Page 185 of Well Played

Too tired to argue, she leaned against Matt and allowed them to help her back to the house. He was almost a foot taller than her, so she was leaning her head against his chest as he walked her. His body was as solid as it looked, nice and warm. This was the first time Matt had held her - he was not someone who gave people hugs, neither was Ben - and it felt really good. Callie wanted to put her arms around him and snuggle in close. Even the smell of chlorine would be enticing.

But she didn’t. She didn’t want Matt to pull away because she was doing something that made everyone uncomfortable.

When they got back to the house, Ben got in first and put the bags down in the kitchen.

“That’s day one done. Not too bad for a haul so far.”

“You mean you and Matt getting medals?” Callie asked as she leaned against the counter. “Or are you going to complain about you getting a bronze when you didn’t have to beat anyone?”

“I still got something.”

Callie made a face.

“Thanks for making me feel better. Fifth out of five.”

“Hey, you’ll get there,” Matt assured her, squeezing her waist. “Once you get sorted again, you’ll be speeding along like everyone else.”

“I wish I was faster.”

“And you will be.” Ben winked as he got his medal out of his bag. “You just need to pull your finger out.”

What Callie needed was more time and energy - and money - to work on her body so she could evenly match the people in her age group. But she was a mother with curves and limited on money. She would have to do it within her means, and a little slower than everyone else.

“Anyway,” Ben went on, “I thought you were going to have a bath. That will do you good after your face.”

“Yes, Dad.” Callie rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I might just lie down in my room. I’m just worn out.”

Matt and Ben exchanged glances, which made Callie wonder what was going on between them. They had been doing this since Callie met them to travel down to Wales, but they had said nothing about it.

Something was off.

“If you’re sure?” Matt cleared his throat. “Do you want any help getting upstairs?”

“You going to tuck me in or something?”

The words were out of Callie’s mouth before she could stop herself. Then she felt her face getting warm with Ben looking amused and Matt raising his eyebrows. Pulling away from Matt, Callie moved towards the door.

“I…I’ll go and…I mean…see you later.”

Fuck, that was embarrassing. She should have kept her mouth shut instead of coming back with her usual quips. Matt and Ben were going to think she was bonkers. Although, Callie thought as she climbed the stairs, she wouldn’t mind being tucked into bed by those two. Preferably naked. All of them.

Fuck, she needed to be careful where her imagination went, especially with those two so close by.

Callie had planned to call her kids and see how they were doing, but she just needed to have a lie-down first. Rest her eyes for a moment. It was cool and quiet in her room, compared to the bright lights and the noise of the swimming pool. Her head was throbbing with that, even almost an hour later.

She was going to have a migraine come on if she wasn’t careful.

Just close her eyes for a moment and soak up the quiet…

Callie awoke feeling someone lifting her legs and moving them. She gasped and jerked away, only to lose her balance and fall off the bed.

“Whoa, careful!” Ben caught her, heaving her back onto the mattress. “You’ll really do yourself a mischief if you do that.”

“Ben?” Callie stared at him. “What are you doing in here?”

“I came to check on you. It’s been almost an hour since you came up here, and you were half-off the bed.” Ben shifted Callie further onto the bed. “I thought you might be more comfortable.”

“An hour?” Callie fumbled for her phone, which had ended up under her. She groaned when she saw the time. “Shit. I must have been more tired than I thought.”

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