Bet Me Something (Something Series Book 3) (8 page)

Oh, yes, my mom
wouldn’t want to appear accommodating in the slightest or say she’d actually
changed her mind. This was only being communicated as a slight reprieve with
strings the size of heavy rope attached.

“Thanks, Dad.
Um, I guess I’ll probably send her an email or text telling her thanks.”

“Enjoy your
weekend, and let me know how your first day goes with the internship.”

“Okay, will do.”
We finished up the call.

A short time
later, Colby returned with two cold beers in hand. When he offered one to me, I
took it gratefully.

“How did the
call from your dad go?”

“Awesome,
actually. My mom agreed to let me do my summer internship.”

“That’s great
news.”

“It was after
having lunch with your mother today. I wonder how the subject came up?”

His grin was
sheepish. “Does it matter?”

My eyes widened.
“This was your doing, wasn’t it?”

“That depends if
you’re angry…”

“Are you
kidding. I’m forever grateful. How did you do it?”

He sighed.
“Well, like a real man, I enlisted the help of my mommy and told her that you
beat out thousands for an internship with an amazing businessman, which is all
truthful, without focusing on the music aspect. Then I mentioned how Max is a
man who could really open up doors after you complete business school, planting
the seed for the amazing opportunity you’d scored.”

I burst out
laughing. If ever there was a person whose approval my mother sought, it was
Mrs. Singer, her neighbor for thirty-five years. “Holy shit, you’re a genius. I
don’t know what to say except thank you.” I swore I wasn’t going to read
anything into him helping me to stay another few months in LA.

“Believe me when
I say it was all my mom’s doing. She’s pretty good about reading between the
lines and knew this was something you wanted, and all your mom needed a little
push. Plus my mom’s always adored you, so she was happy to do it. I wish it
could’ve been about school, too, but with the timing, that might’ve been too
obvious.”

I nodded,
agreeing fully. The question that was nagging me, however, was why my mother
was suddenly dead set about me moving home in the first place. I’d been away
four years, and not once had she hinted that after graduation my time would be
up or that she believed graduate school needed to be back East. Besides, it
wasn’t as if she seemed to miss me. We’d never had that type of relationship,
frankly, where we were hanging out together or sharing girl talk.

Looking over, I
saw him lighting up a big fat cigar. Guess it was a good thing the phone call
had distracted me from thinking about a hot tub lip lock with him.

“Hope you don’t
mind. It’s kind of a Vegas thing.”

The wind was
blowing the smoke away from me and, considering that I’d just been allowed a
summer internship with his help, how could I possibly complain? “Nah, I don’t
mind. Thanks for this, by the way. Not only have you engineered my summer
reprieve, which gives me my internship, but I’ve also had a really great time.
Oh, and, uh, my Vegas education has been interesting.”

He laughed,
meeting my eyes. “Yeah, you learned how to spin around a stripper pole.”

“Mm, yes, not to
mention what DP means, how to shave with lotion for smooth skin—it really works
by the way.” I made a show of rubbing my hands down my legs and watched him
follow with his eyes.

“So, what are
your plans tomorrow while I’m working?”

“Probably
workout in the morning, then maybe lie by the pool. What time do we leave
tomorrow?”

“Four-thirty. We
can eat dinner on the plane. Can you do something for me?”

Men without
their shirts, showing off delicious abs in a hot tub, should not be able to ask
that question unless it was sexual in nature. “Sure.”

“Will you
consider letting me pay for your music school? It’s what you want to do, plus
it would keep you in Southern California.”

I closed my eyes
briefly and sighed, trying not to let the fact that he wouldn’t mind me staying
give me false hope. “I love music, but unless I can perform it without having
to do tequila shooters ahead of time, I won’t accomplish anything.”

“So what’s the
plan beyond the summer?”

“I don’t have a
clue. I wish there was something I was passionate about, something which gave
me drive and purpose.”

“You’ll find it.
But you’re only twenty-two. Give yourself a break.”

“I’ve been using
that excuse for the last four years. And, considering you were starting up your
own production company at this age, I don’t think it’s a very good one any
longer.”

His voice
softened. “Sweetheart, you’re being too hard on yourself.”

I was digging
the new term of endearment he’d dropped on me a few times over the weekend.
“Maybe.” I took a long pull on my beer.

