She wasn’t fine; I knew that. I could tell by the way she stared out the window the whole way home but never really focused on anything. She was avoiding eye contact with me, and I didn’t blame her one bit. What the hell had Blaire said to her before I went into the kitchen, and more importantly, what the hell was I thinking taking her over to Blaire’s house in the first place? That was the stupidest thing I had done in a long time. I’d dealt with Blaire and her bitchiness before, why did I think Kacie would be immune?

We pulled into the parking space in my garage, and Kacie picked up her purse off the floor. Just as she was about to reach for the handle, I locked the door.

She spun and looked at me, her brows pulled together, making the cutest little, confused crinkle marks appear on her forehead. “What are you doing?”

“Talk to me,” I pleaded with her.

A fake smile crossed her face and she put her hand on mine. “There’s nothing to talk about, okay?”

“Yes, there is. What did Blaire say to you before I came into the kitchen?”

Her voice was soft as she stared down at her hands. “She basically warned me about you, to stay away. Listen, Brody … I think maybe coming here this weekend was a mistake, like maybe I should just go tonight. Our lives are so different.”

“Don’t say that.” I tried arguing, but she didn’t give me a chance.

“It’s true. My typical Saturday night consists of Disney movies with the girls, maybe an ice cream sundae if we’re feeling adventurous. Tonight was … rough.” She sighed, her eyes bouncing wildly around the car as she started rambling. “But then you look at me like you do, and you kiss me like you do and I think that it’s worth the risk … that you’re worth the risk. A few shitty remarks from Blaire later and not only do I realize I really don’t know you, but now I’m back to questioning what I was already questioning-”

“Wait, wait. Hold on a minute.” I held my hands up in front of me in a desperate attempt to derail the train wreck about to happen in her brain. “First of all, you’re confusing the hell out of me. Second, this car is really fucking uncomfortable. What do you say we go upstairs, put some sweats on, open a bottle of wine and have an ‘Ask Brody Anything’ session? Nothing is off limits, okay?”

She raised a curious eyebrow. “Nothing?”

“Absolutely nothing. For you … I’m an open book.”

She warily looked at me and reached for the door handle again. This time I released the lock, hoping to God she didn’t get out and head straight for her jeep. Even if she did, I wasn’t opposed to lying on the hood to force her to talk to me.

She met me at the back of my car and used my shoulder as a crutch as she pulled one of her sexy legs up and removed her heel. I tried really hard not to drool in her hair as she did it again with the other leg. How can someone make such a simple action so damn sexy? She did that with everything, I’d noticed … making breakfast, reading to her girls, breathing. She was slowly cementing herself into my heart. I’d be damned if Blaire and her big obnoxious mouth were going to ruin any of that for me.

We walked into my condo and Diesel ran to greet us. After giving Kacie a thorough once over with his nose, he rushed over to me and whimpered pitifully.

“I’m gonna take him out before he embarrasses himself and makes a mess for me to clean. Wanna go with us?”

“Yeah,” she replied quickly. “Can I just change real quick?”

No, please leave that dress on every damn day for the rest of your life.

“Sure,” I replied as she turned and headed down the hall. “Need help?” I called out after her.

She glanced back at me and rolled her eyes, continuing down the hall.

A few minutes later, I left my room and walked to the family room. Kacie was squatted down playing with Diesel, her hair falling down around her face. She looked adorable, even just in jeans and a hoodie.

“Ready?” I asked as I grabbed his leash from the closet.

She stood, giving me that crinkle-nose grin that brings me to my knees.

“Yep, let’s go.”

The sharpness of the evening air slapped us in the face as we stepped out onto the street. Kacie hugged herself. Mid-June was pleasant in Minnesota during the day, but the nights were hit or miss. Tonight’s chilly weather gave me an excuse to put my arm around Kacie, so I wasn’t going to complain.

“Okay … ready when you are,” I said, wanting her to know that I hadn’t forgotten what I promised her in the car, because I meant it. Anything she wanted to know, I would tell her, good or bad. Some things would probably be tough to talk about, but if she wanted to know, I’d tell her.

She sighed and I thought maybe she’d changed her mind about wanting to have the conversation, but then she jumped right in. “Who’s Kendall?”

“Kendall is a friend,” I answered truthfully, without hesitation.

She eyed me for a second and then looked away. “Just a friend?”

“I’m telling the truth, I promise. We’ve been out a handful of times, but it was never more than a friend thing. We never put any label on it. I wasn’t interested.”

“Did she text you while I was here?”

Shit.

“Yes. I didn’t answer her; I didn’t even read them. I just deleted them.”

She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, gauging my honesty. “When was the last time you hung out with her?”

“Um…” I had to think about this one, my time with Kendall never really stuck out to me. “About a month ago, I think.”

Kacie bit her lip, looking at the different storefronts as we walked. I could tell she was nervous and her brain was spinning.

“Did you sleep with her?”

I didn’t want to answer this, but I promised honesty.

“Yes.”

“Here…” I motioned toward the wrought iron bench behind her. “Let’s sit for a minute and I’ll explain.” I hooked Diesel’s leash around the armrest and faced Kacie. She sat as far away as possible, her arms folded in front of her, completely closed off from me.

“Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you that all through high school and college I never really dated?”

She nodded, her beautiful green eyes staring straight ahead, digesting everything I was saying. I wanted nothing more than to pull her in my arms, relax back on this bench and just let life happen around us, but that wasn’t an option … yet.

“That was the truth. High school, college, up until now, I haven’t had a girlfriend. Someone I would take home to meet my parents, someone I would drive an hour and a half just to see her cute smile and freckles.”

She pressed her lips together tight, trying to hide her grin when she realized I was talking about her.

“I’ve never had anyone like that … but that doesn’t mean I’ve been alone all this time.”

Her eyes lost their sparkle as the color drained from her face, but I needed to continue. “Part of the territory that comes along with my job is fans, that’s also my favorite part of the job … sometimes. There’s nothing I love more than coming out of the locker room to a dozen kids waiting for me with posters and jerseys to sign. The other kind of fans are the obnoxious, overbearing women who are shoving their tits in my face asking me to sign them and begging for my phone number as I do.”