.

“I can’t. Penelope made it for me.”

“Is this because of your weird British rules about how to make tea? Because, dude, I swear it tastes the same even if the water is microwaved.” He rolls his eyes and lets his head drop to the back of the sofa.

“No, it’s got nothing to do with that. But who the fuck microwaves water for tea? And why? Surely Angie doesn’t let you get away with that shit?”

His head shoots up to look at me. “Angie drinks coffee. Edie and Jaxson had this argument, so I tested the theory for them. I was trying to be a peacemaker, but it tastes the same. Edie refused to believe me and said I was siding with Jaxson because he’s my brother, which is stupid because I’d rather side with her to drive him crazy.”

He shrugs his shoulders, staring into my eyes, daring me to challenge him. Jenson is a formidable man, and when he puts his quarterback glare into place, he can be very intimidating. But it doesn’t work with me. I’ve seen him drunk and singing Tay Tay songs while wearing a Swiftie top. The man’s a giant pussy cat, but luckily for me and the Spartans, the other teams don’t know that.

“You know that’s bollocks right? I’m tempted to get Edie’s number off Angie to let her know you’re all nuts.” I finish the last bite of my food and take another large gulp of his water before throwing the paper sandwich wrapper into the rubbish bin.

“Whatever dude. Why didn’t you drink the tea then?” he asks after a couple seconds of silence.

“She made it after I pissed her off,” I offer as a means of an explanation.

Thankfully I don’t need to elaborate as he laughs loudly. “Oh fuck. You’re in so much trouble. But also, what did you do to piss her off?”

“Like I’d tell you.” I scoff and fold my arms over my chest, glaring daggers at the tea cup.

“I might be able to help. I mean, I’ve only known her my whole life.” He shrugs casually and I wish I could strangle him just once.

“I accused her of flirting her way through the office.” I wince slightly as he sucks in air through his teeth.

“Why did you do that?” His normally playful tone is gone, replaced by a menacing big brother one.

“I, erm, may have been a little jealous.” My chin drops to my chest as I admit the feelings I don’t want to say out loud but know I have to.

“I don’t care whether you were jealous or not, that’s not okay. I should bitch slap you all over this office.” He stands up and towers over my head as I settle back in my chair to accept my fate. “I won’t because I like you. But don’t do it again.”

He messes my hair up and grins before taking his seat again as I let out the breath I was holding and offer a shaky thanks to him. “Besides, I knew you liked her. So just ask her out, bro.” The laughter’s back in his voice, but I shake my head to knock him back. “Why? She likes you too. I know she does. I’m a damn psychic.”

“She wouldn’t want what I have to offer.” I drag my hands through my hair, casually fixing the mess Jenson made of it, and tug a little on the ends. Jenson reaches forward and grabs my hands, forcing me to look at him.

“Talk to me, you big dope. You’re a part of my family now. I seem to have a thing about you Brits. First Edie, Angie, and Lockheart, and now you. I’ve surrounded myself with a British colony.”

With a small laugh I let my eyes reach his. “I don’t know how to do this.”

“Do what? Stop stressing and open your fluffing mouth and speak to me. It’s simple.” He leans back and smiles, drapes his arms over the back of his chair, and waits.

“Jenson, I don’t have siblings. I don’t even have a dad who I can talk to. I learnt a long time ago not to trust people or depend on them. It only leaves you open to hurt and failure. I don’t have relationships, I can’t offer anyone a happily ever after.” I slump back in my chair and avoid his eyes.

“That sucks. But how do you know you can’t offer that if you’ve never tried?”

I open my mouth to speak, but when nothing comes out, he chuckles and continues. “Dude, I get it. When it goes wrong, it’s the worst. But when it goes right? That’s fluffing magical. I’m not saying you and Buttercup will be the greatest love story ever told, that’s reserved for me and Kitten, but what if you could be something? And I give you my word I won’t make fun or tell anyone. I’ll even keep it from Angie if you want me to. I meant it when I said you’re my bro.”

He casually looks around and then jumps up and heads out of my office. He walks over to a desk and starts to chat with the lady sitting there—Haley if I’m not mistaken—as my head swims with thoughts and possibilities. After a few seconds he comes back, looking smug as I eye him suspiciously.

“Oh my god…will you knock it off with the brow. I just asked her for some coffee and tea seeing as we’ll be here a while. That’s all.” As if on cue, Haley walks into my office with two cups on a tray. She places them on my desk and takes the other tea cup away as I offer her a small smile.

