Just for the Plot

Prologue

Bennett, sixteen, steps out of the bathroom to find his older sister Gabby in a panic. She bangs on the door, worried that her friend Bower will arrive any second and catch Bennett in a towel. But he's already dressed, and he can't understand the fuss. Bower is just her friend.

The tension is about more than Bower's first visit to their new place. Gabby is twenty-four, Bennett sixteen, and they share a tiny one-bedroom apartment in Almond Bay. She pulled him out of the foster system when she turned eighteen, somehow convincing their foster parents to leave them alone. She works to pay the bills while he trains for baseball, scouted by local teams because she moved them closer to the coast for his dreams. Some months they live off leftover Olive Garden soup and stale breadsticks. It's a system that works, a system that keeps them together, and Bennett knows he owes her everything. She asks if she should vacuum again, and he groans. She wants Bower to see that they're okay. He flops onto the couch, the smell of her rare Crock-Pot chicken making his stomach ache.

Three knocks come at the door. Gabby whispers for him to be nice. He insists he would be.

A sweet, excited voice fills the apartment. Bower compliments the place, and Gabby thanks her, trailing off with "after, well, you know..." Bennett's fingers curl into the cushion. He knows what she means. After Gabby had to live in a car for a week while Bennett stayed with a friend, because her abusive boyfriend hit her in the head with a bottle. The anger still simmers in his stomach, and he has to force himself not to think about retribution.

Then Bower speaks directly to him. He looks up and is struck dumb. She is drop-dead gorgeous: long, golden blond hair tucked behind her ears, insane light green eyes under thick black lashes and eyeliner, pouty pink lips coated in gloss, a beauty mark just above the right side of her lip. He fumbles through his introduction, a mess of "nice to, uh, nice to meet you" and "thank you, I mean, you're welcome... wait, no, thank you." She smirks at him.

Gabby's alarm goes off. It's the laundry. Bennett offers to grab it, but Gabby jokes that she has underwear she doesn't need her little brother fondling. His voice cracks awkwardly in protest. She leaves them alone.

Now it's just Bennett and Bower on the couch. He takes in the rest of her: yoga pants with a low waistband showing a few inches of toned, tanned stomach, a white V-neck shirt clinging to her torso. She asks if they can chat before Gabby gets back. He leads her to the couch, near a panic attack from the scent of her perfume.

Bower explains herself. After what happened with Gabby's ex, and Gabby's habit of blowing it off as nothing, a protective instinct fell over her. She loves Gabby like a best friend, but Gabby never pauses to take care of herself, never communicates what she needs, and denies needing anything. Bennett agrees, because it's true. Bower proposes a plan: she wants his phone number so they can communicate, watch out for Gabby together, help her even when she denies the need for help.

He's stunned. No one has ever wanted to take care of his sister the way he does. Gabby has sacrificed so much for his future as a professional baseball player, and he's always planned to reverse the roles when he makes it. But having someone else want to protect her now, someone else carrying that weight, makes the heaviness in his chest feel a little lighter. He gives her his flip phone, embarrassed it's not fancy. She doesn't care, types her number in, and texts herself so she has his too. She tells him she loves his sister, that Gabby has helped her through a lot, and she wants to be there for her just as much. She points at him and makes a promise: no more situations like the ex. "Truth only."

He just met this girl, but because she's best friends with Gabby, he puts all his trust in her. He nods. "Truth only."

The texts start the next year. Bennett, seventeen, asks Bower if Gabby went into work. Bower says no, why? Bennett knew she was lying. Gabby left her work apron and cash behind. Bower says she'll casually ask where Gabby is. Then she reports back: Gabby is safe. She went to get Bennett a present, found something on the marketplace, and drove two hours to get it. Bennett is furious, not about the gift, but about her driving alone and the risk of getting hurt. Bower says she already yelled at her. Bennett demands transparency, reminding her of their promise. Bower tells him to trust her, then ultimately gives in. She assures him Gabby is good. She tries to change the subject to baseball practice. He's still mad. She tells him he can't be mad forever, especially when Gabby gives him that present.

At eighteen, Bower texts him a happy birthday. Gabby has plans for him. He asks about a guy who tipped Gabby two hundred dollars at the bar, wondering if he should be worried. Bower deflects, saying the only thing he should worry about is the gift she has for him: access to some of his teenage pictures. He pleads with her not to. Too late. She also thanks him for the tip on the shoes he helped pick out for Gabby. She told Gabby she got them for herself and they were too tight, then claimed they were a fifteen dollar discount find. Gabby bought it. Bower is super convincing.

