“Sure thing.”

~ ~ ~

Kate and I arrive at Murphy’s place fifteen minutes earlier than I told Brady to show up. I didn’t want him getting here before me and hitting on her. Even though I was quite clear about this being strictly platonic, I don’t doubt he’d try to see if he could push the boundaries. I mean, it’s Murphy. She’s gorgeous.

Murphy opens the door and incredible smells assault us from inside. I’ve never had chicken piccata before, and I wasn’t about to tell her I didn’t know what the hell it was. But whatever it is, it smells heavenly.

“Kate, this is my friend, Murphy.”

Murphy smiles at Kate, offering her hand. “Hi, Kate. Come on in.” She looks beyond us into the hallway. “Brady’s not with you?”

I’m not sure if she looks disappointed or relieved.

“He’ll be here in a few minutes,” I tell her. “We came separately.”

She shrugs. “Oh, okay.”

“Where should I put these?” I show her the two bottles of wine I brought.

She takes one from me, examining the label before she scolds me with her eyes. Yes, I spent a lot on the wine. It was the least I could do.

“Thanks,” she says, more for Kate’s benefit than mine. “You can put them on the kitchen counter. Go ahead and open one if you want.”

“Do we need to pass the bottle, or does Trick own wine glasses?” I ask.

Murphy’s laugh is a soft melodic giggle that resonates somewhere deep inside me. She has a great laugh.

“We’ve got glasses,” she says. “They might not all match, but we have plenty of them.”

“It smells great in here,” Kate says, taking a deep whiff of the aromas. “Can I help you with anything, Murphy?”

“No, but thanks for asking. Dinner is being kept warm in the oven and I’ve just finished with the canapés.”

“Cana-whats?” Kate asks.

“Canapés,” Murphy says. “They’re appetizers. Finger foods to tide us over until dinner.”

“Oh. Sounds great,” Kate says.

“Go ahead and have a seat,” Murphy tells her. “I’ll go get them and Caden can open the wine.”

I follow Murphy into the kitchen. “Before I forget, I hope you’re free tomorrow, because a bunch of us are going to Mason’s game.”

“A bunch?”

“Lexi and Kyle, Chad and Mallory, and Piper will be there, obviously.”

She thinks about it and nods. “Yeah. Sounds fun.” She touches the scar under her eye. “And not as dangerous as baseball.”

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about giving you another lesson,” I say. “I’m going to make you a baseball lover yet.”

She laughs, stretching her head around the corner to peek at my date in the living room. “Kate seems nice,” she whispers to me.

“I guess,” I say.

“Where did you meet her?”

“She’s my batting coach’s niece.”

“That’s nice. Did he set you two up?”

I shrug. “She’s been out with a few of my teammates before.”

Murphy pins me to the wall with her stare. “Caden,” she says in a stern whisper. “If she’s just going through your team trying to get any baseball player, you should run far and fast.”

I put a hand on her arm. “It’s not like that, Murph. She’s not a Tony. In fact, the other guys didn’t take her out a second time because she wouldn’t sleep with them. I think she’s more like the girl next door than the girl who wants to trap a ball player.”

She blows out a relieved sigh. “Good. Uh, she didn’t go out with Brady, did she? Because that would be more than a little awkward.”

“No, she didn’t go out with Brady.”

There’s a knock on the door.

I laugh. “Speak of the devil.”

“Can you get it?” she asks, picking up a tray of little bread things. “I’ll bring these.”

I introduce Kate and Murphy to Brady.

“It’s a real pleasure,” Brady says, holding Murphy’s hand far too long. I don’t miss how he appraises her like a piece of meat.

I call him over to help me with the wine glasses. “Dude, I told you, do not try and hook up with her. Don’t even try to kiss her.”

He looks around at nobody and then back at me. “What the hell did I do?”

“Are you kidding?” I ask. “You were eye-fucking her just now.”

He laughs. “Kessler, I eye-fuck everyone. Don’t you know that by now?”

I stare him down. “Don’t do it to her.”

He backs up and studies me. “Maybe we should swap dates then.”

“Don’t be stupid, Taylor.”

“Just sayin’,” he says. “You seem way more into her than the one you’re with. Mind if I eye-fuck your date then? She’s hot too. What did you say her name was again? I was too busy picturing Murphy squirming under me.”

