Friends with Benefits (Friend Zone Series Book 3) Read online

  “Don’t you need my number?” Gemma asked.

  “Right,” I answered, shaking my head. I passed her my phone, and she put in her contact info with a sultry smile. Returning it, I winked and watched as she drove off.

  “About time,” Red said as her car sailed by and pulled into a parking spot.

  I jogged to catch up, my leg muscles still loose from afternoon practice. She was unloading the babies from the car by the time I came to a stop by her side. Red looked up and frowned at me. It made me wonder what it would take to make her smile.

  “What?” she asked pointedly. She had to raise her voice over the little screaming machines she was now loading into a stroller.

  As a freshman athlete, hooking up with a woman who clearly came with strings attached didn’t seem like the best idea, yet I couldn’t walk away. Not even the squalling kidlets in the back seat could deter me.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  She snorted. “That’s the best you got? Look, I’ve had a long night here, and I’ve got a long morning ahead of me. I honestly don’t have time for your bullshit. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going home. If you aren’t a creep, you won’t follow me. Got it?”

  Red locked the second kid into the stroller and strode off with a toss of her hair. It must have been the hair that drew my dumb ass after her. I followed it through the parking garage entrance and down the hall to the elevator. When we arrived, she scowled at me.

  “I’m not following you. I live here, too. Third floor.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, I do. You just move in? I haven’t seen you around here before.”

  The elevator opened, and she pushed the stroller inside, heaving with the effort from the heavy contraption. Red-faced and with a lung capacity to rival my team’s best sprinters, the kids hadn’t stopped screaming since they’d woken in the car. I winced a little, but even that didn’t dull my curiosity.

  I was a goner.

  “Are you for real?” she asked. Being so close to her, I could see her eyes were dark, mossy green—the color of leaves deep in the forest where sunlight struggled to reach.

  “I seem to be,” I answered when I remembered her question.

  “I don’t really have time right now to entertain whatever delusions are cropping up inside that head of yours.”

  The elevator dinged, and the sound of the discontented children echoed off the walls in the hall. I hurried after her. When I caught up, she caught sight of me and growled under her breath, causing the twins to jerk in surprise and cut off mid-scream.

  “Didn’t I tell you not to follow me? I don’t have time for this right now. Stop following me!”

  At her shout, the twins began screeching again, and I winced.

  I pointed to my apartment. “I’m not following you.” Well, not really. “That’s my place right there.” I held out the key and shook it. “I’ve even got the key if you don’t believe me.”

  Red glanced from me to the door and then back again. Her face crumpled, and she rested her back against the door, crumpling into a heap. I peered around the stroller and found Red’s face buried into her knees, her shoulders shaking.

  Two kids, I could deal with. After all, kids cry…I wasn’t sure much, but I was pretty positive it was often. Not much I could do about that, but a grown woman in a crying fit? Left me feeling like I had two left feet.

  I crouched in front of her and placed a hand on her knee. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Please don’t cry.”

  Patting her back like I would a puppy was about the extent of my soothing abilities. After a second, she blew out a hot breath and looked up at me with bloodshot eyes, her nose running.

  She was beautiful.

  “You alright?” I asked with half a laugh. Clearly, she wasn’t alright, but I was at a loss for words.

  Red rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. I was just…overwhelmed for a second.”

  She accepted my hand to help her back to her feet. The ringing in my ears had me glancing back at the toddlers, who’d cried themselves to sleep. Studying them warily, I asked, “Are they okay?”

  “They’re just overstimulated. They hate riding in the car seats. Not that I blame them.” She placed a hand on each of their chests and gazed at their slumbering faces.

  “How old are they?” I asked to fill the silence.

  Glancing up at me, she said, “Two years.”

  “I don’t mean this the way it sounds, but you look amazing for having two-year-old twins.”

  “Am I supposed to take that any other way than how it sounds?”

  Thank God she was smiling.

