Friends with Benefits - Nicole Blanchard Page 0,70

with me.”

“Is that a rule?” I asked with a smile.

He kissed me. “That’s the only rule.”

Epilogue

Ember

Three Years Later

They won.

I couldn’t believe it.

I’d never seen a real-life demonstration of the phrase, “the crowd went wild,” until that moment. Cheers erupted so loudly that it made my head ring. Popcorn was tossed into the air like confetti. Sprays of soda and beer poured down like droplets of rain, soaking my navy and gold Florida Falcon’s jersey with the name WILDER embroidered carefully between my shoulder blades.

Tillie and Molly jumped up and down beside me. They were older now and understood more of the game, but they were mostly excited because everyone else was.

“He did it!” Tillie shouted. “Tripp won!”

“Can we go see him?” Molly asked. “We should tell him congratulations.”

I thought about saying no, that it might be too crowded to navigate down to the field, but Layla motioned for me and said, “Go for it. Everyone else is.” Dash was by her side, clean-cut in a pair of slacks and a partially unbuttoned collared shirt, uncaring that he was covered in beer and greasy popcorn.

“Get your man,” Charlie shouted, then whooped. Liam scooped her into a crushing hug and spun her around.

They were right, of course. I should go get my man.

“We want to go,” Molly said.

“Yeah, he’s ours, too.”

I couldn’t refute that. From the moment he’d moved in with us, they’d staked a claim as good as my own. Sometimes, even better. To say they had him wrapped around their little fingers was an understatement. He was a slave to those girls. I loved him a little more every time I saw them together playing tea, or playing with our new Boston Terrier, Frank, or the three of them all piled up on the couch passed out after a long day of playing on the Slip ’N Slide in the tiny patch of grass in our fenced in backyard.

Each girl grabbed hold of one of my hands, and I hollered above the din for them to stay behind me. Like I did when I got to a particularly crowded scene at work, I barreled through the crush of people like I was a two-ton elephant instead of a 5’6” woman. The girls pressed close to my back, and I kept a stranglehold on their little hands.

We made it to the railing where fans were simply jumping off straight onto the field and flooding around the players near the home plate. I paused for a moment, considering, then decided, what the hell. You only live once. Picking my way to an empty section at the railing, I scoured around me for the perfect spot where the girls and I could access the field without breaking our legs from the significant drop to the grass.

Fortunately, a compassionate person had somehow gotten a gate open with access, and I made a beeline for it before we could get swamped with more people. Once on the field, the girls and I made a break for it, sprinting along with dozens of others toward the diamond. The players stood out in a mass of navy, several being thrown up on shoulders and toted around. Camera flashes damn near blinded me, but I didn’t lose focus. I had eyes only for Tripp.

The crowd began to part when I was within a few feet, and Tripp appeared on its edge. I don’t know if it was the sudden chill around the stadium or a sense of foreboding, but I slowed to a walk as I came closer. His teammates ringed around him in a half-circle. The hell?

Tillie and Molly were giggling and ran to Alex, who was on the opposite team. I’d asked Tripp what it was like playing against his friend once, and he had said they had a hell of a good time playing up the friendly rivalry. Off the field, they were still as thick as thieves when they weren’t working. Alex scooped up the twins, one in each hand, and smiled at a couple of blondes nearby. He loved the girls, but he also loved that they were a chick magnet. Naturally. Three years and he hadn’t changed, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My eyes went back to Tripp, who’d made it to me, finally. He hadn’t even said a word yet, and I was already near tears, dammit. “I’m so proud of you,” I choked out.

He pulled me into his arms, and I pressed my face into the humid material