At twenty, he's in the minor leagues. He asks if she's planning a party for Gabby, who earned her teaching degree and said she didn't want a celebration. Bower was planning one. He has an off day and can sneak home for the weekend. She's excited to see him, asks how he's been, if he's met any girls. He says things are fine. She pushes. She asks if he finally lost his virginity. He admits he lost it at seventeen. She demands to know to whom. He says someone who was extremely disappointed with his performance. She laughs, tells him no one is perfect their first time, he'll get better. He says he already is.

At twenty-two, Bennett texts Bower in shock: Coach Rowley and Gabby? WHAT THE FUCK? Did she know? She knew. She encouraged it. He's hot. Bennett protests that Rowley is his former coach. Bower doesn't care, and she hints that the sister has shared, well, details about the coach's anatomy. Bennett is horrified. Bower points out that Bennett is getting laid every two seconds in the minor leagues, so Gabby deserves some action too. He says it's not every two seconds. Then she asks about his crush. Whatever happened to that? He says nothing, she's not interested. Bower asks if he even tried, reminding him that he plays shy and innocent but they both know the truth, that's how he scores the ladies. Maybe this girl is different. Bennett says she is different, different from everyone he's ever met. Bower is ecstatic, tells him to go for it. What is he doing?

He's waiting.

For what?

For the right moment.

Chapter 1

Bennett sits in the locker room with the rest of the Bombers, hours before the game, when Nolan tosses him a wrapped breakfast burrito and drops into the recliner beside him. Nolan, the swaggering right fielder with the burst fade, curly mullet, sleeve tattoo, and friendship bracelets, unwraps his own burrito and launches into a review, declaring the thing pretty damn good and moaning over it. Bennett unwraps his and has to admit it’s a solid start to the day.

They talk about the PR assignment hanging over Bennett. The Bombers were caught stealing signs back when Bennett was still in the minors, and because he’s one of the fresh, young faces of the new era, he got picked to help salvage the team’s image. It’s not just the Bombers either: San Francisco’s football team, the Foghorns, and the new hockey team, the Rogue, are all in reputation-repair mode, so Bennett, Graydon St. John, and Oden “OC” O’Conner got plucked to boost morale. It hasn’t worked for Bennett. The zoo thing, the one he’s stuck with, isn’t reaching anyone, and he’s thinking about suggesting something else. Even the lions can’t make him feel like he’s making an impact. Nolan tells him it sounds like a bust.

Then Bennett’s phone buzzes. The sight of Bower’s name makes his heart trip all over itself. He lives for her texts, waits for them, because if he texted her first it would be every hour of the day, with messages like “Can I take you out on a date?” and “When will you see me as the man I am and not Gabby’s little brother?” She’s the only one allowed to call him Benny Boo Boo. He opens her text: she’s apartment hunting. Nolan catches his smile, that big ridiculous smile, and asks why he looks like he’s about to come in his pants. Bennett tries to brush it off as just a friend, but Nolan isn’t fooled.

The conversation continues. Bower says she might be moving. Bennett jokes that she must be moving to Almond Bay to get closer to her friend Gabby, his sister. But she corrects him: she’s moving closer to a Brinkman, just not that one. Bennett’s blood drains from his face straight to his dick. He asks if she’s moving to San Francisco. She is.

He says “Holy fuck” out loud. Nolan raises an eyebrow, and Bennett tries to play it off as his sister’s friend moving here, but then he spills it all. He tells Nolan the secret he’s been guarding forever: he’s had the biggest crush on her since he met her, no woman compares to her, she’s branded herself into his soul, and now that she’s moving here he can finally make the move he’s been waiting to make for so long it hurts. Nolan blinks, studies him, takes a bite of his burrito, and just says, “Right on, man.” That’s all. Bennett expected more, but this is Nolan, not OC.