“Thanks. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the other day. It's hard for me to open up.”

“Well duh.” He brings his cup to his lips as I roll my eyes at his quick wit.

“It’s awkward. She’s your sister after all. Plus, I didn’t even want to think about her in that way, but the interview kind of changed everything.” Another sip and a lot of awkward avoidance of eye contact is the only way I’ll get through this conversation.

With a shake of his head and a small laugh, he dismisses my worries as if they’re nothing. “She is my sister, but she’s also the toughest person I’ve ever met. I don’t have to go all alpha for her, she can handle herself.”

“Interesting. I’m sure you warned the team off her though.”

He grins against the rim of his cup. “That was for their own protection. Like I said, Penny can handle herself, but she’d come out of any trysts with them feeling bad for it and then I’d have to kill them.”

“I’m confused. You just said you didn’t need to go all alpha, and now you’re talking about killing your teammates.” I place my cup down and copy his earlier stance and lean back as he rolls his eyes and laughs.

“Okay, I need to give you a little insight into our Buttercup if I want anything to happen between you two. And for the record, I do. I’m shipping you two big time. Angie taught me that word.”

He places his cup down and leans his elbows on his thighs. “Pen’s tough. She can banter with the best of people and will advocate for those that need it til she’s blue in the face. She has a good heart.” He pauses to study me and I nod in agreement. No arguments from me. I’ve seen the way she loves her family, how she helps people in the community, and she oozes goodness from her pores. “But she’s also got a huge complex about her mom. Thinks people will judge her for what that woman did in the past.”

I groan inwardly, suspicious that this is something to do with why she left the school, but I keep my mouth shut about it. I don’t want to break her trust before I’ve even earned it. Besides, I’ll know soon enough. Once the NDA forms are back, I’ll have her sign them and she can unburden herself on me.

“Imagine what would happen if she decided to have a little fun with a teammate and word got out? Jenson asks. “Now, I wouldn’t judge her at all. Everyone needs to let off steam.” He winks before continuing. “But she would judge herself. She’d be constantly comparing what she did with what her mom used to do. Trust me, there’s no comparison, but she doesn’t see it that way.

“Now, the guys on the team, apart from Adonis who was settled way before he started playing with us, are jackasses. They think it’s a sport to be pictured out with different women. They don’t care who sees them, they aren’t discreet. And while I know she could’ve handled them, I don’t think she could’ve handled the fall out from seeing herself splashed all over the place while casually seeing one of them. That’s when we would’ve had to step in.”

After a few moments of silence, I clear my throat. “Hank’s told me a little about her mum.” The surprise on his face isn’t missed as he waits for me to continue. “I understand what you're saying, I really do. But I don’t know if I’d be any different from the players. I’m photographed by the press all the time, and I couldn’t promise anything more to her than they could. Why am I different for you?”

“You’re a good guy. And maybe you can’t offer her the fairytale, but maybe she doesn’t want that anyway.” He shrugs and then bats my thigh with his hand. “Besides, I’ve seen the way you look at her. Like you wanna protect her and devour her at the same time. Even if it was a little something something, an itch to scratch for you both, you wouldn’t let her come away from it hurt. You’d make sure she was alright.” His eyes lock onto mine to show how genuine he’s being and I swallow down the emotion it’s all causing. I can’t argue with him. Not when he’s right.

“So you’d be okay with us, erm, hooking up and nothing more?” I let my eyes fall from his. Normally I’m not so embarrassed talking about having sex with a beautiful woman, but, as I reiterate again, it’s his bloody sister.

“Yep.” His grin’s back and there’s a look in his eyes I can’t quite place. “Just make sure she’s got a smile on her face and we’ll be fine. And keep talking. Now, I’m going to get ready for tonight. Some of us have games to win.” He stands up, slaps me on the back and heads out of my office, shooting a wave over to Haley who smiles kindly back.

Jenson’s words flit into my mind and make me question myself. Being jealous over her flirting with someone else isn’t territory I’m used to, which obviously means there’s something there with her. Maybe I shouldn’t be ignoring it. Maybe we both need to do something in order to move on. He does know her better than anyone, so maybe she would be okay with a casual thing with me if I could keep it quiet. That way I wouldn’t have to open myself up to her too much, she wouldn’t be painted as a scarlet woman, and I’d be able to scratch this itch that’s been irritating me since I first saw her.

As I drain the last bit of my tea, my mind’s made up. I’ll invite her to dinner tomorrow and get to scratching.