Page 58 of Friends With Benefits

Mitch shrugged and pulled her up against him, kissing the top of her head. “Who cares?”

They walked in, hand in hand. The crowd had thinned, most of the remaining guests friends and younger relatives of the bride and groom still partying hard, Miguel and Hailey in the thick of things on the crowded dance floor.

Acutely aware of the looks they got as they made their way to a table where their friends were sitting, Kerri caught Hailey’s eye and gave a little wave. Hailey immediately deserted her new husband on the dance floor and caught up to Kerri, pulled her back from Mitch. With a smile, Kerri let go of his hand and he pulled out two chairs at the table while she hung back to speak to Hailey.

“What the hell?” Hailey asked. “Where’d you two disappear to?”

“Do you really need to ask?” Kerri replied with some amusement.

Hailey rolled her eyes. “Kerri…remember what we talked about.”

Kerri shook her head, excitement and laughter bubbling up inside her. “It’s okay, Hailey. We talked. Oh God, Hailey.” She was so happy she couldn’t speak for a moment. “Neither of us wants to be friends with benefits. We just want each other.”

“Oh.” Hailey appeared nonplussed, then grinned broadly. “Oh! So you two are…what? A couple? Exclusive?”

Kerri nodded, her smile matching Hailey’s. “Yeah.” She sighed. “Oh, yeah.”

Hailey smiled even wider, approvingly. “That’s so good.”

“Yeah. It is.”

Kerri went to the table where Mitch sat slouched back in his chair, long legs stretched out in front of him, ankles crossed. He was talking to Jason, and as she took the seat beside him, he absently reached for her hand and pulled her close to him.

She couldn’t help but smile, knowing she was grinning like an idiot, probably glowing in the dark room like a white shirt under a black light.

***

“The guy is so in love with her it’s pathetic.”

Kerri nodded as she scooped yogurt from the bowl to her mouth. They were sitting in the hotel bed, Mitch cross-legged in his boxer briefs, her naked with the sheet pulled up over her breasts. Mitch had insisted on ordering room service so they could have breakfast in bed.

“She’s actually being reasonable about most things,” Mitch continued, holding a bagel in one hand. “But she’s adamant that they have to keep the dog because the kids love the dog so much.”

Kerri nodded. “I guess I can see both points. The kids want the dog and she wants what’s best for the kids. But he wants the dog because she’s got everything else.”

“Yeah. I see both sides too. I told him to get another dog, but that didn’t go over very well.” He shook his head, and bit into the bagel. “He’s almost ready to let her have the dog because ‘he loves her’.” His fingers made air quotes.

Kerri smiled sympathetically. “Is there a chance that they might get back together? If he loves her that much…”

Mitch snorted. “He’d be crazy to get back together with her. They’ll just end up in the same place down the road.”

Kerri sighed. “It is possible for people to work things out sometimes.”

“You’re a romantic.”

“You’re cynical.”

“I’m realistic.”

Kerri shook her head, smiling. They’d had this conversation before. “So how do you help this guy? You don’t tell him he’d be crazy to try again, do you?”

He shrugged. “No, I don’t tell him that, despite what I think. I just try to represent his interests. The poor bastard.”

She reached for the other half of the bagel on Mitch’s plate. “Hey.” He grabbed her hand and held her away from his food. “Mine.”

She laughed, and fought him. He grinned, trying to keep her away, but when he had to choose between hurting her or losing his food…well, the bagel fell onto the bed and he fell onto her, both of them laughing. His kissed her, hot, wet, with tongue, and he tasted like coffee and cream cheese and sin.

“Okay, never mind the bagels.” She gasped as his mouth moved to her throat. He sucked there and she laughed again. “Don’t! I don’t want love bites all over my neck! What will my students think?”

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