Back to the phone. Bower tells him her boss Adalade bought a Victorian in Pac-Heights and wants to be in the city by next week, so Bower has to be in San Francisco in one day to receive the arrival of all the things. She needs a place fast. Bennett offers his couch, tries to play it cool. Then she drops the real news: she was looking at a unit in his apartment building. Would that be weird? Bennett thinks it’s the best fucking news he’s heard since being called up to the majors. He tells her it wouldn’t be weird at all, it might even be helpful. He could show her around, introduce her to people. She asks what people, and he lists them: the ones who make the coffee around the corner, the building security guys, the neighbor on floor twelve who gets the same meal delivered every night. She loves gossip, so she’s in. She’s coming into the city tomorrow to check out the apartment, and she asks if she can crash on his couch for a night. He types fast, thrilled that the team is home right now. He tells her she can stay as long as she wants.

Nolan asks if he has a boner. Bennett says no, and Nolan says, “Looks like you have a boner,” and Bennett glances down at his lap. Nolan lets out a walloping laugh. “Made you look.” Bennett, irritated, slaps the burrito clean out of Nolan’s hand and into his lap. Nolan’s eyes catch fire, and Bennett takes off running toward the weight room before Nolan can catch him.

The woman who owns his heart will finally be in his neighborhood. About fucking time he gets to make that move.

Chapter 2

Bennett stands in his bathroom, patting down a stubborn piece of hair that refuses to lie flat. He tries once, twice, three times, then gives up and reaches for a Bombers hat, telling himself it's normal because she's only ever known him wearing one. The cologne isn't normal, though, nor is the T-shirt cut loose around his waist but tight around his biceps, the biceps he's worked so hard to build. She met him when he was sixteen, scrawny and awkward, but he's twenty-four now, a major league baseball player, six foot three, and no longer the bony boy she used to know.

He spent the night before, after a loss, cleaning his apartment until there wasn't a speck of dirt on any baseboard. He vacuumed and lint-rollered his couch, sprayed it with something nice-smelling, and arranged a candle on his coffee table for far too long before giving up and replacing it with a baseball facts book. He considered taking down his framed jerseys from high school and the minors, but it felt wrong, so he kept them up and cleaned them instead. Now she's about to arrive any second, and he's nervous, excited, bursting to see her.

The last time he saw her was months ago, over the holidays in Almond Bay, visiting his sister Gabby and her husband, Ryland. She was telling Gabby about a guy she was dating, a guy with a foot fetish who kept giving her toe rings. Bennett hopes that guy is out of the picture now that she's moving, though he knows himself well enough to predict he'll just stare at her from afar, never make a move, and watch her leave with someone else. He drags his hand over his face. She's eight years older than him, his sister's best friend, and she calls him fucking Benny Boo Boo. But there's still a chance, a small chance, to flip the way she sees him. He thinks about all the other women he's been with, how none of them interested him, how they were only attempts to fill a void that only Bower can fill. He tugs on his bottom lip, wondering if he can actually do this, make a move.

A knock at the door

His stomach bottoms out, his palms sweat. He opens the door and his heart leaps out of his chest. Bower looks so beautiful that he has to stop himself from cupping her cheek and kissing her. She shouts his name, drops her bag, and walks right into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. Fucking fulfilled. He sinks into her hold, breathing in her sweet scent of coconut, memorizing everything about the moment as her hands travel up his back and tighten around him. He cups the back of her head before she pulls away, gripping his forearms and looking up at him. "Oh my God, you're so...muscular." His cheeks heat. He jokes about the weight room requirement, and she pats his chest with a smirk. When she turns to grab her bags, he notices the way her leggings frame her ass and the inch of skin where her shirt rides up. He grabs her bags before she can, and she follows him inside, taking his hand and practically skipping to the couch, pulling him down to sit.

She asks him to tell her everything. He fidgets with his hat. "Everything?" She asks if he has any girls in his life, one of her top questions, and he gives her the same answer he always does. No one catches his attention, he says, though he doesn't say that she caught it. She teases him about being focused on baseball, and then he asks about her, his throat tight with nerves. She rolls her eyes and tells him she was seeing some guy, three dates, but he wasn't doing it for her. When Bennett asks why not, she leans in and asks if he'll judge her. Then she explains the name test: a compatibility test for bed, where you have to try the person's name on a moan to see if it sounds good. The guy's name was Ebenezer, nicknamed Nezer, and Bennett laughs, refusing to believe it. She tells him there's no way she's moaning "Give it to me hard, Ebenezer," and Bennett, half-hard now and hating to admit it, agrees that doesn't pass the test. She says the whole thing made her nipples invert, gestures at her perfect tits, and tells him these nipples are made to poke against fabric. Jesus.

