The Third Best Thing

by Hughes, Maya

  I wasn’t the other woman.

  Alexis was his sister!

  Finally snapping out of the temporary paralysis that had me stuck in the doorway, I crossed the room and held out my hand to Alexis, Berk’s sister. His little sister. A giddy laugh bubbled up and escaped my lips.

  “I’m Jules. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Berk said you liked my cake.”

  She looked at me like I was a complete psycho, but put down her phone and shook my hand.

  “Ah, you’re the cake girl. I wondered which one of his fuck buddies he’d gotten to do that for him.”

  Wow, she was certainly… rude.

  “Dude, Alexis, don’t be an ass. And she’s not a fuck buddy.” He cut me a sly grin. “And I paid for that cake.” The baked good smell filled the room when he lifted the lid off the container and wolfed one down. “I’ll make some coffee. These deserve coffee.” He held up another one triumphantly.

  A moment of panic shot through me at being left alone with his sister, who was fascinated by anything in the room that wasn’t me. “I’ll come help you.”

  I walked down the steps still trying to catch my breath. In the span of ten minutes, almost a year’s worth of pain and doubt had been erased. Berk didn’t have some bad news chick he banged every so often that everyone hated. He had a little sister who got into trouble who he had to rescue, and all the guys hated….

  Her being a little sister probably had something to do with it, as well as her sunshine and gumdrops personality, but she wasn’t sleeping with Berk, so that was a huge plus in my book.

  I opened the cabinets to get a couple mugs. I was jolted out of the running calculus in my brain by the rough pads of Berk’s fingertips skimming along the backs of my legs.

  “Don’t think I didn’t notice that you wore a skirt,” he breathed against the back of my neck, nipping at my shoulder. His hands were joined by the hard press of his erection through his sweatpants. “Did you wear that for me?”

  I clutched the mugs to my chest and nodded.

  “Ready for some next-level apologizing?” He dropped a kiss to the crook of my neck. The soft but insistent pressure of his lips made my stomach flip.

  A cascade of pleasure danced along my spine. The weight of his body pinned me against the counter. He inched his hands higher, giving himself a little space between our bodies to cup and squeeze my ass.

  I held onto the edge of the sink, trying to keep myself upright. “I’m always ready for you.” The words were shaky and hungry for his touch. I craved it like my next sugar high.

  “Berk, please don’t bang your girlfriend in the kitchen.” An annoyed voice broke the trance we were in.

  He jerked back and I whipped around, smoothing my skirt down to make sure I wasn’t flashing Alexis. Berk’s sister. His red-haired, looked-nothing-like-him sister. My gaze jumped between Berk and Alexis.

  With mugs of coffee poured for everyone, Berk gave the run down on what had happened last night.

  Alexis’s gaze was laser focused on the side of my face. Every time I caught her out of the corner of my eye, her unflinching gaze was on me. It was a little unnerving. Did she not like me? Was she overprotective? Had she disliked Berk’s other girlfriends? Was I his girlfriend? Had he had other girlfriends? He hadn’t corrected her when she’d called me his girlfriend!

  The questions raced through my head, whipping even faster around like a roller derby championship.

  Doors opened and closed upstairs and footsteps hammered on the floor above our heads as the rest of the house woke up.

  “You live across the street?” Alexis picked up the coffee cake muffin and poked at it like she was inspecting it for poison.

  “That crap shack across the street is what I call home.”

  “It’s way less crappy than it used to be,” Berk butted in. “I’ve helped her fix a few things.”

  Alexis scrunched her shoulders up and shot me a squinty-eyed half smile. “How adorable.” She took a bite and there was a flash as the brown sugar and cinnamon crunch hit her tongue. Her eyes widened and even though she fought warming up to me, she couldn’t beat the sugar siren.

  That was the look I lived for.

  A thud hit the stairs like someone had been thrown down each step.

  “Do I smell a Jules special delivery?” Keyton rounded the base of the stairs and tossed his duffle beside the front door.

  “Coffee cake muffins.”

  Keyton grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug, kissing the side of my face. “You’re our savior. Stale bus bagels with those tiny little pods of cream cheese weren’t going to cut it today.”

  “Could you not paw my girl?” Berk brushed him aside and tucked me in under his arm.

  “Your girl?” Alexis and I said it at the same time.

  I stared up at him.

  He broke his glare at Keyton and looked down at me. “Of course. I mean, if you want.” The uncertainty in his gaze made him even more adorable.

  “I do.” I rested my hand against his chest, the muscles bunching under my fingertips.

  Sneaking a glance to the side, I could see Alexis trying to light my hair on fire with her eyes.

  He leaned down and pressed his mouth against my ear. His breath whispered against my skin and sent shivers down my spine. “When I get back, we’re going to make this official, Frenchie.” He palmed my ass, giving it a squeeze. “But, I’ve got to go pack.”

  “I can help.”

  “Stay here and enjoy your muffins. You can keep Alexis out of trouble.” He let me go and raced back upstairs.

  Turning like I was in a horror movie, I slid back into a chair.

  “You’re Berk’s new girlfriend.” She drummed her fingers against her mug.

