Wright with Benefits, page 13
“Who moved here three years ago and hasn’t dated anyone seriously,” Morgan added.
“Yeah, I’m sure it was so hard to come from Vancouver.”
Morgan nodded with a wicked grin. “I’ve done the hide-the-relationship thing. I understand how overbearing our family is. I wouldn’t recommend trying it.”
“Yeah, but you and Patrick are so happy!” I sputtered.
“Now!” she gushed, reaching across me to the charcuterie board. “But can you imagine how Austin reacted when he found out I was dating his best friend?”
I cringed. “I can imagine that. I have an older brother.”
“And if you and Jordan get together, maybe it’ll take the pressure off of the rest of us,” Morgan grumbled.
Sutton laughed. “Oh, please! You’re not getting out of this. We’re all wondering when Patrick is going to pop the question!”
“Why won’t anyone bother Austin and Julia? They’ve been together longer than us, you know!”
“Because they’re Austin and Julia,” I said automatically.
“Exactly,” Sutton said. “They do their own thing.”
“I do my own thing,” Morgan grumbled under her breath.
“Well, if he asked…” Sutton hypothesized.
Morgan rolled her eyes and stuffed her mouth full of cheese.
“She’d say yes,” I answered for her.
Morgan shot us a look of betrayal. She finished the cheese she was eating. “I thought we were ganging up on Annie. This isn’t fair.”
We all laughed and headed into the living room with our drinks. Jordan was talking with the boys. Someone had handed him a beer. His eyes met mine across the room, and he smiled before being dragged back into the conversation.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Even if it was a date.
Another knock came from the door. Emery had sat down in one of the plush living room chairs. She tried to shove herself out of it and failed spectacularly.
“Fuck,” she grumbled loud enough for some of the kids to start repeating it. “Sorry. Sorry.” She held her hands up to the disgruntled parents. “I can’t get up. Someone else answer the door.”
“I got it,” Sutton said.
I followed her to the front door, and Jordan appeared next to us.
“I think it’s Julian,” he told me.
Ah, that made sense. He was the only Wright missing. Everyone else was already here.
Sutton pulled open the door to find Julian and his girlfriend, Ashleigh, standing in the entranceway.
“Sutton,” Ashleigh practically shrieked. “I brought dessert!”
Ashleigh held out a platter of store-bought cookies and passed them to my best friend. Sutton, of all people, who owned and worked in a bakery downtown. Sutton looked at the gift like it was a ticking time bomb.
“That’s so nice of you,” I said to Ashleigh. I’d had more experience dealing with her, and it was better to pretend like nothing had happened.
Julian stepped inside and shook Jordan’s hand. “Hey, bro.”
“How’s it going?”
Julian shrugged. “I think I need a beer.”
I tried to smother a laugh. Julian had been dating Ashleigh for two years, and that was the first indication that her over-the-top attitude got to him like it did everyone else. At least he was human.
“Oh! I brought you a surprise, too, Annie,” Ashleigh said.
“Uh, you did?” I asked in confusion.
And then another person stepped into view.
My heart stopped. My jaw dropped. Everything seemed to stand still. It couldn’t be. There was only one person I’d ever fallen in love with. My best friend, my ex-boyfriend, my hope-for-forever guy.
“Chase?” I gasped.
22
Annie
Chase Sinclair was my first everything.
Even before I’d met Sutton, he was my first friend.. My first boyfriend. My first kiss. My first time. We hadn’t dated my entire life or anything, but we’d always been inseparable. Until he left for Yale after high school graduation and I was stuck in Lubbock at Texas Tech.
That summer, we’d made a pact that if we weren’t married by the time we were thirty, we’d get married. We were only twenty-seven right now, but looking up into his crystal-clear blue eyes, I was suddenly reminded of the fact.
“Oh my God!” I cried, throwing myself into his arms. “What are you doing here? You didn’t come home for Christmas or all summer. What does that law firm in Houston have you doing?”
He laughed, easy and so comfortable, and pulled me tight against him. “It’s good to see you, too, Annie.”
I pulled back to look up at him. The same blond hair and blue eyes, that sharp jaw and high cheekbones, the pouty lips. We’d seen each other on and off over the years when he came back for holidays, but it wasn’t the same.
“I can’t believe you’re here. It’s been almost a year, Chase.”
He ran a hand back through his sandy hair. “I know. I know. I’ve been busy.”
A throat cleared noisily behind us. And that was when I realized that our entire reunion was taking place in front of everyone. I glanced back to see Sutton wide-eyed and incredulous. Ashleigh looked giddy. Julian was facing Jordan, as if ready to apologize. Jordan’s eyes were narrowed, his arms crossed. Oh yeah, um…not good.
I stepped back from Chase. “Why don’t you come inside?”
“Actually, can we talk?” Chase asked, the sincerest look in his eyes.
My eyes flicked back to Jordan, my not-boyfriend but not-quite friends with benefits. Yeah, I didn’t know what to do about that. But Chase was my oldest friend, and I hadn’t seen him in a year. I couldn’t deny him a thing.
