Wright with Benefits

I could hear the threat in his voice and wanted to punch him in the face. I clenched my hands into fists. Tried to remember all the reasons not to deck this guy as he’d all but said he was gunning for Annie.

“Jordan, let’s go get a drink,” Annie said. She stepped between us, putting her hand on my arm, as if she could tell that I was about to blow my top. She smiled at Chase. “Need anything? We can get it.”

“I’m good,” Chase said and then left for the living room.

Annie dragged me into the kitchen and away from the rest of the party. Thankfully, the kitchen had cleared out. The game was about to start, and everyone wanted to watch kickoff. I had a ticket for how far kickoff went, but I couldn’t seem to care.

“All right,” she said, opening the fridge and looking through the choices. “What are you drinking? Shiner Bock? I don’t know if I’m up for beer.”

“Annie,” I said carefully.

She pulled out a wine cooler with a shrug and then smiled up at me. “You look mad,” she said, deflating.

“I’m not mad.” Yes, I was. “I’m trying to figure out what happened.”

“Chase is a really old friend.”

“Ashleigh mentioned a pact?”

She sighed. “Ashleigh should mind her own business.”

“Is she wrong?”

“No,” Annie said as she popped the top on her drink. “But Chase and I aren’t like that anymore. We’re just friends.”

“We’ve been telling everyone that we’re just friends, too, Annie.”

She cringed. “That’s not what I meant. We dated in high school. That pact was just…” She trailed off and waved her hand. “Anyway, he only wanted to talk because he’s dating someone serious. He wanted to tell me in person and show me the ring.”

I released a breath, unclenching my hands. “You could have led with that.”

She laughed and leaned into me. “And miss watching you sweat?”

“Cruel and unusual punishment, love.”

“Even if he wasn’t, you don’t have anything to worry about, Jordan. Didn’t you hear what he said when he came in?”

“What was that?”

“That you’re my…boyfriend,” she said the last word softly, looking down.

I paused. “I thought he was fucking with me.”

She met my gaze. “He wasn’t.”

“Am I…your boyfriend?”

She bit her lip. “Do you want to be?”

“I don’t want to be if you’re only doing it because your ex showed up.”

“That’s not why,” she said in exasperation.

“You drew the line in the sand.”

“And I’m the one crossing it,” she said and then pressed her lips to mine.

I pulled her tight against me. She tasted like home, and I didn’t want to fucking let her go. If seeing her ex was the way that she’d realized we were finally dating, I guessed I’d take that.

My hand slipped lower to the hem of her skirt and then ran up her leg. I pressed her back into the kitchen counter. She made a breathy sound of protest but kept kissing me. I wanted to go further, heft her up onto the granite countertop, hike her skirt up, and take her right here.

Just as I considered how to do that fast enough so we wouldn’t be interrupted, a throat cleared behind us. We pulled apart, and I found Emery standing in the entrance.

“The game started,” she said with a gleam in her eye.

“Thanks,” Annie said breathlessly. “We’ll be right there.”

Emery nodded, grabbing a water out of the fridge and disappearing again.

Annie tilted her head back and laughed. “Whoops.”

“I have no regrets.”

“Me either,” she said, pressing a kiss to my lips again. “But we should probably go.”

“Yeah, I need to see if I won any of these.” I dug the tickets out of my pocket.

Annie laughed and grabbed a few of them, reading them to herself. “Oh, perfect! I want the jackpot!”

I grinned at her as she headed back toward the living room. But then I snagged her before she walked through the doorway.

“What?” she asked, looking up from the tickets.

“If I’m your boyfriend now,” I said carefully, “can I make a request of you?”

She arched an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

“I want to go to Seattle with you.”

She startled. “For my interview?”

“Yeah. A lot of my friends live in Seattle, and I haven’t seen most of them in a few years. Plus, I wouldn’t mind getting away with my girl.”

She melted. “With your girl?”

“Yeah. What do you think? We could go early and see the city.”

“Well, I already have my ticket and room. I don’t think that I could get it moved,” she said, worry coming to her voice.

“Why don’t you let me take care of all of that?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why does that concern me?”

“Come on. You’ve always wanted to see Seattle. Let me show you.”

She wavered for a second before nodding. “I’d love that.”

Part IV

The Boyfriend

24

Annie

Jordan had promised to “take care” of everything for this trip to Seattle. In fact, he’d told me to cancel my flight and the hotel I’d booked near Harborview Medical Center. The hospital was near downtown Seattle and the site of the University of Washington’s emergency medicine residency program. I wasn’t exactly sad about the hotel. It was the cheapest option that I could find in the area that wasn’t a total dump. But still, I’d chosen it, and I didn’t know what Jordan would choose.