Chapter One
Brooke
Reagan and I had been best friends for a long time. We considered each other family, and I would honestly be lost without her. I was a little miffed that she was gaining the attention of Carter Anthony, quarterback to the Wolves, because it meant I would be seeing less of her. However, my happiness for her outshone anything else.
I wished I had something like what Carter and Reagan had. Not that they were together yet, the chase was still happening, but I could see the lovey-dovey gazes they shot each other. Even if they were oblivious to the other’s attention.
It was sweet, soft, and so cute.
Something I wanted to find.
Then I’d met Dustin Grant. He was at the bar with Carter, because they were friends and teammates, and I’d thought there was a connection between Dustin and me when we’d made eye contact… or it could have been just me being a sex-depraved hussy since Dustin was Fine with a capital F. But he was sweet, funny, and charming. Also, he hadn’t seemed fazed by the talk of sex toys, and I’d thought he could make me smile and be giddy like Carter made Reagan.
So, days later, when I saw him down the street one night and we started talking, I’d let my mind consider that something could spark between us. It didn’t matter he wasn’t my usual type, since I loved men in suits and who had the smarts to take on the world, but there was something about Dustin and his carefree, cute attitude that appealed to me. Hence, when I’d asked him what he was doing the next night, I hoped he’d get the hint and ask me out. He’d told me he was in a bind, that he had some lunch event he had to attend with a date but wasn’t sure he could go because he had other commitments.
Of course, I played it cool and said I could help out. He had smiled, which had my nipples perking up from their deep sleep when he told me my help would be fantastic. After our discussion, I’d floated away in a daze without gathering more information besides how to get to his house and each other’s phone numbers.
The next morning, full of those butterfly feelings about the date with Dustin, I rang my nana on the way to let her know.
“What?” she answered.
“Good morning to you too, Nana Bev.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s too early to be chirpy.”
It was early, but Dustin had said it was a lunch charity event that was an hour away. “But I have good news.”
“Please, pray Jesus, tell me you’re knocked up and I’m finally gettin’ a great-grandbaby?”
“Well, no—”
“Then I’m goin’.”
“Nana Bev, this could lead to having a baby.” Okay, I was thinking way ahead of myself, but the thrill of knowing I was going on a date made me say it.
“All right, I’m listenin’.”
“I’ve got a date.”
“Boy or girl?”
My nana knew I was bisexual, and it didn’t faze her as long as I was loved and she got a great-grandbaby out of it before she died. Those were her words exactly.
“A guy.”
“All righty. Now tell me you’ve tidied up your probably-grown-over bush since you haven’t seen any action in a damn long time.”
“Jesus, Nana. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Fine, fine. But do you need advice on how to find your G-spot—”
“I’m hanging up now, Nana.”
She cackled like the crazy lady she was. “Love you, boo, and good luck.”
“Love you too, and thanks.”
Taking one last look in the rearview mirror at my subtle but classy makeup, I then checked my new short black dress and heels. Everything was still in order, so I climbed out of the car and headed for Dustin’s apartment.
After I knocked, the door opened quickly, and I smiled warmly at the sight of Dustin in his fancy suit. A sigh slipped past my lips as my gaze traveled over him.
“Hey.” He grinned. “Thanks so much for doing this. Come on in.” His words confused me a little, so when he walked off, I quickly stepped in and shut the door before following him down the hall and into the living room.
Then froze.
“Benjie, this is Brooke.” Dustin curled his hand over a boy’s shoulder, who was Dustin’s mirror image.
“Brooke, this is Benjie, my six-year-old son.”
Son.
His son.
A boy from his loins.
“Benjie, Brooke’s here to look after you.”
I was there for Benjie?
My stomach twisted at my own stupidity. Seriously, where had I gone wrong in that conversation on the street?
Still in my state of shock, I slowly turned when I heard footsteps approaching.
“Hi, baby. I’m a little early, but I thought since it’s far away, you never know how traffic will be.” A gorgeous woman eyed Dustin over my shoulder as she swayed her hips our way. Her gaze snapped to me and ran over my body before a smirk lifted her lips. She strode by me and curled herself around Dustin. “Who’s this?”
“Letta, this is Brooke. She’s taking care of Benjie for me.”
An urge to punch Dustin in the balls, or myself in the tit for reading the conversation wrong, hit me. What stood in front of me was nothing like I thought would happen.
The woman ran her eyes over me again and giggled. I wanted to rip her tits off at the patronizing sound. Like she really knew I had read the situation wrong. But how could she?
You’re wearing heels and a slutty little black dress, idiot.
The only thing I could do was pretend that I didn’t make a fool of myself by thinking Dustin wanted to go on a date with me.
Forcing a smile, which I hoped wasn’t scary, I said, “Benjie, it’s cool to meet you. I don’t usually dress like this for fun, but I had to pop into work early for a meeting before I could have the day off and didn’t get a chance to change.”
Benjie shrugged and gripped his dad’s pants. He looked unsure, which I didn’t blame him for, since I was a stranger to the poor boy. Did Dustin have strange women mind his son often? If yes, it was bad form. Anyone could be a crazy lady.
“Hey, how about we go for a drive for some ice cream, and we can stop at my place so I can get changed? We could even go to a park.” I pulled my gaze up to Dustin and ignored the tart near rubbing herself over him in front of his son. “If that’s okay with you?”
“There’s a booster seat in the garage you can take. But what do you think, buddy?” He smiled down at Benjie.
Benjie shrugged. “I’m okay with it.”
Dustin chuckled, and I wanted to throat punch him, disgruntled it sounded nice and deep. “I’m sure you’re okay with ice cream and the park.”
Really, could I blame Dustin for the whole mix-up? I wanted to—boy, did I want to—but it wasn’t completely his fault. I’d been dazzled by his looks and charm.
Dammit. It would have been easy to blame Dustin wholly.
Benjie’s lips twitched. “Maybe?”
Hopefully, I could make this day better—even when my skin itched with a flush of embarrassment—by spending time with a six-year-old kid and having fun. I would make the best of my day off.
What could also help my mood was punching Dustin in the balls. Then again, Dustin and I would have probably been terrible together. Really, this saved me from a crap date.