“So, onto better
subjects. Is this the PDG you were talking about?” He flashed his grin. “Or was
it more like this?” He showed a different variation.

I pretended to
contemplate. “There’s really only one way to tell for sure.”

“How’s that?”

“Give the first
one again, and we’ll see if my panties drop off.” Teasing him like this was
much easier than trying to be seductive, not to mention more entertaining.

His face went
into full-on panic.

Rolling my eyes,
I splashed him playfully. “You’re so easy to freak out.”

Without warning,
I was grabbed and dunked under the water completely. Sputtering while pushing
the hair from my eyes when I came up for air, I attempted to get him just as
wet, only to find myself wrapped up pretzel style, halfway on his lap. Our
faces were inches from one another with us both breathing heavily and goofy
smiles on our faces.

“Sorry for
getting you all wet,” he whispered.

“I’m not sorry
in the least.” And I wasn’t thinking about the water.

“You should
probably get some sleep,” he said thickly, letting me go and moving to the
other side of the tub.

“Right. Or we
could get your payment of the bet you lost out of the way.”

He sucked in a
breath, obviously surprised I remembered. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Why’s that?”

“How about, for
starters, I’ve known you my whole life and think of you as my little sister.”

Frustrated, I
was about to throw in the towel altogether. “Yeah, you keep reminding me of
that.”

He met my gaze
after getting out of the water. “Maybe it’s not you I’m reminding. Good night,
Kenz.”

After a yoga
workout out on the beautiful balcony, I spent the morning by the hotel pool. However
by ten o’clock the sun was already becoming too hot to sit out in it much
longer. I replayed Colby’s parting shot last night more times than I cared to
admit and kept coming back to him acknowledging for the first time there might
be something more to how he was feeling. Now, what was a girl to do about it?

Later that
afternoon as I was finishing up lunch in the room, Colby came in looking
frazzled. His arrival was earlier than I’d expected as I thought he’d be in
meetings most of the day.

“Oh, good,
you’re here. We’ve gotta go. Josh called, and Haylee is in labor.”

My mouth turned
up into a smile. Colby’s older brother and his wife were expecting a girl, and
judging from the soon-to-be-uncle’s reaction, he was more than excited. “I
packed this morning, but I can help you.”

He grinned, and
I followed him into his bedroom to throw his clothes into the suitcase. When I
glanced over at him, I realized he was undressing in front of me.

“Uh, what do you
want me to keep out for you to wear?”

“Jeans and
T-shirt are fine, thanks.” He crossed over in only boxers and an unbuttoned
shirt.

I knew my face
was turning red. “Right. Here you go.”

He took the
garments from my hand, donning his jeans only inches from me. I let my gaze
linger, cuz who wouldn’t? Obviously he was distracted, chatting on oblivious to
what he was doing.

“Josh was
excited and nervous all at the same time. My mom is on her way up, too. We
won’t get there until late, but maybe we can go to the hospital in the morning
or tonight if they’ll let us. Sometimes women are in labor for a while, so it
might be that she doesn’t have the baby for hours, right?”

I laughed at his
rambling. “You never know, I suppose. Are they in New York?”

He nodded.
“Yeah. Your brother is there, too, by the way.”

That wasn’t a
surprise considering Sasha lived there. “I’ll look at flights to LA if you
don’t mind dropping me at the airport.”

He turned
towards me. “What do you mean? You can come to New York with me to see the
baby.”

We grabbed our
stuff and headed downstairs towards the waiting car. Once in the back seat, I
voiced my hesitation. “I’d definitely love to see the baby, but Brian is
probably staying with Sasha. At least, I hope so, and since I suspect that
there’s something that may be going on with them, I don’t want to be a third
wheel. Plus, I should probably get back.” Aside from my summer internship
starting in a week, I didn’t have anything going on; however I didn’t want to
be a tag-a-long, either.

He frowned. “You
can stay with me. I’ll probably use Josh’s place or the guest apartment,
depending on where my mom is going to be.”

“I don’t want to
intrude on family time—”

“You’re like
family. Text your brother and maybe we can all meet up tonight.”

Considering he
didn’t seem in any hurry to end our time together, I wondered what this trip
would hold.

***

Once we landed
in New York, we made our way directly to the hospital since Haylee had given birth
while we were in the air. Thankfully, they didn’t have set visiting hours in
the maternity ward because it was late by the time we arrived.