“Yeah, sure,” I said quickly. I looked to Jordan. “I’ll be right back.”
Ashleigh waved at us and then yanked the door closed. I cringed at the finality as it snapped shut.
Welp, Jordan was probably going to be pissed. Okay…he was definitely going to be pissed. But it wasn’t like I was going to walk with Chase to make out or something equally childish. I hadn’t hooked up with Cord when I could have. Though Chase Sinclair was altogether different, it didn’t change anything about me and Jordan.
“Shall we?” he asked, holding his arm out.
I chuckled softly and stepped up next to him. I didn’t take his arm, and he didn’t say anything about it. We headed down the front walk and onto the sidewalk. It was probably too cold for me to be outside in a miniskirt, but I hadn’t anticipated any of this when I left the house this afternoon.
“So, what are you doing here?” I asked. “You haven’t been home in forever.”
“I know. I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” It had been nine years since Chase and I parted ways, but I still considered him my best friend. This walk felt like stepping back in time. Everything settling into the way it had been. Like no time had passed at all. I nudged him. “You could have called.”
“People use phones for that purpose now?”
I snorted. “Fine. You could have texted. Or I don’t know…gotten on social media.”
“LinkedIn?”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Not the same.”
“How’s school?”
“Almost done,” I said with a sigh of relief. “I mean, three more years of residency, but I actually get paid for that instead of, you know, crippling debt.”
“Law school,” he said, pointing at himself.
I tried not to roll my eyes. I doubted Chase had taken any debt for his fancy-schmancy law degree. Not when his parents were the largest real estate investors in Lubbock. They had money similar to the Wrights. It was outrageous.
We stopped when we came up to a little park near Jensen’s house. It was full of families playing football before the big game, people walking their dogs, runners, and all manner of children enjoying the waning sunshine.
Chase gestured to an empty bench, and we sat. I yelped at the first contact of the cold metal against my bare skin.
“Didn’t plan for this,” I said, gritting my teeth as my skin adjusted.
“Want my jacket?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. But tell me about you. I know you too well to know that you’re avoiding questions.”
He laughed and winked at me. “You’re right. You know me too well. I’m here, closing on a house.”
“Excuse me?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“I’m moving home, Annie.”
My jaw dropped for a second time that day. “What the hell?” I gasped. “When did you decide this? What’s happening with your job?”
“I’m actually opening my own firm here in town. My dad is lending me the capital to get started, and I’m going in with a friend from Houston.”
I shrieked. “That’s so incredible! Congratulations!”
I threw myself into his arms again. I couldn’t believe this. Chase was moving back home…right as I was planning to leave Lubbock behind.
He chuckled into my hair before releasing me. “Yeah. I could have stayed in Houston and worked to make partner, but I always knew I wanted to come home. When the opportunity arose, I couldn’t say no.”
“No, of course not.”
“And I’ll be back next week.”
“Wow,” I whispered. “That’s so great.”
Something flipped in my stomach. Was this the moment? Was this when he said that after all that time he’d been away, we finally had our shot? Did I even want that? I loved him. I’d always loved him, but he’d been gone. I hadn’t thought of our promise to marry at thirty in so long. For a while, it had seemed inevitable. It was why I’d never gotten too involved with anyone, but that had been years ago. Now what?
And what about Jordan? That was just…starting. It was too much, too fast.
“I have one more thing to tell you,” Chase said.
I held my breath.
“I’m seeing someone.”
“Oh,” I whispered. My head cleared. This wasn’t…it wasn’t at all what I’d thought. “Is it…is it serious?”
Chase reached into his pocket and produced a small blue box. Tiffany & Co. written on the top. He popped it open and showed off the insane ring inside. I’d pictured this moment so many times when I was younger. When we’d been together. But now, he was showing me the ring he had gotten for someone else.
“Chase,” I managed to get out. My throat felt like it was full of cotton.
“I’m going to ask her once we move,” he said. “I wanted you to know.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded vigorously. “Of course! I want you to be happy.”
“I’m glad. I was kind of nervous to tell you.”
“Don’t be nervous with me, Chase,” I said, reaching out and taking his hand. “We’ve known each other our entire lives. You can tell me anything. I know we were together before, but that shouldn’t matter. Anyway, I’m kind of seeing someone, too.”
“Yeah?” he asked again.
I nodded. I couldn’t say this to my other friends. Could hardly say it to myself, but I was being purposefully dense by saying Jordan and I weren’t together. We’d have to figure it out, but I hadn’t gone to him last week for no reason. I hadn’t avoided a hookup for no reason. I wanted Jordan Wright. Damn it all! Who knew seeing Chase was all I needed to realize that?
“Good. I’m glad you’re happy.” He looked down to where I still clutched his hand and then back up to me. “You ever think about that pact we made?”
I laughed, pulling my hand back. “Oh God, I haven’t thought of that in years!” I lied. “What even made you think of it?”
“Oh, you know, I just always thought, one day…you and I…”
“That sort of thing only happens in fairy tales and romance novels,” I said, forcing out another laugh.