  “Seems that way. Are you in school too?”

  “No.” She took a sip, completely content not to speak another word to me.

  “Taking a gap year?” I added more sugar to my coffee. And cream. Okay, so it was sugar and creamer with a splash of coffee at this point.

  “No.”

  Alrighty then. “What do you think your chances are, Keyton?”

  He spun around and sloshed hot coffee on his hand. “Sonofa—”

  I hopped up and grabbed a kitchen towel and helped him dry it off. “Sorry.”

  “It’s my fault for being a dumbass; I zoned out.”

  “Thinking about the game?”

  He evaded my gaze. “Something like that. What did you ask?”

  “How’s the season going? Do you think you’ll make it to the championship again?”

  “Our chances are good. We’re solid, and after last game, Coach has the defense ready to push the other team into the parking lot once the ref blows the whistle.”

  Berk came downstairs and walked me out the front door with his backpack slung over his shoulder. The rest of the guys flowed around us and into Berk’s car.

  “If she steals anything…” LJ glared at Berk.

  “She won’t. Will you, Alexis?”

  Alexis stood with her arms crossed at the top of the steps. She rolled her eyes and inspected her nails. “No, I won’t.”

  He turned back to me and cupped my shoulders with his hands, rubbing his thumbs in circles that made me feel like I was in my own romance movie—not the one where I was the plucky sidekick doling out advice, but the one where I got the guy. The insanely hot, adorable guy who looked at me like Berk did.

  A horn blast broke the moment and Berk thumped the roof of his car.

  “You’ll watch the game?”

  “Every second.”

  “Good. I’ll miss you.” He took my chin between his thumb and finger and laid a kiss on me. This was a gasping-for-breath, forget-your-name kind of kiss that only reminded me of his promise and exactly what we’d done two nights before. “And I’m counting down the days until I’m back here. Will you wear a skirt for me again?”

  “I only have the one.”

  “I don’t care if it’s made out of toilet pap
er. I want to see those legs.”

  I laughed against his lips.

  With one more planted kiss, he let me go and jogged around to the front of his car.

  “Bye, Jules.”

  “Bye, Jules,” LJ and Keyton chorused through their open windows.

  Waving to the car as they pulled away, I crossed my arms over my chest. Now my bare legs felt a lot more naked without Berk there. Maybe Alexis and I could hang out.

  I turned and the door slammed before I could even take a step in that direction, so I headed home.

  Sitting at my desk, I grabbed some stationery I hadn’t touched in months. Careful not to pull the color I’d used with Berk, I wrote out a message to Alexis.

  Dear Alexis,

  I’m so glad we were finally able to meet. Sorry for waking you up this morning! I know how much I hate it when a random person just barges into the room where I’m sleeping with a box of coffee cake muffins and stares. That was my attempt at a joke, sorry again.

  If you’re going to be around for a while, I’d love to meet up sometime. Or I could make you a cupcake version of the cake I made for your birthday. I was so happy to hear you liked it. I’ll stop now, but here’s my phone number if you ever want to hang out. I’d like to do something special for Berk this semester with all the craziness going on with football, so if you have any ideas, let me know!

  Jules

  Sealing it up, I darted back across the street, hoping she’d answer the door.

  Alexis opened the door and immediately crossed her arms.

  “I wanted to give this to you.” I held out the note to her and kept my smile as relaxed as I could.

  She stared at it with an eyebrow raised. “Is it an invitation to your eighth birthday party or something? Who writes letters anymore?”

  I swallowed, my throat tight like I was standing in front of a judge. I wanted Alexis to like me. She mattered to Berk and was obviously an important person in his life.

  “There are a few things I wanted to say and I thought it would be easier this way.”

  She plucked the envelope from my fingers and closed the door before I could say another word.

  Well, that could’ve gone better.

  27

  Berk

  The temperature had dropped so quickly, the rain felt like needles shooting straight through the face mask of my helmet. Our breath hung in clouds in front of our faces at the final line of scrimmage.

  Austin shouted out the call and back went the snap. The play was over in seconds. We were already up by ten, but now it was officially over.

  We raced down the tunnel, sweat, grass, and mud caked onto us.

  “Who invited the freaking hurricane to the game?” Austin shook out his hair like a dog, splattering me.

  “Keep that up and next game, I open a pocket for the defense to take your ass out.”

  He held up his hands in surrender.

  “How’s your arm?”

  He rotated it and held onto his shoulder pad. “Feels good. Perfect. I could finally open up out there because someone gave me the breathing room I needed.”

  Guilt still blindsided me that I’d never noticed how much Nix’s arm was killing him. It had been painful enough that he’d made the choice not to go pro. I’d seen him take a few hits and get drilled into the ground more than once, usually when I was hit by three guys gunning for me, but he always got up.

  “Hell, yeah!” LJ rushed up and jumped on me, nearly knocking me to the ground, his uniform just as muddy and wet as everyone else’s.

  “Nice touchdown.”

  “At least I’ve got something coaches can look at for this season.” His grin barely fit on his face. “Marisa was probably freaking out at home.” He got a far off look in his eye.

  “And then she’d bust your balls about not doing it sooner.”