“Do you think
Haylee will mind that I’m with you?” I asked Colby. Josh’s wife was extremely
nice and I was fond of her, but I didn’t know her very well.

“Of course not.
You’re like a sister to Josh, plus Haylee is awesome. She’ll be thrilled you’ve
come to see them.”

I noticed this
time around I was the sister to his older brother instead of to the both of
them. Perhaps we were making progress? He took my arm as we came off the
elevator, leading me down the hall, full of excitement. Something told me
little baby Abigail was going to be the apple of her uncle’s eye.

We spotted Josh
outside of the sign-in desk, and the brothers immediately embraced. It was a
touching moment, and one I was so focused on that I didn’t immediately see
Haylee’s friend Will, who’d been standing there to the side, looking at me with
a smile.

Ah, Will: how
could one not notice the guy? I’d first met him at Josh and Haylee’s wedding a
few months ago. He was in his mid-twenties, gorgeous, sweet, and had the yummy
Australian accent to boot.

“Hiya, Kenzie.”

“Hi, Will. Nice
to see you again.”

Mark, who was my
brother and Josh’s long-time friend from college, walked up with coffee in
hand. He greeted me with a hug. “Hey, kiddo.”

Damn. Like Colby
needed a reminder to think of me as a kid. “Hey, Mark.” I’d always enjoyed his
strong, silent presence and hadn’t had much of a chance to talk with him at my
graduation party because he’d had to leave early for some reason.

Josh embraced me
next. “I’m glad you could come, Kenzie.”

“Me, too.
Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Did
you fly in from LA together?” Josh voiced the question towards his younger
brother, clearly wondering how I’d entered the picture.

“Uh, no, directly
from Vegas. I took Kenzie there for her graduation weekend.”

Josh and Mark
both exchanged confused looks and then Josh motioned his younger brother over
to the side. “A word, please.”

Josh seemed to
be giving him an earful, which made Colby stiffen in reaction.

I couldn’t hear
what they were saying, but it was clear Colby’s brother was irritated. “What’s
that about?” I asked Mark.

He sighed. “I’m
assuming it’s because the most notorious Vegas party boy took Brian’s baby
sister to Sin City.”

“Seriously?” Mark
looked uncomfortable, and I instantly felt terrible that my going to Vegas with
Colby was causing such a fuss.

When they
returned to the group, Josh seemed over whatever initial annoyance he’d had, but
Colby was uncharacteristically quiet and didn’t make eye contact with me. As if
I needed any more obstacles, I now had the big-brother-and-friends’ coalition
ensuring he was reminded I was off limits.

We all caught up
for a bit, but with Haylee and the baby sleeping at this hour, we decided to
leave Josh with his family and go get some pizza a block away. I texted Brian
letting him know in case he and Sasha wanted to join us, where we’d be.

I slid in beside
Will in the booth once we went inside the pizzeria and observed his grin. Huh,
his PDG wasn’t bad at all.

“So, Kenz, heard
you graduated university. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

Colby, who was
sitting across from us, narrowed his eyes. It didn’t dawn on me why until I
replayed what Will had said. Was it because he’d called me Kenz?

The waitress
delivered pitchers of beer, and Will was sweet enough to pour me one before
helping himself.

Looking up when
the pizza arrived, I spotted Brian walking through the door. I stood up, giving
my brother a big hug. “Hey, I wasn’t sure if I’d see you tonight. Everything
okay?”

The smile on his
face confirmed it before his words did. “Everything is great now, but Sasha
pulled an all-nighter yesterday, so she basically passed out. I wanted to come
out to make sure you’re all right though.”

I immediately
felt guilty he’d left his girlfriend in order to come see me. “Of course, I’m
good. You didn’t have to come verify that.”

He pulled up a
chair. “So, how did you end up flying out to New York?” he asked, turning
towards me, then glancing towards Colby.

“I took her to
Vegas after her party; that’s where we received the news about the baby,” Colby
supplied matter-of-factly and then dove into his slice of pizza without missing
a beat.

Brian appeared
taken aback for a moment. “What did you two do there?”

I shrugged,
deciding to give it levity instead of acting defensive. “You know, the usual:
strippers, heavy drinking, and tattoos. I’d let you see the tattoo, but it’s
not in a place a sister shows her brother.”

