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“I was just reminiscing about that time I ate beets and peed in the community pool.” I twisted my red-tipped hair.
Kieran scrunched his nose. “How old were you?”
“Seventeen.” I raised my eyebrows at Dylan. “Old enough to know better, wouldn’t you think?”
“She was in her staying-a-virgin-forever era.” Dylan turned to Kieran, sighing exasperatedly. “I tried to civilize her best I could. But there’s only so much one woman can do.”
Kieran’s lips twitched, and his blue eyes turned warm and soft. “Cut yourself some slack. Cal’s a lost cause.”
“So happy you are bonding over my shortcomings.” I made a heart sign with my fingers.
“Oh, shush.” Dylan patted my arm, a wide, toothy smile stretched across her face, eyes never wavering from her target. “You’re still atoning for your sins.”
I wondered if Row was going to show up. The restaurant had just reopened the previous day, and he was busy doing press for his London gig and inviting food critics for a last-minute meal at Descartes.
“Oh, by the way, you kind of have to finish your 10K now.” Dylan elbowed my side, back up on her feet. Why wasn’t she sitting down? But I already knew the answer to that question. Kieran. And his smoldering looks. And his big, adoring smiles.
Row was wrong.
Kieran didn’t want me.
He wanted Dylan.
I didn’t know what to make of it. Dylan was pregnant and in a relationship with another man. And Kieran? He was one of the most famed, worshiped men on planet Earth. He was ridiculously photogenic. A filthy rich jock whose life was so private nobody really knew who or what he was. And…hadn’t his last girlfriend been a Victoria’s Secret model? What would a relationship between them even look like?
“You’re running the 10K for Kiddies?” Kieran turned to look at me, finishing his last kofta in one bite.
“Planning to.” I gathered my hair into a messy bun. “It was kind of my dad’s last wish.”
“Mine too.” Dylan raised her hand in the air, like she was in class. “Now that I placed a bet that you would complete it and be one of the first ten to finish, you can’t let me down. There’s nothing I hate more than losing.” She paused to think about it. “Other than a bikini wax. I loathe bikini waxes. No man is worth that kind of pain.”
“Me too,” Kieran volunteered. “It’s the worst.”
“You get waxed down under?” Dylan’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
He nodded. “Helps with the running. Most soccer players shave, but I’d hate giving my lady friends third-degree carpet burns when we hit the sack just because I’m scared of getting my crotch hair plucked.”
Dylan pressed a hand to her heart. “And they say romance is dead.”
“If it is, I’ll gladly resurrect it.” Kieran flashed a winning smirk.
“Whoa. Hey. Back up now.” I snapped my fingers, waving a hand in Dylan’s face. “Who did you bet with about me? And why?”
If she said Row, I would have such a great excuse to touch him when I punched his face.
“The girls from your high school track team.” Dylan braced the back of her chair to support her weight. My stomach lurched painfully. Of course. She had no idea they were the ones who had broken my ankle. She only knew I hated Allison. “Becky stopped by with some undercover churros the other day. I told her you were in town and doing the run. She bet me a Benjamin you wouldn’t finish.”
I bet you a Benjamin she is the one who has trouble finishing, judging by how bitter she sounds.
“Is she still with Derek Sutter?” He was a douche and a half, who had body-shamed girls and belittled them on the reg while we were in high school.
“Yup.” Dylan nodded. “He’s good friends with Tuck, actually.”
“You don’t say.” My eyes roved the square, hunting for Dylan’s brother. “I’ll complete the run, and you will get your Benjamin.”
“Good. Because they’re all going to be there.”
“They’re running too?” I was about to faint.
