After I got the little monster calmed down, I simply told Ryker that I’d be upstairs with the kids and carried Ben up so we could all play the rest of the evening. I didn’t look back at Zack.

That doesn’t mean that I didn’t take a very quick peek when he first walked into the house. How could I not? He’s larger than life and still is and always will be the most magnificent-looking man I’ll ever behold. Just a two-second glance and I caught the slightly longer hair, dark washed jeans, and a fitted charcoal-gray T-shirt. I also caught the tanned and muscled arms and the way his thighs filled out the legs of the jeans perfectly. Most of all, I saw his anxious eyes as they roved over my face, trying to determine if he had destroyed me.

He was worried and that was sweet, but then I saw no more because my arms were full of Ben.

When I hit the bottom of the staircase, I immediately lock eyes with Ryker, who is sitting in his recliner, and I crook my finger at him. He gets up, crosses quickly in front of the TV so as not to block the view from the other guys, and walks up to me.

“The kids are all asleep. I put Ben in the room across from me.”

He nods. “Gotcha. Do you want to watch the rest of the game with us? The third period just started.”

“No, thanks,” I say with a smile as I finally let my gaze flick past his shoulder. Zack is on one end of the couch, casually reclined back, with an ankle propped up on the opposite leg. He doesn’t look at me, eyes intent on the hockey action. There are two other guys in the room, one on the opposite end of the couch from Zack and the other on the loveseat. I don’t know either of them.

“Well…okay, I’ll see you in the morning,” Ryker says, and turns away from me.

“Sure thing,” I say, and then without another glance to the occupants of the living room, I trot back upstairs again.

Ryker’s house is actually very similar to Zack’s in size and features. Just like Zack’s house, one of the upstairs guest rooms has its own en suite bathroom, which is really nice. Gives me extra privacy. Unlike Zack’s, however, the basement isn’t finished, thus the reason the guys are all in the living room watching the TV. No man cave available.

Once in my room, I gather some panties, a pair of sweatpants, and an old T-shirt out of my drawer. I leave my bedroom door open slightly so I can hear the kids and then walk into my bathroom to take a quick shower.

Sadly, there will be no hidden snakes or spiders here. Violet and Ruby would never do such a thing, and that makes me miss Ben all the more. Makes me also miss the way Zack would find it hilarious the way they would scare me. That first spider planted in my shower was one of the first times I had heard a genuine laugh from Zack.

I do a quick dry of my hair after showering and don my clothing. I would normally be in my pajamas by now, but just in case Ben wakes up, I want to be able to move without the worry of running into one of Ryker’s guests in anything other than full clothing.

Sometimes I can hear the guys downstairs when they don’t like a particular play. There are shouts and curses, and then Zack says, “Shh. Kids are sleeping.” Then they’re all quiet for a while…until the next play that has them shouting out.

Men.

I let myself get lost in a book. It’s the easiest way for me to keep my mind off the fantastically gorgeous heartbreaker sitting downstairs. I’ve found over the last few weeks that keeping myself busy is the best medicine for my particular ailment. It’s only in moments when I have nothing to do that I start thinking about Zack. About how closed off he used to be and how he actually didn’t like me at first. I think about how he started to smile more and became comfortable with me. And then the attraction…and the forbidden looks and touches, and then when he finally crossed all boundaries and had sex with me.

It’s a lot to think about, difficult to process, and, unfortunately, makes me sad I don’t have any of it anymore.

The sound of heavy footsteps—more than one set—coming up the stairs manages to draw my mind away from the book I’m holding. By the murmuring of voices, I know it’s Ryker and Zack coming up to get Ben. I don’t want to see him, so I jump out of my bed, scurry to my door, and shut it quickly but quietly before they reach the end of the hall where I’m located.

My heart racing, I sit there a minute, listening as Ryker and Zack go into the room opposite mine.

Zack murmurs gently, “Come on, buddy. Time to head home.”

Oh, how I miss that tender voice of Zack’s that is reserved only for his son. I hadn’t realized how much I loved it until I just heard it again.

I push away from the door, not wanting to hear anything else. Crawling back in bed, I pick the book up and start reading again. The faint murmurs outside my door finally recede and I’m completely alone again.

Not two minutes later, however, there is a light knock on my door and Ryker calls out, “Kate…you still up?”

“Yeah,” I say as I put my book on the mattress and swing my legs out of bed to stand up. “Come on in.”

Ryker walks in carrying a large square but thin package wrapped in brown paper in his hand. I eye it with interest. “What’s that?”

He hands it to me, and when I take it, I’m surprised that it’s slightly on the heavy side.

“It’s for you,” he says neutrally. “Zack brought it and wanted me to give it to you after he left.”

I swallow hard, my throat starting to tighten and my stomach clenching. My eyes cut from the package to Ryker. “Do you know what it is?”