Page 9 of The Silver Fox Daddy

“Kate, you heard me,” I say, my voice taking on a whiny quality that annoys me but perfectly represents how I feel.

“So, what I’m hearing is you fucked Jared. Your brother’s very hot best friend, who is eighteen years older than you and your mortal enemy, Jared,” she repeats, and I wonder if this conversation is doing me more harm than good.

“You think he’s hot?” I ask, that being what stuck out in my mind.

“Now that you’ve had sex with him, I feel like it’s safe to admit that Jared is hot,” Kate says, her voice filled with amusement. “You can’t have me believe that you fucked him and don’t think he’s steamy?”

Her question makes me pause. Hot and Jared are two words that don’t coexist in my mind. But she’s right, I did fuck him, and there was attraction involved.

Not wanting to say yes and admit such a thing out loud, but also not wanting to say no, knowing it’s not wholly true, I settle on, “I don’t know.”

Kate makes a noise of understanding before asking, “So, you wouldn’t fuck him again?”

“Of course not. I can’t,” I blurt out.

Was the sex amazing? Sure. But that doesn’t change the fact that it was with Jared. It was wrong, and we shouldn’t have done it, even if we are adults. I’ve known Jared my whole life and don’t want to jeopardize our family dynamics.

“Why not?” Kate asks, sounding genuinely disappointed.

“Because it’s Jared,” I say. “We’re practically family.”

“But you aren’t,” Kate points out, forcing a huff from me.

“Well then, because he’s forty-three,” I say, thinking about how sizeable the age gap is.

I’ve never been against age-gap couples when people are well into adulthood, but I never imagined myself being in such an entanglement.

“Okay. And you’re twenty-five. What’s your point?” Kate asks, but I draw a blank.

What is the point?

“Kate, he’s my brother’s best friend. For one, Tyler would be pissed. Also, it just isn’t right. I’ve never liked Jared,” I say, trying to articulate a point I don’t fully understand myself.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t want to hook up with him.”

Now I’m sure this conversation is only causing me harm.

“I’m not hooking up with him again. End of story,” I assert.

“If you say so,” Kate says, still not fully convinced. “But I get it if you do.”

When I get off the phone with Kate, I know that everyone must be back at the cabin. Hopefully, I can sneak up to my room without anyone spotting me. I worry that if someone gives me too much attention, they’ll be able to tell what I did, making the rest of this family vacation unbearable.

But I really don’t want to run into Jared, who only hours ago, I was wantonly riding, as if I’d been yearning to do it for ages.

Which, obviously, I haven’t been.

I’m unsure how I’ll be able to conduct myself around him from now on. I feel like I’ll have to tiptoe around the subject for the time being, forcing myself to pretend it didn’t happen, though I know it very much did.

Whether I force myself to forget or not, I just know I can’t let it happen again.

CHAPTER6

JARED

Someone will have to be fired for the mess I've been left with. I can't believe none of my employees informed me that my assistant quit. It's as if they didn't care about the chaos it would cause me when I came back from vacation.

The last few days of my trip were excruciating, despite my attempt to remain composed. Although I had fun watching Archer and the other kids take on the slopes, the tension between Monica and me lingered after what had happened. Our interactions were strained, even during moments when we would typically joke around. I was constantly worried that any interaction with her would reveal our secret.

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