“Yeah. You’re right.” He looked down and then up at me again. “You know that I’ll always love you, right, Annie?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Feeling’s mutual. I want the best for you. Whether that’s a fairy-tale pact or this.” I gestured to the wedding ring. “That’s what I want for you.”
“You’re the best.”
“Now…we should introduce you to my boyfriend,” I said, tasting the word on my tongue. “He’s probably not happy.”
Chase chuckled, closing the box and standing. “If I were him, I’d want to kill me.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
But I didn’t think he was wrong.
23
Jordan
Well…fuck.
“Dude, I had no idea what I was bringing onto your doorstep,” Julian said immediately.
Ashleigh had already scampered off to get a drink. While the rest of us just stood there, cringing.
“It’s fine,” I lied.
I’d never heard of this Chase guy before in my life. He’d waltzed in and swept Annie off of her feet, literally. I was as equally confused as I was pissed off. She’d barely given me a glance before walking out of the house with him. As if that had always been her expectation.
“Maybe you should go after her,” Julian said.
I shook my head. There was no way that I was going to run after her. I was pissed off, and then if I followed, she would be pissed off. We weren’t quite on steady footing yet. This was only a maybe date since neither of us had confirmed it either way. There was still a blurry line in the sand, and barging out of here and confronting her would draw it more firmly.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said.
Sutton agreed, “Yeah, probably for the best.”
“But who is he to Annie?” Julian asked, trying his best to look out for me. “I just thought he was Ashleigh’s brother. I didn’t know anything else.”
“He is Ashleigh’s brother,” Sutton said. “Chase and Annie grew up together. They’ve been friends, I don’t know, longer than us.”
“Friends,” Julian said dubiously.
Sutton looked away but not before I saw the wince on her face.
“Sutton,” I said softly.
She shrugged. “Look, I don’t think I should be the one talking to you about this.”
“What’s there to talk about?”
“Nothing.”
Ashleigh sauntered back in with some clear beverage and looked between the three of us. “What are y’all standing around for?”
“We’re discussing your brother,” Julian said. He pulled her closer.
I still couldn’t figure out what he saw in her, but Julian liked to be charmed as much as he charmed others.
“What about him?”
“His history with Annie.”
Ashleigh sighed in that dreamy sort of way as she looked up and clutched her hands around her drink and brought it to her chest. She looked like a Disney character. “They’re destiny.”
I squeezed the beer I was holding and looked at her incredulously. “What does that mean?”
“Ashleigh,” Sutton warned.
“Well, they’re going to get married,” she said as if it were obvious. “They have a pact that if they’re not married to someone else by the time they’re thirty then they’ll get married. Now, he’s moving home. They’re fated.”
I blinked. Was she serious? This was the sort of thing that people talked about in movies, but it wasn’t reality. People didn’t actually make those promises. Who wanted to marry someone they’d known at eighteen anyway? You’d both change beyond comprehension.
“It’s not like that,” Sutton said quickly. But her eyes said it was like that. “They’re just friends.”
Ashleigh rolled her eyes and took a sip of her drink. “Whatever, Sutton. You just don’t believe in true love.” Then she stepped around her and walked off.
Sutton staggered back a step at the comment. She looked like a wounded bird. She closed her eyes briefly around the pain of what Ashleigh had said. I actually stepped forward to catch her in case she fainted.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
Sutton clenched her jaw and opened her eyes. “Fine. And I do believe in true love. In fact, I believe that if you’re lucky, it can happen more than once,” she said defensively as her eyes flitted to David across the room. “I wouldn’t listen to Ashleigh’s ramblings. Annie and Chase dated. They broke up. They made this silly pact because he was moving across the country and likely never coming home. It’s nothing more than that.”
Then she nodded at us both and returned to David’s side. He pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head. Ashleigh’s comment had been callous. I disliked her even more for it.
“Seriously, I didn’t mean—” Julian began.
I interrupted him and waved it away, “Let’s forget it. You didn’t know who he was to Annie.” I glared at the door. “Nor did I, apparently. But there’s nothing I can do about it until she gets back.”
“You sure you don’t want to go after her?”
“Positive,” I told him.
I clapped a hand on his shoulder and directed him to the living room.
A Super Bowl party game had been set up. Everyone dropped in twenty dollars to pick three tickets. Every twenty dollars got you more tickets. Each ticket had a phrase on it, such as, This ticket wins if the national anthem is longer than two minutes. Then a raffle would be held at the end of the game for all the winning tickets, and the names drawn would win some of the pot money.
I blindly dropped down two hundred dollars for tickets. I’d been warned about the game and planned to buy enough for both Annie and me to play. But right now, I needed the distraction of sorting through the tickets, so I wouldn’t think about her absence.
I won the national anthem ticket and dropped it into the collection bin that Jensen held out. He stood next to me as the game got geared up.
“Who are you rooting for?” I asked absentmindedly.
Jensen didn’t answer. He just gave me a look. “You know, I always admired your work ethic and your complete hold on control at the office, even when things didn’t go your way. But I don’t know how you’re standing here right now.”
