Chapter 2
“Madison spent the night at your place?” Ian gasped. “Everleigh is gonna kill you. You know she is off limits!”
“Fuck off. Nothing happened. She was drunk, passed out in my car, and I didn’t know where she lived. I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“You didn’t do anything inappropriate, did you?” Ian asked suspiciously.
Anger bubbled up in his stomach at the insinuation. “What the fuck does that mean? You think I’d take advantage of a girl who’s drunk off her ass?”
Ian blinked, seemingly realizing what he had just said. He lifted his hands in surrender. “No. Sorry, man, didn’t mean it that way.”
“I put her to bed. Only thing I had to do was take off her top because she had puked a little on it. And on me. She doesn’t have the greatest aim without her glasses, apparently. But I had the lights switched off and didn’t glance, OK?”
“Of course. Sorry. It’s a reflex, I guess.”
Ian was a cop. A good cop, well on his way to being promoted to detective within the next year or so. His girlfriend, Violet, was probably gonna be disappointed once they wouldn’t be able to cosplay with his police officer uniform anymore, but the increase in pay and the safety of a mostly desk job had their appeal as well, according to her. They were hoping to buy a house within the next three years and leave the city for the suburbs.
And now his best friend was going to be a dad. Jesus, why did everyone had to go and adult their way into life?
Earbuds in place, they stepped onto the treadmills, and Ben welcomed the usual loud electric guitar shrilling in his ears. Nothing like AC/DC when you ran.
One of the gym’s walls was made of glass and allowed customers to look down on the street when they would run and, as usual, it filled him with a weird sense of peace.
He loved New York.
The noise, the craziness, the people, the beat he could feel underneath each of his steps. He was living his best life here. He had a bunch of friends, a great job, a fantastic place, and the girls were everywhere.
And God knew he loved girls. Always had, always will. All styles, too, but the dirtier, the better.
Usually, the innocent and cutesy ones were not high on his priority list. They were still there - obviously - because, as established, he liked all women. It would be cruel on his part to discriminate between them. All had a chance to try the Ackerman’s banging style.
Except for one cute brunette who had definitely slept in his bed, but without him.
A first in his life.
Sure hope it’s gonna be a last, too.
It wasn’t so much that he was mad to have been kicked out of his own bedroom - although the fact that his mattress was memory foam, and therefore heaven on earth, meant he didn’t have the greatest night of sleep.
It had bothered him, somehow, when he had realized he didn’t even know where she lived. He had never really paid attention to her. She was at least five years younger than him and when he had met her, she was working as an intern at Everleigh’s company. Both girls were bright as hell, almost scarily so. Whenever they’d get into a serious conversation, everyone around them would tune out and just let them be.
Well, everyone except for Chris, who would usually gaze at Everleigh with enamored eyes. The more she talked nerdy, the more he seemed to fall for her. Poor dude had been gone for her since high school. It was no surprise he had jumped at the chance to be her baby daddy when she had started to look for a sperm donor. Hopefully, that would bring them closer and force the two idiots to acknowledge they’ve been in love for thirteen long, painful years.
Ben had never been in love himself, so it was a little hard to understand how two people could be so smitten with each other, for over a decade, and… do nothing about it. Denial played a part, for sure. Fear as well, especially on Everleigh’s side.
Still. He liked to think that, if by some miracle, he found someone he loved as deeply as Chris loved Everleigh, he’d grow a pair and work his ass off for his happily-ever-after.
Not that there was a chance in hell for it to happen. Being in love meant being in a serious, committed, long-lasting relationship. He loved his freedom a little too much. He also didn’t think he was a particular catch in the long-term. Some men weren’t built to be partners. His father hadn’t been. And unfortunately, he had inherited that from him.
What he hadn’t inherited from his father was his knight-in-shining-armor persona.
No. That he had gotten from his mom.
Which was probably why he was having a hard time getting Madison out of his head this morning. After dropping her off at her place, he had headed straight to the gym to meet up with Ian. And even though there was nothing like working out to clear his head, he was having a hard time getting her out of his mind.
Probably because he didn’t know her that well and, yes, it had been a little weird having her in his apartment.
By the time he was done sorting his thoughts, he was a sweaty mess, had run almost three miles, and had caught the eye of a hot as hell blond chick. She had her hair up in a ponytail, legs that went on and on, and was only wearing a sports bra, showing off an impressive set of abs. He gave her a grin to test the waters while he shut down his treadmill, and she replied with a little gleam in her eyes. He usually didn’t hit on women in the gym, because he figured they were there to work out, like him. But whenever he could see a clear invitation, there was no harm in asking if they’d be interested in a cold-pressed juice, right?
Ian snorted as he stopped his own treadmill and quickly glanced at the woman. “Seriously?”
“You know I’m all about the ladies,” Ben murmured, taking a sip of water. “Quick, tell me. Do I stink?”
“I dunno. I don’t think so,” Ian said with a frown as he wiped the sweat from his face with a towel.
“Well, smell me.”
“What the fuck? I’m not smelling your stinky ass!”
“Dude, first of all, I wasn’t expecting you to squat and take a sniff of my butt, that would have looked weird. And second of all, fuck it, I guess you answered my question.”
“Ben, we’re at the gym. She saw you run like crazy, I doubt she minds. Violet loves it when I get sweaty.”
Ben frowned, throwing him a little glance. “Really?”
“Yeah. She says it makes me all beasty,” Ian gloated.
“She’s like 3’2’’ and you’re like 9 feet, how much more beasty can you be compared to her?”
“She’s 5’7”. I’m 6’3”, but I know you’re vertically challenged so I might seem like a giant to you.”
Straightening his shoulders, Ben rested his hands on his hips. “I’m more than 6 feet, fucker, and I reach 6’1” easy-peasy when it’s rainy.”
“When it’s… what?”
“My hair is thick and gets a little frizzy when it’s humid. I gain a few millimeters. It’s thanks to my-”
“I swear to God if you mention your Italian roots…”
“Dude, it’s not like it’s my fault if I’m classically dashing!” Ben rolled his eyes then threw his towel at Ian, his attention back on the athletic blonde. “I’m about to see if she’s into bestiality.”
“Bestiality is… something else entirely.”
“Shut up.”