Kayla

"I'm coming over," Allison said.

I just groaned a little bit. Why had I told my insane best friend about the crazy morning at the soccer game? Why had she decided to make her new mission in life to get me some rebound action? Oh right, she was insane. I just shook my head.

"I'm fine," I said. "I'm actual pretty busy. I need to pay off some bills with the money Dean put in my account. And I need to watch the lotto drawing, just in case."

"Babe," She cried. "You husband just posted some more NSFW photos on Instagram with that skank. You need to do something. Go dancing with me! Please!"

"Darius has an Instagram? Last week he told me he didn't believe in photographs anymore, because they steal your essence. "

"Have I mentioned how much better off you're going to be without that moron?"

"Yes Allison," I said.

"We're going dancing!"

"Fine," I sighed. "I will dance. But. I'm not sleeping with some guy."

"Please. Of course not, "Allison laughed. "You give them your number and then go out three times. Then you sleep together. Get your free dinners first."

"No sex, no dating," I said. "I need time to heal."

"So your ex gets to have all the fun," Allison asked.

"No," I said. "Besides, if half of what Dean has said about Greta is true, Darius will be lucky to not catch a disease."

"But Dean and his wife haven't been together in a long time," Allison asked. "So he's not infected by the witch."

"Why do you mention Dean?"

"Be honest Kayla. You want him. You want his body in your bed."

"Nope."

"I'll be the judge of that. I'll see you at six!"

"We're not going out until eight," I said.

"I'll be dressing you tonight," Allison said. "In my clothes you'll be able to impress your hot boss and any man you want."

"Whatever," I said. "Just make it something classy, ok?"

"So short skirt, minimal cleavage," Allison hummed. "Got it. See you later."

I hung up the phone and sighed. My best friend was insane.

I walked upstairs and was surprised to see Dean stirring a pot, leaning over the stove. I chided myself as I felt my eyes tracing the way he looked in his jeans, breaking away when he turned around.

"Hey," he said. "How you doing?"

"Well my best friend want to make me go dancing tonight," I said. "Is it alright if she comes over?"

"Of course," Dean said. "You live her, Kayla. Besides some of the guys are coming over for poker night."

"Oh," I said. "What're you cooking?"

"Chili," he said. "For the guys. You're welcome to join us tonight. They've all apparently heard of you."

"How do they know about me?"

"Facebook," Dean said. "Some mom photographed us together and posted it on the soccer team's website. You should see the comments."

I pulled out my phone and looked at my Facebook. 67 notifications. I rolled my eyes since most of them were photos of Darius doing body shots off of Greta. They were classy.

I scrolled down and sure enough, there was a photo of Dean and me at the soccer game. We looked cozy. We both had cocoa cups and I was laughing, and he was looking at me with a hint of love, or so it seemed. It had been so innocent but it looked so incriminating. I clicked on the comments, seeing forty or so replies. Wow. Some were from Dean's friends or acquaintances. Most of them were complimentary. Looks like Dean found a better woman. Or perhaps wow you moved on fast! But she's so pretty. And then a few comments said things like of course a cute dad gets single and starts screwing his nanny. Typical. I scrolled down, seeing a few students commenting. Is Mrs. Stanton screwing Kari's dad? There were also comments like go Mrs. Stanton! Your husband was a tool. Then Allison left a comment. If you're not tapping that then I'd like to. I sighed. She was utterly hopeless.

There was one comment that tagged Dean directly. Dean, have you seen this? BTW- can I borrow your nanny sometime? Lol. After that the comment died down when people realized I was a nanny. How did we both know so many nosy people?

"I apologize in advance if my friend Allison tries to throw herself at you tonight," I smirked. "She has no boundaries."

"Neither does my pal Jerry," Dean shrugged. "He's the only single guy coming to poker night, other than me now. He is the guy who asked to borrow my nanny. He's a class act really."

"So how'd you'd inherit your best friend with no emotional maturity," I asked. "It seems we have that in common."

"We went to college together," Dean said. "We work together too."

"Ah," I said. "It got mine in eighth grade. She hasn't changed much since then, although she has gotten hornier."

"Did she like Darius?"

"None of my friends liked Darius," I said. "Maybe that was a red flag."

"Greta offered to blow Jerry in the bathroom at my last birthday party," Dean sighed. "I'm the king of red flags."

"How'd you put up with her?" I asked. "Sounds like she didn't appreciate or respect you."

"I was just... my parents got divorced. I wanted something better for my kids."

"Ok," I said. "I get that. You're too patient Dean. I would have killed Greta. I almost did kill Greta, actually. "

He laughed and looked at me, smiling.

"I think it will be ok," Dean said. "Jerry gave me his divorce lawyer's number and I have an appointment. Are you...are you going to file soon?"

"Well now that our debts are settled it's easier," I said. "I have an appointment with the bank. Now that I've paid on our mortgage, I'm going to discuss selling the house. The bank is offering to buy it from us and put it up for auction. I can't make the payments alone so it seems wise."