  LJ nodded. “True, she would. But that’s our thing.”

  “We’ve noticed,” Keyton popped in to add that right along with me.

  Everyone showered up after Coach’s post-game talk that was less fire-and-brimstone and more fiery poker.

  In my room, I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling and thinking of only one thing. Jules. She’d worn a skirt. I wanted another taste of her. I wanted those soft and supple legs wrapped around my waist.

  How running my hands along her skin made my heart race like I was going for the world record in the hundred-yard dash.

  How she looked at me and saw so much of me I never let anyone else see.

  How with my arms wrapped around her, I felt safe, and the closest I’d ever come to having a home.

  She was the most beautiful thing in the world to me and it scared me more than losing the next game or not making the draft. Because I’d never had anything as beautiful as her in my life. And that made it so much harder. It would end; it always did. She’d see something in me that showed her I was a fucked-up kid who didn’t know how to do this adult thing, and she’d find a guy who did and said all the right things all the time and could give her exactly what she needed.

  The engagement party had been fun, but I’d never felt completely comfortable, always worried I’d do something to embarrass her. It wasn’t something Jules liked now, but what about later, once she was over her college rebellious phase?

  Would I be the odd man out without their private school upbringings and trust funds to fall back on? Where we’d come from was so different. She was first class and I was steerage all the way—hell, I was the guy shoveling coal into the furnace with barely a possession to my name. What would happen when she finally realized that?

  My phone buzzed beside me.

  JULES: Great game. Sorry if you’re already asleep or out partying or something.

  Her sweetness distilled into a single text. I called her back before I finished reading the message.

  “Are you out partying?” she asked.

  “Only if you consider a batch of caramel crunch cookies and my textbooks a party.”

  “With you, that’s definitely a party.”

  “Studying hard?”

  “Not as hard as I should. I’m going to work out a little bit to get the knots out of my shoulders.”

  “We can work out together when I get back. I’m sure you’re a much better gym buddy than Keyton.” Jules being all hot and sweaty before we got hot and sweaty made my roomy sweatpants feel like a damn speedo.

  “I don’t usually go to the gym. It’s strictly the pole.”

  “Why would you say that to me when I’m a couple hundred miles away? Now all I’m thinking of is you in those boy shorts with your thighs wrapped around that pole, spinning around.”

  “I never should’ve told you.”

  “No, you should’ve told me earlier. All this time you were keeping secrets from me. Promise me there aren’t any more.”

  Her side of the line went so quiet, I checked to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.

  “No more.”

  “Good. If you’d told me you were also moonlighting as a go-go dancer, I’d be in a taxi back home right now.”

  She half-laughed and half-yawned.

  “Long day?”

  “B&B was crazy. People love watching other people bake. And now I’m the new recipe writer. Apparently, people also like watching me write out the ingredients lists and they turn that into a graphic that flashes up on the screen, so that’s been added to my list of duties.”

  “I’m sure you’ve got perfect swirly girl penmanship.”

  “It’s nothing special.” The words came out stilted. Of course she wouldn’t think it was anything special. It was probably the most perfect handwriting known to man. Like TLG. Her handwriting had always been so neat. Never a crooked line or crossed-out misspelling.

  “We’re recording again tomorrow at three.”

  “The bus is back on campus at two. I can meet you there.”

  “You don’t have to do that.” She powered through another yawn. “It’s a long bus ride back.”


  “Once again, Frenchie, I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. And I want to see you.”

  “Okay. I want to see you too.” The sleepy droop to her words made me want to pull the covers up and over her, running my fingers through her hair as she slept.

  “I won’t keep you up. Rest up and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  * * *

  I peeled out of the stadium parking lot, barely giving LJ and Keyton enough time to close their doors.

  “Have you placed bets against our team or something this season? You trying to take me out?” Keyton clicked his seatbelt in.

  “I’m in a hurry.”

  “Why? Did Alexis do something to the house? Is Marisa okay?” LJ leaned forward, grabbing onto the headrest of my seat.

  I turned, glaring at him. “Jules is filming another one of her videos at B&B and I want to be there to support her.”

  “Oh.” LJ sat back.

  I barely came to a complete stop before I ejected both of them.

  With seconds to spare, I jumped out at B&B and popped back to where they were filming.

  Jules’ face lit up. Every light in the place was trained on her, and her eyes glittered with a happiness that made me want to drag her across the table, swipe the baking supplies to the side, and kiss her like she deserved to be kissed.

  “Everyone in the comments wants to know why Jules looks like Santa just showed up with a huge sack full of presents.” Max manned her station at her laptop behind the scenes. “And now they want to see the hottie.”

  “How’d they know he’s hot?” Jules called out.

  “I might’ve been a bit overly descriptive in my appreciation of his male form.” An incoming kitchen towel shower rained down over her.

  “Max!”

  “We’re going for more views, right?” She shrugged and licked the icing off her fingers.

  “You might as well go up there before they beat down the door.”

  “Seriously?” I stared at the lights and cameras. Without my uniform and helmet it wasn’t my normal comfort zone.

  “Come on up, Berk. You can do some heavy whipping for us and get those view spikes.” Avery waved me over.