  I sputtered to defend myself, but she laughed. “Don’t sweat it. I’m not their mom. They’re my baby sisters.”

  “Ah, right. Sorry again.”

  “Since you’re here, you can bring them in for me while I get their snack ready.” When I did nothing but stare, she waved me inside. “Come on. They aren’t going to bite. If we’re going to be neighbors, we might as well get to know each other. Besides, I feel shitty for yelling at you. I’ll get you a soda as a friendly gesture.”

  With exaggerated care, I wheeled the stroller into the apartment as Red bustled around the kitchen, opening cabinets and cutting up bite sized pieces of fruits and veggies, ‘cause I had no clue. The toddlers slept in their car seats, but I didn’t trust them not to wake up and turn into air raid sirens again, so I didn’t make a sound as I waited.

  She looked up, and her eyes danced with laughter. “You look like you’re going to set off a bomb or something. They aren’t going to bite you.”

  “They might start screaming again,” I whispered.

  “What’s your name?” she asked after shaking her head. “I guess I’d better know it if we’re going to be neighbors. This probably won’t be the first time you hear them screaming at all hours of the night.”

  “Tripp. Tripp Wilder.”

  She paused mixing the bottles. “That can’t really be your name.”

  “It really is.”

  “Is that short for something?” she asked.

  “John Thomas III,” I answered. “Tripp, as in triple or the third.”

  “That makes more sense.” She capped the bottles, tucked them under her free arm, and then opened the fridge and got a soda, which she handed to me. “Tripp suits you better than John, that’s for sure.”

  “I get that a lot.” It was part of the problem.

  “I’m Ember. These little boogers are Matilda, Tillie for short, and Molly.”

  Ember.

  God, her name couldn’t have been more perfect. It matched her hair, her fiery attitude, and how her presence seemed to heat me from the inside out.

  Ember.

  “I’m sorry for being a bit of a bitch earlier. I was in a hurry to get home because these two were fussy, and I knew they’d be hungry soon.”

  She was a natural with them. I wouldn’t have had a clue how to take care of a kid, let alone two at once. But she sat the plates of food on the coffee table, unhooked the car seats, and lifted them out. Once she was settled, she situated one little girl on one side of her and the other in the crook of her arm. It was like some sort of kid-style Tetris. I was fascinated. The girls woke up in increments, but thankfully they didn’t start crying again. Food seemed to placate them. I needed to remember that.

  “You don’t have to apologize,” I said. I scrubbed a hand over my neck as one started talking gibberish. “Do you need some help?”

  Amusement danced lively in her eyes. “You? You want to help?”

  “How hard could it be?”

  She shrugged a little and said, “If you want to. Tillie says she wants some juice.”

  I got up and found some apple juice in the fridge. Two sippy cups were on the counter next to it. I filled them up and brought them back. “You must be Tillie,” I said to the little girl, who smiled shyly. “Nice to meet you.”

  The little girl happily
took the sippy cup and babbled something back.

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be chasing that girl you were talking to?” Ember asked with an amused smile.

  I sent her a sly look. “What? Why be with one when I’ve got three right here?” She tried and failed to hide her smile. “So, where are your parents? Shouldn’t they be taking care of the kids?”

  Ember merely looked down at the toddler in her arms. Molly was smiling around her sippy cup. “They aren’t what you would call involved parents. My dad’s at the bar, and who knows where my mom is.”

  “Don’t you have school or a job?” I asked.

  “I’m an EMT, but I only work three times a week, so I take care of the babies on my day off.”

  “I thought this was only university housing?”

  “Technically, it is, but I’ll keep a secret if you can. I don’t think the twins will rat us out.”

  I could only stare down at Tillie who’d taken a seat next to me, momentarily shaken, when I realized she was staring up at me as she sucked back her juice. She blinked owlishly, and her throaty little grunts made me smile.

  “You’re pretty good with her,” Ember said.

  “The ladies love me,” I cooed to Tillie.

  “Whatever you say, hotshot.”

