Your Irresistible Love (The Bennett Family 1)

Sebastian nods, which fills me with all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings.

“You’re coming to a soccer game,” Logan announces.

“Oh. I thought it was off-season now, but what do I know? Who’s playing?”

Both brothers burst out laughing.

“We’re playing,” Logan offers.

“Define ‘we.’”

“Our family,” Sebastian explains.

I snort, convinced they’re humoring me. “No, you’re not.”

“You’ll see.” Logan rubs his hands together in excitement. “Let’s go.”

“But now that you’ve approved the budget, I want to make some calls and set up—”

“It’s Saturday.” Logan emphasizes the last word as if I somehow missed the point. “You’ll find that most people don’t look forward to hearing from you today. Sebastian, convince your woman to move her sweet ass off that chair and join us.”

“Oh, I can convince her in no time. One question, is sex at the office suddenly acceptable?” Sebastian inquires. I catch his gaze and we both refrain from laughing.

Logan’s face falls. “No.”

“I’ll go, I’ll go. Lucky we’re all wearing outdoor clothes.” I don’t know if they planned it this way, but they both showed up in jeans and t-shirts. My dress is appropriate for a beach, but it’s not like I will play anyway.

***

“Whose idea was the soccer thing?” I ask as we get into Sebastian’s car. There’s a beautiful sunset today, the color of juniper, with some orange thrown in for good measure.

“Alice’s,” Sebastian and Logan say in unison.

“I didn’t know she liked soccer so much,” I say.

“Sebastian and I used to play all the time when we were kids. Eventually she learned it too,” Logan says.

“That’s not how I remember it, Logan,” Sebastian says, looking at Logan in the rearview mirror.

“Well, no,” Logan admits. “Alice was a few years older than the little ones, but still closer in age to them than to Pippa, Sebastian, and me, so she wasn’t part of the older group. We told her that if she wanted in with us, she had to learn to play ball. She actually did it. She practiced in secret and surprised us all.”

“Surprised is an understatement.” Sebastian turns the wheel with a nostalgic frown. “She kicks ass. She’s even better than Logan.”

“No, she’s not,” Logan says indignantly.

“Did she or did she not kick your ass when you played against her last year?”

“That was one time,” Logan says.

“And there was the—”

“Okay, okay, she’s great at it,” Logan admits, clearly wanting to avoid more proof of Alice’s superior skills. “You’ll see, Ava.”

“Actually, I’ll have no idea. I’ve never played or watched a game. Except in high school, when I had a crush on a jock. At his games, I was more preoccupied with eyeing him than paying attention to what was happening on the field.”

“A jock?” Sebastian gives me an incredulous look, but Logan perks up.

“Don’t look so surprised. He was hot, but he didn’t know I existed. In senior year, he asked me to tutor him in chemistry. He managed to crush all my hopes in one sentence.” I shake my head at the memory. “His IQ was insultingly low. He was as dumb as jocks come.”