If I didn’t know he was kidding—well, half kidding—I’d run his ass right out of Murphy’s apartment. “Just be cool, Brady.”

“I’m always cool, Kessler.”

I shove two glasses of wine into his hands thinking this could be a very long night.

Chapter Twenty-four

Murphy

Sitting in a suite watching the Giants game is a lot like sitting in a suite watching a Nighthawks game. But without the stress of seeing Caden play.

I’ve never been much into sports. Growing up in Okoboji, Iowa didn’t lend itself to it. We had one hundred and fifty students in my entire high school—not much to pick from if you wanted an award-winning football or baseball team.

Still, I find sports are kind of growing on me. Maybe it’s from working at the gym and seeing all the sports stars come and go. I glance over at Caden, who’s deep in conversation with Kyle and Chad as they discuss Mason’s last play.

“Which one are you ogling?” Lexi whispers, coming up beside me to catch me staring.

I snap my eyes to hers. “I wasn’t ogling,” I pout.

“It’s okay to ogle, you know. They’re all hot, if I do say so myself.”

I glance back at the three men. She’s right. The amount of testosterone and unbridled attractiveness there could bring any woman to her knees. Mallory’s husband, Chad, laughs loudly and I turn back to Lexi. “You could have warned me that your brother-in-law is a Hollywood A-lister.”

“A little star-struck, are we?”

I shrug. “Maybe just a little. I mean, he’s been in like ten movies, Lexi. Good movies. Movies you stand in line for on opening night. Isn’t that unreal? And here he is just laughing and watching football with the rest of us like a regular guy.”

She studies me, shaking her head. “Says the BFF of one of the hottest sports stars in New York.”

“That’s different,” I say. “And we’re not BFFs.”

“That’s up for debate,” she says. “But either way, do you go around introducing yourself as ‘the best friend of Caden Kessler of the Nighthawks’?”

I cringe. “Of course not.”

“Then why would I introduce myself as the sister-in-law of the famous Thad Stone?”

I nod. “Touché. But I think it was the name that threw me. I’d heard Mallory talk about her husband, Chad, before. I guess I didn’t realize he was the same guy.”

“Are you two talking about my husband?” Mallory asks, joining us at the bar.

“I think Murphy was a bit star-struck to find out who Chad is.”

“You wouldn’t feel that way if you had to use the bathroom after him every morning.” She waves a hand under her nose, making us laugh with her.

We’re watching the guys interact with each other when a woman comes up to them, asking not Chad, but Caden, for an autograph.

“See?” Mallory says. “I love it when that happens. The girl didn’t even notice Chad. Keeps his ego in check.”

I can’t tear my eyes away from Caden and his fan. Kyle takes a few pictures of them with the woman’s phone. Then she hugs Caden and he hugs her back. It reminds me of last night, watching Caden with Kate. They didn’t touch much, maybe a hand on an arm or an elbow to the ribs. But the fact that I noticed every little touch was surprising. And the fact that it bothered me was bothersome.

Brady was quite the gentleman for the most part—when he wasn’t staring at my chest that is. He earned more than a few kicks under the table from Caden when he was caught doing it. It was almost comical how Caden was trying to protect me from the man-whore of the western world. He must have felt bad knowing he assured me our date was platonic. I guess he thought it was his duty to uphold the ‘platonic-ness’ of it.

Caden glances over and winks at me. Then something happens. Heat creeps up my face and my heart stops beating for just a fraction of a second. That’s all it took really, just a fraction of a second to realize that what I’m feeling for him is not what one friend feels for another.

It was an innocent gesture on his part. I’m sure he winks at everyone. The fan who is now sitting back with her friends on the other side of the suite—did he wink at her? I think back to last night and try to remember if he winked at Kate. Surely, he must have.

A glass is shoved into my hands. Lexi laughs and says, “Looks like you need this more than I do.”

I take a drink of her beer and then turn around and focus all my energy on the game.

I concentrate on the game so my mind can’t fester over the fact that my pulse races every time I’m near him. Or the fact that when he left another hat at my place last night, I secretly wondered if he did it on purpose as I added it to my growing collection. Or the fact that seeing him with another woman last night made me jealous.

Or the fact that I’ve fallen for my best friend.