  “What’s up with the hotshot?”

  “You play ball, don’t you?” She nodded toward the hoodie wrapped around my waist. “I’ve gotten used to reading people. You seem like the cocky sports type.”

  “I can’t argue with that. I’m a pitcher.”

  “Naturally,” Ember said, lifting Molly onto her lap for a cuddle. She pulled out baby wipes from a basket under the coffee table and began wiping Molly’s sticky hands.

  Tillie was already fighting sleep again as I picked her up to do the same. I copied Ember as she patted Molly on the back. Both girls fussed a little, and Ember showed me to her room, which she shared with the twins. She put Molly down in one of the cribs and then Tillie in the other.

  “So, your parents live here with you?” I asked as the twins settled into a deep sleep. They were kinda cute when they weren’t screaming.

  “For the most part. They’re rarely here. This used to be my place, but they got kicked out of theirs, and then mom got pregnant. I couldn’t exactly leave them on the street.” The red tinge of shame colored her cheeks, but I didn’t judge her for that.

  Ember pulled the door closed on the sleeping girls, and we were alone in the hallway.

  The silence closed in around us, and my heart began to thud in my chest. I’d followed her because I couldn’t not, but now that I had her alone, I couldn’t quite find any words. It was a first—being awkward around a woman.

  She raised a hand before I could get them out. “Don’t,” she said warningly.

  “Don’t what?”

  “You’re going to ask me out—and you’re cute and everything—but I’m in no place to have a boyfriend. I just started my job at the station, and I’ve got the twins and my parents. I’m sorry, but I’m not looking for a relationship right now.”

  I nodded and tried to hide how crestfallen I was. Which didn't make sense. We had just met, and I wasn't looking to get tied down either.

  “I understand, but I should get going,” I said and made to move toward the front door.

  She stopped me with a hand on my arm. “I could use a friend though,” she said.

  Chapter Three

  Ember

  “Ember! EMBER! EMBER!”

  I struggled to consciousness, slowly at first, and then all at once, snapping awake and jerking to a sitting position. There was a moment where I wasn’t sure where I was. Sometimes it was like that at the station when we got a call and I couldn’t remember if I was still at home or not. Then my eyes focused on the twins, who’d fallen asleep on my bed again, and I relaxed.

  Molly slept with her mouth slightly open to my left. Tillie was curled into a protective ball on my right. We must have fallen asleep watching TV after I had nagged them through our nighttime routine.

  There are plenty of college-aged girls who would have resented having to take care of their sisters. I’ll admit I’m not perfect, but who could resent such innocent faces? It wasn’t their fault they were born to such irresponsible people. They didn’t deserve to be punished for my parents’ mistakes.

  Sure, it was hard giving up most of my free time to care for them. I essentially became a teenage parent at seventeen and have been responsible for them ever since, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. They were the lights of my life.

  “EMBER!”

  My mother’s hoarse shout sounded as though she was screaming right in my ear, thanks to the thin walls of the apartment. I scrambled from the bed, careful not to wake the twins. Whatever my mom was screaming about couldn’t be anything good. She never paid us any attention unless she wanted something.

  I followed the sound of her smoker’s cough into the living room, frowning when I discovered her with a lit cigarette clutched in her claw.

  “You aren’t supposed to be smoking in the apartment, Mom.”

  She really shouldn’t be smoking at all. She was only thirty-nine, but she looked twenty years older. Her skin was like aged leather, and the scent of stale tobacco clung to it like a shadow. No matter how much I urged her not to smoke, there was no point. There was no explaining anything to Jill Stevens.

  “That’s the first thing you say to me when you wake up? No ‘good morning, Mom, how was your night?’” Mom snorted and puffed away on the cigarette, the cherry glowing a bright red-orange.

  “You called me for something?” I asked instead of rising to her bait. There was no point in that, either. Arguing with her only gave fuel to feed whatever was irritating her.