She keeps going, no filter as always. She says she's horny all the time, which is not information he needed when he's already half-hard, but it's Bower, and she's never been shy. She tells him about a book she read where the female main character came just from nipple play, grabs his forearm, and asks if he's ever come from just nipple play. He says he can't say he has. She says she wants that experience and Ebenezer wasn't the guy. Then she wonders if her romance books are setting her standards too high, if it's too much to ask to pass the name test and come from nipple play. Bennett is so hard he can barely think. He tells her he doesn't think that's too much to ask. She mentions that Gabby told her to stop reading, and she told Gabby that was easy for her to say given the dick she has at home and how satisfied she is every time she mounts it. Bennett asks if they can not talk about his sister's sex life. She waves a hand at him.

She tells him she's hoping this move is a new chapter and that she gets to have him, Benny Boo Boo, as her wingman in a new town. She thanks him for helping, tells him she checked out the apartment and loves it, that she filled out the application and thinks she might just live here. It'll be fun, she says, being so close to someone she knows. She offers to take care of his place when he's away, even though he doesn't have plants. Hope springs in his chest. He can't imagine a more perfect scenario, except he can: Bower moving in here, with him. He tells her it would be awesome, trying not to sound too excited. She declares them neighbors and asks about his game tonight. He has one, but he wanted to make sure she was settled first. She bounces on the couch, says she can handle herself, and thanks him for letting her sleep on it. He tells her he planned to give her his bed and take the couch, he just changed the sheets. She pats his cheek and tells him that's not happening, no chivalry needed, she likes a good couch. He explains he slept on a couch for almost his entire life, until Gabby gave up her bed for him. That's exactly why he deserves the bed, she says, and winks.

The selfie

She grabs her phone from her bag, and instead of sitting next to him, she sits on the armrest of the couch and holds the phone up in selfie mode. She wants to send a pic to Gabby, since she never told her sister she was moving, and this would be the perfect way. She loops her arm around him, rests her head against his, and says smile. He smiles, and she snaps the picture, stealing his breath and his sanity all at once. She stares at the photo for a second, then looks at him. "Ooof, you're so handsome. Still don't understand how you don't have girls falling at your feet." She stands and texts Gabby while Bennett tries to calm the raging heat pulsing through him. It's the first time she's ever called him handsome. She's complimented his height, his muscles, his build before, but handsome is the first. She has no clue she just handed him a fucking truckload of hope.

Chapter 3

Bower is on the phone with Gabby, who whines that Bower was supposed to move closer to her, not Bennett. Bower says she can't control where Adalade moves. She's currently at Bennett's apartment, her bags moved off to the side since she'll only be there a night or two, and she's already hit the corner store for snacks because Bennett's kitchen holds nothing she wants to eat: seaweed wraps and protein shakes. She has his game on in the background, a habit she picked up after devouring a baseball romance series, and she's decided Bennett is by far the best player on the team. Asher Peppers is nasty and never smiles, Nolan Hart is a menace but intriguing, and Bower thinks she might ask Bennett for an introduction if she's brave enough.

Gabby is disappointed that Adalade didn't like Almond Bay, but Bower points out her boss is a city girl through and through, and Gabby should be grateful it's not New York City. She offers the silver lining: Bower has an apartment in the same building as Bennett, one floor above him, so Gabby has more reason to visit.

Bennett steps up to bat, and Bower watches the camera scan his body, taking in his thick thighs, sturdy torso, and biceps. His blue eyes shine under the shadow of his helmet, along with his five o'clock shadow and the intensity in his expression, and she doesn't understand how he's single. He takes a strike, steps out of the box, stares at his bat, breathes, tugs his helmet, and steps back in, calm and composed, the same routine every time. Then he swings, makes contact, and sends the ball over the left field fence. Bower is impressed. Gabby cheers while Ryland claps in the background.

Gabby brings up Bower's dream of quitting her job to open a book van, and suggests she could do it in Almond Bay. Bower admits she wants to, but she can't leave Adalade right now. Gabby pushes her: she's saved enough, she's built a following, she could do this. Bower tells her she's not ready, though she doesn't believe she'll ever be. She remembers her father, who was a dreamer and took a chance that lost the family's money, leaving her mother to work part-time at her school and her father to start over at the Olive Garden. Bower went to school for small business, interned with Adalade, and became her executive assistant, running endless errands for a sixty-six-year-old with a hefty credit card. The job isn't fulfilling, but it's safe. Adalade loves her and would never fire her, and the position gives Bower plenty of time to read. She's confident, but she's not courageous.

