Page 60 of Friends With Benefits

Sela smiled. “I’m so happy for you two. I’m glad you finally figured it out.”

“Me too.”

Not only had the sex been mind-blowing, it had been fun. She’d never had so much fun and laughed so much in bed. In fact she wasn’t sure if she’d ever laughed in bed with a man. Well, that time Grant Bedford had removed the condom too fast and snapped a very sensitive area had been funny. Although, to him, not so much.

She and Mitch knew each other so well. They could talk about anything and laugh at everything. They’d eaten in bed, laughed in bed, made love in bed. She got that warm, squishy feeling deep inside again. God, she was pathetic. She grinned.

“I guess you won’t be getting much work done today,” Sela said with a laugh.

Kerri wandered into her office still smiling. What to do, what to do. She shuffled some papers, then worked on the website. Neta’s photographs made the spa look awesome, as well as her beautiful new yoga studio. Thishadto increase business, with all the services clearly displayed—prices, hours of operation, her class schedule. It would be interesting to see the hits on it once it was up and running.

To her surprise, the day passed quickly and she actually accomplished a lot. More than she had the last few weeks when she’d been so confused and miserable.

Her mother phoned that night to invite her for dinner on the weekend and she happily accepted. “Can I bring Mitch?”

“Of course,” her mother said. “Why do you sound funny? What’s going on?”

“Mitch and I are…um…together.”

There was stunned silence, then, “Oh my God! Kerri, that’s wonderful!”

Kerri laughed. “Yeah. It is.”

“How did this happen? You know, I was watching you two at your party, and I said to your dad, Scott, something is wrong between those two, they’re not acting like they usually do.”

“I guess we’ve been kind of fighting our feelings for each other for a while, and ended up fighting with each other.” Kerri sighed. “But things are good now.”

“He’s such an amazing young man,” Angela said. “I am so happy for both of you, and I can’t wait to see you.”

When Mitch called, just to talk, she told him about the conversation with her mother and he laughed. “She likes me,” he said smugly.

“The last time we were there she was making comments about us. And then at the grand opening party I overheard Sela and Hailey talking about us and how we were crazy about each other and didn’t know it.”

“Iknew it,” he protested softly.

“Oh.” She melted all over again. “I’m sorry I was such an idiot. Apparently everybody else knew we should be together.”

“You’re not an idiot. Tell me about your day.”

***

When they went over to her parents’ home for dinner that weekend, after seeing each other, or at least talking to each other every day, Kerri wrestled with nerves—would her parents make a big fuss about them? Would it feel weird? But no. They were just as warm and welcoming to Mitch as ever, and didn’t ask any embarrassing personal questions at all. As they sat outside on the patio eating dinner, relief shimmered through her. She watched Mitch talk, so smart and articulate, and love and admiration warmed her insides.

“You look like you’re in love,” her mother said to her in the kitchen in a private moment.

“I think I am.” Kerri’s heart gave an extra beat. Oh lord. “I just can’t believe it took me this long to realize it.”

“And does Mitch feel the same?”

“I…think so.”

Angela smiled at her fondly. “You seem so happy, I love to see that.” She gave Kerri a quick hug before they took dessert outside to the others.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“My dad is bringing his new girlfriend to town to meet me,” Mitch told Kerri with disgust a week later.

“That’s nice. Isn’t it?”

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