  I checked my watch, noting it was already six-thirty, and the twins had to be at the bus stop by seven to make it to their kindergarten class on time. As mom made discontented sounds behind me, I busied myself with pouring bowls of milk and cereal for the girls and packing their bags. She should have been doing it, of course, but in the six years the twins had been alive, I could count the number of times that she’d been proactive about their care on one hand.

  Maybe this was why Chris jumped into another woman’s bed so quickly. Was I that much of a drag? Taking care of the twins was second nature to me, but maybe it was more of a hindrance to him than I’d thought. What kind of fresh college grad wants to be saddled with two kids right off the bat?

  The train of thought distracted me, and I had made both bowls of cereal and packed the twins’ bags before I realized Mom was still speaking.

  “Maggie has two tickets, and it’s gonna be a great show. Thank you for being there for your family, sweetie.”

  I tuned back in with a quickness. “What are you talking about?”

  Six forty-five. Mom lit another cigarette, her eyes squinting in my direction. Sometimes, I thought she was the child rather than the girls. Clearly, she wanted me to react. But I simply didn’t have the time. If she got us kicked out again, I’d take the twins to my next apartment, but she wouldn’t be tagging along.

  “I said I need you to watch the twins tonight. I’ve got plans to go to a picture show.” She kicked off her house slippers and relaxed into the recliner. Her designated soap operas played on the TV through the smoke-filled room.

  “I can’t watch them tonight. You know that. I’ve got a shift.”

  We went round and round about this at least two or three times a month. Normally, I’d switch a shift with one of the other guys at the station, but there simply wasn’t enough time to do that now. She had to know on some level that her request was ridiculous.

  She blew out smoke and wrapped her tattered robe more tightly around her midsection. “Then switch shifts with someone.”

  I shook my head as I placed the bowls of cereal on the island counter. “If you’d given me more notice, I might have been able to, but it’s too late now. I’ve told you that before. You can’t jus
t ask me to watch them last minute. Someone has to work to support everyone,” I added under my breath as I headed down the hall to wake the twins.

  Mom mumbled behind me, but I tuned her out. I didn’t have time to deal with her bullshit this morning, and after being through the emotional wringer about Chris the day before, I didn’t have the patience. I’d pay for it later, but whatever.

  The twins had inched closer to each other in my absence. I paused in the doorway for a second to drink in the sight of them twisted in the sheets together, their little hands intertwined, inseparable even in sleep. It made me a little jealous, I’ll admit. They’d always have each other; they’d never be as alone as I felt.

  I was reluctant to wake them, but an alarm on my phone alerted me to the fact that we had ten minutes to get them dressed and out the door. After a gentle shake on each of their arms, their eyes began to crack open. Mirror emotions of annoyance and reluctance flared in their eyes.

  “Five more minutes,” Tillie cried and then flung an arm over her face.

  Molly, on the other hand, stood, if a bit slowly. “Can I wear my purple shirt?” she asked after a moment of hesitation.

  Despite my confrontation with Mom this morning, this simple request brought a smile to my face. The purple shirt was infamous around our house. If allowed, Molly would wear it every day of the week. I’d managed to convince her to restrict it to twice a week instead, but it had been a battle. Some kids had blankies or stuffies. Molly had her purple shirt.

  “It’s in the laundry basket on the dryer, but that means you can’t wear it again until Monday, okay?”

  Molly sighed. “Okay.”

  I shook Tillie one more time and made sure she was up—grumbling, but up. As the two of them dressed and brushed their teeth, I finished packing their bags, along with mine. After dropping them off at the bus stop, I’d head over to the station to start a twenty-four-hour shift.

  Mom was still sitting on the couch, smoking like a steam engine, but I didn’t say anything to her. If I kept harping about her smoking, she’d only do it more to needle me, and I simply didn’t have time for her crap. Especially not when my alarm sounded the five-minute warning. Besides, she’d probably complain about my not watching the girls, and I really didn’t want to go in to work with a headache already brewing.