Gabby asks when Bower moves into her new place. Bower says they're finishing up painting, so probably in the next day or so. She jokes that Bennett won't even notice she's there, and mentions she hasn't touched his strange food. Gabby reveals Bennett has a sweet tooth and loves cherry almond cookies from The Almond Store. Then Gabby's tone turns serious. She says this could be a good thing, because Bower can watch over Bennett more closely, especially after his apartment was broken into in the minor leagues and he didn't tell her. She worries he hides things to protect her, and she reminds Bower of a promise she made. Bower answers with gravity: she promised to help take care of Bennett, and she will never break that promise. Gabby tells her she'd hate for Bennett to take the fall for something his team did before he was on it, given all the PR work he's done on his image. Bower promises again, calling Gabby her number one and Bennett her number two, both under her protection. Gabby thanks her, saying she was able to raise Bennett because of Bower. Bower deflects the credit.

Later that night

The lights are off, the moon shines through Bennett's floor-to-ceiling living room windows, and the sheets and blankets he gave Bower smell so good she's tempted to raid his laundry room. She knows he takes a while to wind down after a game, but it's almost midnight now, and she wonders if he's not back yet because he decided to hook up with someone. If so, good for him, and she'll hound him for details in the morning, because she's invasive and has no filter. She's just closing her eyes when the front door unlocks. Bennett steps in quietly, shuts the door, shuffles a paper bag, locks up, and heads for the kitchen. Bower slips out from under her blankets, tiptoes to the kitchen where he's setting the bag on the counter, finds the light switch, and turns it on just as she says, "Welcome back." Bennett yells "Jesus Christ!" and plasters himself against the cabinets, hand to chest, terrified. Bower roars with laughter, resting her hand on his arm, telling him the look on his face. He says she nearly made him shit himself. She says she wants to say sorry, but she isn't.

He asks what she's doing awake at almost midnight. She tells him she stayed up because she ordered Moon Pies. He looks toward the living room and asks where, confirming his sweet tooth. She takes his hand to pull him into the living room, but he stops to put his cold groceries in the fridge: milk, yogurt, cheese, and chicken. Then she drags him to the small circular dining room table, where she set up the box of Moon Pies and some napkins. She announces that she bought him treats as a thank-you for letting her stay. He says she didn't have to, sits down, opens the box, and snags one right away. She grabs one too. He thanks her sincerely, and she thanks him for letting her stay for a few nights. He looks directly into her eyes and tells her to stay as long as she wants, and a weird chill shoots up her spine. It's the ice blue of his pupils. Chilling.

She sets down her Moon Pie, wipes her mouth, and mentions his home run. His brow lifts, almost comically, because they never talk baseball. She tries to play it off, saying she couldn't find anything else to watch, but he smirks and doesn't believe her. She admits it's not true: she felt obligated to watch because she was on the phone with Gabby, who was watching too. Bennett asks if Gabby was okay with Bower staying here. Bower says yes, Gabby didn't question where her loyalty stands. Bennett asks, with a wink under the brim of his hat, whether her loyalty is with him. Bower tells him to keep dreaming, that she'll always fall in line with Gabby. He says a guy can try.

He asks what she thought of the game. She says it's impressive that he can hit a baseball that far, and it boggles her mind that he isn't the same boy she first met. He tugs at the back of his neck, his bicep flexing against his shirt, and her cheeks heat. That reminds her to ask about someone on his team: Nolan Hart. Bennett's brow tightens. She asks if Nolan is single, hedging that maybe she's interested, even just for one night, and noting that he's hot. Bennett moves his hand over his jaw and tells her Nolan is dating someone. She crumples her napkin and tosses it to the center of the table. Figures. Then she stands, takes a sip of her drink, and tells Bennett to let her know if Nolan ever becomes available. She declares she's starting a new chapter in her life and she's bound and determined to get out and meet people. Maybe the right guy is somewhere in the city looking for a slightly bookish type who doesn't have the best filter. She offers him a wink and heads to the bathroom to get ready for bed.