Page 64 of All Bets Are Off

“Only when he made a big deal about it.” Zach was firm when shaking his head. “That was all him. I liked it when you were around. I mean … who doesn’t love it when a girl literally drools over him.” He winked to lighten the mood, but it was too late for that.

“That was the braces,” I growled.

“Ah, the pink rubber bands.” He smiled at the memory. “You were freaking adorable.”

“Nothing about that situation felt adorable to me,” I argued. “I yearned for you in such a way that it could’ve been a teen movie and people never would’ve stopped laughing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed about it. I have fond memories of that time.”

I sipped my coffee, considering. “Just out of curiosity, did you ever develop crushes on your sisters’ friends?” I was hopeful he would say yes. When he shook his head, my stomach shriveled.

“No, but only because their idea of spending time with me involved makeup and forcing me into dresses. In my mind, those girls were vapid and a bit sadistic. I happen to think I was much more mature and giving when it came to your crush on me.”

“Yeah, that’s not how I remember it.”

“Well, that’s how I remember it.” He was firm. “I refuse to let you turn this into a thing, though. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We need to focus on the here and now.”

“Okay. Do you think we should get a divorce?”

He looked legitimately shocked by the suggestion. “No. Is that what you want?”

“Actually, no,” I replied. “I like having the time to figure out my next move. I just … if this is too hard…”

His eyes flashed. “What did I say?”

A giggle erupted, and there was no stopping it. “Difficult,” I corrected. “If it’s too difficult, maybe we should try to get ahead of it.”

“Or we can split the difference.”

I bit into my toast and waited for him to finish it out.

“We have an attraction,” he said. “I think the one thing we learned last night is that we can’t go a year without scratching some itches as you put it. What if we make our entire relationship about that?”

“Sex? You want to be sex buddies?” My voice was way squeakier than I was expecting.

“That’s kind of a guttural way to put it, but you’re not entirely wrong,” he hedged. “We both agree that a long-term relationship probably isn’t going to work. We have different expectations from life.”

“I want a family and a home and you want … this.” I gestured at the penthouse.

For a moment, I thought he was going to argue with me. A darkness stormed his eyes, as if I’d somehow offended him by stating the truth. It was gone as fast as I saw it, though. “Right.” He sighed. “What if we embrace the hormones but are friends?”

“So … friends with benefits who are married?” It seemed like a lot.

“Basically.”

“What about Rex?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to be friends with benefits with him. Just friends is good.”

I made a face. “He thinks this is a marriage in name only,” I reminded him. “I’m not sure he’s going to take a friends with benefits situation all that well.”

“No, he’ll explode,” Zach agreed. “The thing is…” He looked pained as he pulled himself together. “You’re his sister. He’s going to choose you if it comes to that. I would like to ensure that it doesn’t come to that.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that I think we can do this as adults. We’ll have sex because we’re both going to need it. We’ll be friends because I think we’re both going to need that too. Either one of us can pull the plug on the sexual relationship if things feel as if they’re getting too heavy.”

I considered it long and hard. “I guess it does make an odd sort of sense,” I hedged. “It’s not as if we can date other people during the marriage. That will get back to your father.”

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