Page 178 of Well Played

HER REWARD

BY KATHARINE O’NEILL

Callie has reservations about travelling for a few days away from her children, leaving them in the company of her ex-partner. But she knows that she has other things to focus on, like racing in the British Masters, a national competition where the top swimmers in the country took part. With her small team, Callie intended to make the most of her long weekend despite her concerns. Especially when she was with two of the hottest guys she had ever encountered.

Ben and Matt are two of Callie’s closest friends, and she is happy to spend any time with them, but things seem a bit different this time. The tension is in the air, and Callie doesn’t know what to make of it. Maybe it was because the three of them were going to be spending three nights alone in the same house, something they hadn’t done before. Or maybe it was because three single people were alone, and there was a lot of downtime…

1

The house was gorgeous.Callie was surprised when she looked at the back of the house getting out of the car. It looked pretty big as well, even if the parking spot was really, really tight. It was a wonder that Ben had managed to get the car in, given how narrow the alley was.

“How big did you say this place was again?” she asked as Ben got out from behind the wheel.

“Five beds, four bedrooms, including a kitchen, lounge, dining room and two bathrooms.” Ben grinned at her. “I decided we should splurge for a little bit.”

“Splurge?” Matt chuckled as he squeezed around the car from the other side, wiping brick dust off his sweater. “We’re only here for three days.”

“And we might as well have a bit of luxury while we’re in Cardiff. It was cheaper than getting a hotel room each, wasn’t it?” Ben shrugged. “We certainly won’t be wanting anything here.”

Callie couldn’t argue with that. She was keen to get inside and have a look. The woman who was renting out the house to them had given them instructions to get inside. The keys were around there somewhere. Stepping up onto the back porch, shelooked around the back wall, looking for the keysafe. Once they got the house open and they were inside, it would be a relief. Callie just wanted to lie down on the bed and stretch out. Sitting in a car for close to four hours, including a bathroom break, was not ideal for her body. She was going to be incredibly sore from it.

“Are you going to give us a hand, Callie?” Matt called. “There are quite a few bags here.”

“I know, I was in the back with all of them,” Callie shot back with a laugh. “Consider yourself lucky Daisy wasn’t able to come or it would have been worse.”

“We probably had enough room for the luggage and left Daisy at home,” Ben said, pulling suitcases and bags out of the boot. “Let’s get this moving. I want to get in and start making dinner. I’m starving.”

“Same here.” Matt bent over to check one of the bags. “I hope you’re going to make more than what we can eat.”

“I swear you have hollow legs, Matt.”

Callie momentarily stopped looking for the keysafe and watched the two of them. She got distracted by Matt’s sweater shifting up and revealing bare flesh above his jeans. Even though she had seen him so many times wearing just trunks while they were swimming, the sight of his skin in this way left her stomach fluttering. With his long, lean body with solid muscle mass, his dark hair flecked with grey despite only being in his early thirties, Matt was one of those guys who could easily be described as ‘dishy’. Callie was surprised that her mouth wasn’t permanently open as she gawked at him.

Ben was pretty similar, too. Closer to fifty, the man was handsome to a degree that made it slightly uncomfortable. Short than Matt and a little more stocky, he was very fit. Callie had seen him firm up and tone his body over the last year, and she loved feasting her eyes on the sight of him. How she managedto train when she was staring at the two of them, she had no idea. It was a wonder she hadn’t gotten injured because of the distractions before her.

You’re staring at them now. Just stop doing that and focus on finding those keys. You need to call Drew as well.

Ah. Drew. Callie did need to make sure that the kids were okay, and that Drew was looking after them. Her ex-partner had said he was more than happy to watch them while she was away, but Callie still had her reservations. Drew loved his children, but he did the bare minimum.

Hopefully, this would be enough for him to kick himself into gear and get things sorted. He was improving himself as a person, so perhaps he could improve himself in other aspects. Callie was willing to give him that chance as their children loved him.

Drew just needed to get his finger out.

“Callie?” Ben was now staring at her. “Are you looking for the keys or are you just going to stare at Matt’s bum all evening?”

Matt looked around and arched an eyebrow at her, his sensual lips curling in amusement. Groaning, Callie turned and darted out of sight, her face burning. Trust Ben to notice what she had been looking at. He would be ribbing her about it for the rest of the weekend; he was aware that Callie had a bit of a crush on Matt. Who could blame her, though?

God, how was she going to last three days in a house with just the two of them? Daisy would have been here as well but she claimed that she was too sick to come. Given how back she had been recently, nobody wanted to risk her coming and making things worse. Ben joked that she would only come to Cardiff to make the rest of them sick, which Callie wouldn’t be surprised about; Daisy was like the annoying little sister to Ben, and she would absolutely do that to wind him up.

Finding the keysafe, Callie got the keys out and unlocked the door. It looked like it entered into a small TV room with a sofa bed and a coffee table. Probably the fifth bedroom. Walking through, Callie entered the hall and found the lounge, which had a huge TV up on the wall. Stairs with mahogany wood and thick carpet went up to the floor above, but Callie decided to leave the exploring until later. All she could think was the house, despite being a terraced one, was far bigger than she expected. She was shocked.

Ben had certainly chosen well.

Walking through the dining room, Callie entered the kitchen at the back and unlocked the door, which opened onto the back porch. Ben gave her a smile and a nod as he carried bags inside.

“Thanks, Callie. Well,” he looked around in approval, “this is bigger than I thought.”

“And you were the one who booked it,” Callie laughed, leaning out of the door. “Pass us some bags, Matt.”

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