I blink repeatedly, staring at my beer bottle and willing it to give me some type of smartass response to tell her. I come up pitifully short and look to Ryker. No answers on his face either.

“No other questions,” I say quietly, still with no clear answers as to why Sutton and Olivia are hanging with Kate. But that’s a bear I’m not ready to tangle with right now. “Call me when Ben’s getting in bed so I can Facetime with him a bit. I’m just finishing up dinner and will be back in my hotel room before long.”

“You got it, Kemosabe,” she quips. “Be about twenty minutes. Later.”

And she disconnects the call.

I lay my phone on the bar and pick up my beer, kicking it back and chugging down the last bit. When I set it down, Ryker says, “Having another?”

“Nah,” I tell him as I get up and fish some cash out of my wallet. “Got to get back up to the room so I can talk with Ben in a little bit. But, dude…enjoyed the talk.”

And I did. I can tell Ryker will be a good friend. Maybe even better than Alex and Garrett because we have something in common. We’re both single men that have lost our women.

“Yeah, me too,” Ryker says as he holds a finger up to the bartender to order another beer. “Catch up with you tomorrow.”

Chapter 18

Kate

I stand at the large window overlooking Broadway, dazzled by the lit billboards, flashing lights, and swarms of people still walking the New York City streets at almost midnight. So weird. Just this morning I was in Raleigh and now I’m in the Big Apple. I’ve never been here before and I’m overwhelmed and intimidated by it all.

This was completely spur-of-the-moment.

At least I think it was.

Zack came home from his road trip to California on Wednesday afternoon. I went up to my room, allowing Zack and Ben to have some alone time. Zack ended up ordering a pizza, and I came down to eat with them briefly. But when they both went into the living room to watch a movie together afterward, I decided to go back up to my room and give them some more space. Daddy and son needed time together.

I stayed up late that night. I read a romance book and tried to stay interested in it.

I waited for Zack to come to my room.

I assumed that he would come to my room.

There was just something about the connection we had made that led me to believe that sex was definitely not a onetime-only thing. While we had talked a few times over the phone while he was in California, and we talked this afternoon when he got back, there were never any direct conversations, looks, or even touches that gave me any solid indication that we would continue to be intimate. It was just a gut instinct I was going on. That gut instinct had everything to do with the fact that when Zack and I were together, he opened himself up to experience new feelings and I know it affected him deeply.

I know it affected him, because I then got “the speech”…that this could go no further. He felt compelled with the need to put me in my place. He established boundaries. He made sure that I would have no expectations. He didn’t do any of that to protect me, he did it to protect himself.

And I understood that.

Had it not been for that little “speech,” I would be having doubts right now. But the mere fact that he felt the need to protect himself made it crystal clear to me that he intended to push forward with this sexual relationship.

And Zack did indeed come into my room that night. It was close to midnight and I had just about given up.

“I wasn’t sure you’d be awake,” Zack said as he opened the door and leaned in the upper half of his body.

“And I wasn’t sure you were coming,” I replied.

“Ben and I fell asleep during the movie. I just put him in his bed.”

Zack stood there for a moment, not making a move. I sensed uncertainty within him, but I waited him out. He needed to want to do this.

“I got you something,” he said, and then stepped into my room, closing the door behind him. My eyes went to his hand and what was clearly a jersey clutched within it. He walked to the bed even as I was swinging my legs out of it to stand up. His eyes roamed over my body, as I was wearing the same white tank top and tiny shorts that I knew he appreciated. Uncertainty left his eyes and was replaced by hot need. “I know you said I couldn’t buy you any clothes, but I figured you’d allow this exception.”

He handed the jersey to me and I stretched it out so I could see the back of it: GRANTHAM #57.

I looked back up to him. “You got me a jersey?”

“Figured if you and Ben were going to come to the games and root me on, you needed to have one.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was totally surprised and completely confused. Why was he continuing to make little gestures toward me that showed thoughtfulness? That showed he cared?

Before I could even give him a word of thanks, his hands came out and wrapped around me tightly and his mouth went to work on mine. He let out a low moan of satisfaction when I pushed in tight against his body—dropping the jersey to the floor—and the next thing I know I was on the bed and Zack was on top of me.

We had sex again.

It was just as fantastic as it was the first time.

I had another amazing orgasm.

Zack once again operated on pure urgency. There was very little foreplay, but then again, it wasn’t really needed. The minute he kissed me, I had gone wet with need, and the first time I put my hand down to palm his erection, it was already swollen hard.

It was fast. It was fantastic.