"Do you have equity in your home?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," I sighed. "We got a big inheritance from my aunt Silvia when she passed. So I put it into the house. I thought it was an investment. But I can't afford to pay on it and I can't take another hit on my credit score by defaulting. "

"So," Dean said. "What if I bought it from you?"

"Huh," I said.

"I need a house," Dean said. "If Greta comes back, I don't want her here. But I want her to have a reason to stay in town to be here for the girls. I don't know, it's stupid. If your wife cheats, you can't buy her a free home. But I need to know if she wants part time custody, my girls would have a safe place to stay. "

"It's a good house," I sighed.

"Think about it," Dean said. "I promise to pay better than the bank."

"I will," I said.

"Come here," Dean said, motioning to me. I got up and hopped over, mesmerized by those eyes. Damn I was hopeless.

"Try this for me, would you Kayla?"

I took the spoon and tried some chili, humming as I did so.

"This is amazing," I said. "It's like heaven in a spoon."

"Thanks," Dean said. "It's to my mother's recipe."

"She is a good cook," I smiled.

We both just sat there for a moment, because somehow we'd accidentally made eye contact and didn't have anything else to say. But still he didn't look away. I glanced down, only to see Dean's perfectly wide chest in my line of sight and began to blush.

Before he could notice me staring, the door in the kitchen was opening. A taller man in jeans and a t-shirt walked in. He had green eyes, golden hair, and a winsome smile. One glance from him and I felt like I could melt. He smirked knowingly, and I shook my head.

"Let me guess," I said. "This is Jerry?"

"My reputation precedes me," he said, extending a hand for me to shake.

I just stood there and stared at his hand. I don't think I am going to touch that hand; the lord only knows where it's been.

"It's not your reputation. You commented on a photo of me on Facebook. I saw your picture."

"Well, it's still nice to meet you," Jerry grinned, dropping his hand. "Dean has good taste."

"Jerry..." Dean warned.

"What?" Jerry said. "I saw you feeding her from a spoon, all eyes and erotic subtext. Don't pretend you two haven't planned out your revenge yet?"

"Revenge?" I asked. "You sound like my friend Allison. But we're trying to be grown-ups here."

"Ah," Jerry said. "You're boring just like Dean. You two have that in common."

"You know," I said. "I'm going to go downstairs until Allison gets here."

"You don't have to," Dean said. "Jerry calms down after a while. He's just not used to being around women who are sober."

I laughed and Jerry shot Dean a glare.

"Seriously though, "Jerry said. "If you want to have chili, play some poker, watch the game...join us. We're good guys, except for me of course. I'm too amazing to behave."

"Ok," I said. "But I don't know how to play poker."

"Dean can teach you," Jerry said.

"Your call," Dean said. "But I promise we can have fun. I'll put Jerry in a timeout if I have to."

"Only if the hot nanny comes with me," Jerry laughed.

We both shot him a deadly glare and he frowned, getting the point. So with Jerry's promise to behave, I decided to play some poker.

*

*

*

I think I was the worst poker player ever.

Luckily, the other guys were sweet to me. The three other men, Harold, Dennis, and Max, we're just so normal. They all worked with Dean and were stand up guys with kids and wives. They didn't seem to mind me tagging along in their game, and a few of them had even asked me questions about my job. No one seemed to judge me for being a substitute teacher, which was nice. For what my job lacked in prestige, it made up for in its emotional rewards and challenges.

The doorbell rang and Jerry shot up.

"I bet that's the hot friend," Jerry said.

"Jerry..." Dean warned.

"What? I get that I can't seduce Kayla. You called dibs. But the friend is up for grabs."

Dean shook his head and I shrugged. Allison wouldn't mind. She was a free spirit all of the time. She was perfect for Jerry, really.

Jerry went up to the door and swung it open, looking Allison up and down. His face fell and she suddenly looked shocked.

"I think I have the wrong house," she stammered.

Allison didn't stammer. What the hell?

"No...I don't think you do. You're in the right spot." Jerry sighed. "You're here for Kayla, right?"

"Yes. Why are you here?"

The guys all gave each other looks of amusement. Clearly they'd never seen Jerry unhinged before.

"It's just a small fucking world after all," Jerry sighed. "Come on in."

Allison walked passed Jerry, glaring at him. What was happening? Why did she seem to want to murder him?

"Hey," I stood up, waving.

"Kayla!" She screamed, running over to hug me. I could barely breathe. She pulled away and turned to Dean.

"So your Dom's brother," Allison said. "It is so nice to meet you."

They shook hands and Jerry stormed over, furious.

"Don't touch him," Jerry snapped. "He doesn't need your claws digging into him."

"Hey," she snapped back. "Last time I checked, I was not the one with no self-control. I can shake a man's hand. I've been shaking a lot more than that since..."

"Since what?" Max asked, itching with curiosity. I was curious too, but I was too shy to speak up.

"Since our divorce," Jerry said. "Everyone, this is my ex-wife, Allison."

My mouth just hung open; I never even knew Allison was married.

"Come on," Allison ordered. "Let's go to your room Kayla. I've reached my asshole quota of the night. But Dean, you seem lovely."

She tugged on my arm and practically dragged me down the stairs.