“Well…” I nervously twisted a strand of hair. “Why can’t we be friends who also sleep together sometimes? Because we’re good as friends, aren’t we? And let’s be honest, the sex was good too.”

“It was really good,” he said, the timbre of his voice dipping low.

“With where I am in my life right now, I could use a friend and I could use some really good sex.”

He rubbed his face and blew out a breath. “The problem is, this is more complicated than that. Because you’re you, and I work for your dad. He’s not going to want me messing around with his daughter.”

“It’s none of his business. Even though I’m living with him right now, he doesn’t have a say in who I spend time with or what I do behind closed doors. Besides, my dad likes you.”

He grunted. “For now.”

I laughed and shifted so I was facing him. “We’re both adults. We can be friends and have a little fun together. What’s so bad about that?”

His lips twitched in a grin. “So your mom was right and you do want to use me to get over your ex.”

I playfully pushed his arm. “No, I want to use you for friendship and sex.”

Groaning, he leaned his head back. “Friendship and sex are my favorite.”

“See? This works for both of us.”

“So basically you’re telling me you want joint custody of my dick.”

I laughed. “That’s one way to put it.” I took a deep breath. “The truth is, my life kind of sucks right now. I don’t know how I’m going to salvage my career, or how long I’m going to stay here, or where I’ll go next. But hanging out with you is fun and it makes everything feel a little less awful.”

“And orgasms are great.”

“Yes, orgasms are… very great. Is that bad?”

“No, it’s not bad. It’s kind of a dream scenario.”

“See? A little fling with the boss’s daughter never hurt anyone.”

“I don’t know, Sky. I could be getting myself into a lot of trouble with you.”

“I thought you liked danger.”

“I do. I fucking love it.” His eyes widened with excitement and he tucked my hair behind my ear. “I feel like I should be resisting harder, but you make a very compelling argument.”

“Thank you.”

“So, friends with orgasms?” he asked.

“Yes. Friends with orgasms.”

The way he smiled and knuckled my chin sent a little tingle through me. But more than that, I felt proud. Maybe this wasn’t a new agent or publishing deal, but I’d gone after what I wanted. I’d taken a risk, told him how I felt, and it had paid off.

I hadn’t felt this good about myself in a long time.

26

Gavin

Even though I was stuck on the sidelines of the football field for today’s game, I was in an awesome mood. My boot was coming off for good soon, which meant I could go back to full duty at work. And the Baileys were playing the Pines, which meant I wasn’t missing the big Bailey-Haven game.

Plus, Skylar had been at my place last night. That probably had a lot to do with the smile on my face.

I totally had a handle on the whole friends with benefits thing with Sky. It kind of felt like we were dating, only we weren’t really. I was back on light duty at work—none of the fun stuff, but it was something—so when I had free time, I met her at the coffee shop or at her house so she could write. Or we’d just hang out and talk a lot.

And sometimes we’d wind up back at my place, particularly when my brothers weren’t home. There was an element of sneaking around that seemed to make us both hot for each other.

As far as I could tell, Chief didn’t know, which was probably for the best. She’d insisted it wasn’t any of her dad’s business who she slept with, and I could respect that.

Jack stood next to me with his clipboard, squinting in the mid-afternoon sun while our team lined up on defense. Since I couldn’t play, I’d appointed myself assistant coach. I was pretty sure Jack appreciated my help.

“They’re going to try another pass,” I said. The game was almost over and our team was ahead, twenty-one to fourteen. But if they scored, they could tie it up and then go for an on-side kick to get the ball back.

“Evan and Levi see it,” Jack said, nodding to them as they adjusted their positions.

The other team’s center hiked the ball. Sure enough, it was a pass play, but Levi was there to bat the ball out of the air. Incomplete.

I whistled while Jack tucked the clipboard under his arm so he could clap.

The bleachers behind us were full of people, including Fiona, Cara, and Grace. It kind of made me wish Sky was here. She was doing something with Ginny today. And of course, it didn’t really matter. I couldn’t play anyway, and it wasn’t like Skylar was my girlfriend.

But it would have been fun to have her here.

The bleachers on the other side of the field were full too, with Pines or people related to them.

Plus a few fucking Havens.

Josiah, Zachary, and Theo were over there, probably scouting for when they played us later in the season.

Assholes. I glared at them whenever I caught them looking at me.

The Pines attempted another pass, but Evan had their number. The ball hit him right in the chest and a second later, he was running in the other direction. The crowd cheered behind me, Fiona loudest of them all, as Evan ran it back for a touchdown.

That was it. The game was over.

I slapped Jack on the back. “Nice work, coach.”

“Thanks, Gav. Think you’ll be ready to play next game?”

“Should be.”

“Good. We could use your speed against the Town Team.” He shot me a look. “But your doctor has to give the okay.”

“I know, I know. Why does everyone keep telling me to listen to my doctor? Doesn’t anyone trust me?”

He raised his eyebrows.

“I’m still wearing the damn boot, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, you are. I’m just not convinced you feel pain the way the rest of us do.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The first time I met you, you fell off a roof, then got up and walked away like nothing had happened.”

I shrugged. “I’m just lucky, I guess.”

The rest of the team congregated on the sidelines, exchanging high-fives. Winning was awesome.

I turned around and bounced backward like I’d hit an invisible wall. Chief stood behind me dressed in a TFD jacket. Where the hell had he come from?

“Careful there, Gav,” he said.

“Hey, Chief.”

He eyed me for a second. Every time he did that, I tensed up, waiting for him to tell me to stay the fuck away from his daughter.

But he didn’t. Yet. Just gave me a nod and moved past me to talk to Jack.

I let out a breath.

“Hey, broagie.” Logan smacked me on the back. “We should get some filming done today.”

We’d started working on the movie we were going to film to hijack the Haven’s drive-in—a Bailey remake of Dirty Dancing. Since the drive-in would close for the season soon, we’d decided against a full scene-by-scene remake and opted for more of a highlight reel. But we still had a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it.