Colby choked on
his beer, but then played along. “She hasn’t quite grasped the concept of what
happens in Vegas, stays there,” he deadpanned.

Everyone
laughed, clearly assured that nothing like that could’ve happened, but the look
Brian gave Colby made it clear the conversation between the two of them wasn’t
over. Crap. I never meant to get him in trouble, and the most ironic part was
that absolutely nothing had happened. Although I could guarantee both Brian and
Josh would have a coronary over me going to a strip club.

My brother
glanced over and changed the subject. “Oh, Kenzie, before I forget, Sasha asked
since you’re in town if she could take you out tomorrow for a spa thing. She
feels bad about having to leave your party early and would like to make it up
to you.”

Being a tomboy
most of my life, spa days weren’t really my thing. On the other hand, maybe
that was due in part because the one time I’d ever gone had been with my mother
and Rebecca. “That’s very nice, but unnecessary. If I could’ve left the party
early, I would have.”

He sighed.
“Please do me a favor and let her. It would mean a lot.”

“Okay, no
problem.” I wouldn’t mind spending the time with Sasha anyhow.

We made small
talk while eating. Once we were done, the waitress boxed up the extra pizza,
and Colby generously settled the bill.

“I wonder if
Josh is awake? I brought some cigars from Vegas, and he might want something to
eat, too,” Colby commented.

“Probably. You
know how he is with his insomnia,” Mark provided.

“Uh, where are
you staying, sis? Do you need me to get you a hotel room? I’d offer Sasha’s
place, but it’s small,” Brian said.

Colby spoke up.
“I was planning to put her up at Josh’s place. My mom is staying at a hotel
next to the hospital, and, Mark, you’re in the apartment down the hall, right?”

Josh had a
penthouse suite which I’d never been to, but Brian had once described it as
being large by New York standards, with a separate guest apartment down the
hall.

Mark nodded.
“Unless you want me to switch, and Kenzie can have the apartment down the
hall.”

“No need. I’ll
take Josh’s room, and she can have the guest bedroom. Then if we’re super nice
to her in the morning, we may even talk her into making us breakfast.”

Mark’s face lit
up. “Ooh, pancakes?”

I finally got a
word in. “Does it seem strange to anyone else that you guys have had an entire
conversation about me while I’m sitting here without a voice?”

Three smart-ass
retorts came back, “Nope,” “no,” and “not so much.”

“Come on, Kenz,
you’re like a little sister to all of us,” Colby declared once again.

Considering the
hard time the guys had given him about taking me to Vegas for the weekend, I
knew his motivation in making this comment, but it still annoyed me given what
he’d admitted last night. I managed an eye roll and sipped the rest of my beer,
unprepared for Will to chime in.

“You know Kenz,
I’m happy to see you to Josh’s building while the guys return to the hospital. In
fact, there’s this fantastic place which does doughnuts down the block if
you’re interested.”

A slow smile
broke out on my face. The humor reflected in his eyes made me wonder about his
motivation, however at this point I couldn’t get up fast enough. “Sounds great.
See you big brothers later.”

Mark and Brian
seemed mildly surprised while Colby looked straight up annoyed. “How are you
going to get into the apartment? You don’t have a key.”

Oh, I hadn’t
thought about that. But evidently Will had, or else he happened to be great at
adlibbing. “That’s okay. Why don’t you text her when you’re on your way back,
and we’ll stay out in the meantime? We can grab some coldies if it’ll be
awhile.”

“Good by me.” I
took his offered arm, giving a little wave towards the guys and trying not to
read anything into the fact that Colby appeared to be busy giving my brother
the third degree—as though Brian should prevent me from leaving with Will.

Once we were out
on the sidewalk and walking down the block, I started giggling. “Thanks for the
rescue and the reminder I am, in fact, a grown-up. If I hear I’m like a little
sister one more time from anyone but Brian, I’m going banshee. What’s a coldie,
by the way?”

Will chuckled,
tucking my hand into the crook of his arm. “Coldie is a beer. And I got the
big-brother vibe from Brian and Mark and even from Josh earlier, but not quite
the same from Colby. Matter of fact, I think he was ready to kill me when I
called you Kenz. I take it that’s his name for you.”

“He’s the only
one who calls me that, so I guess so. And good to know I’m not the only one who
notices the mixed signals.”

He laughed. “I’m
not overstepping by commenting, am I?”