Needing You {Chicago Book 2} ON HOLD

three

CHAPTER THREE - Kasey Williams

I knew that I should've questioned Georgia more about who I was going to work for. Then I wouldn't be in the horrific situation that I am now which is standing in front of Ryker Young who looks just as shocked to see me as I am to see him.

"Um, hi," I awkwardly say with a slight little wave. Oh. My. God. Why did I just wave to him? What is wrong with me?

"You're Kasey," he responds, looking as dumbfounded as I feel. "Georgia said it wouldn't be you."

"Yeah, well, she didn't exactly tell me it was going to be you, either," I replied. "But here we are."

He tilts his head slightly as he takes in my appearance. I've changed a lot since high school. I've put on some weight and grown into my curves, my hair is slightly lighter and I've grown. My growth spurt came the summer after graduation so I'm not the five foot three, timid girl knew me as. I'm now five eight and I've grown a backbone.

He obviously doesn't look the same either, but for the past four years or so, I've been seeing him on TV playing hockey, so he appearance as this massive hulk of a man isn't too shocking. I mean, clearly he looks older, having gained a hell of a lot of muscle and gotten himself a sleeve of tattoos.

"Shit, Kase," he sighs before gesturing for me to come inside. I think this meeting would be significantly less awkward if our relationship ended on a better note than it did but that's another story. "You look good."

"Yeah, so do you," I nod to him as I take in the hallway of his house. All I can say is it's a step up from the two bedroomed flat he used to live in with his parents back in high school.

"So, what have you been up to?" He asks as he scratched his arm awkwardly.

I let out a chuckled and shake my head. "You don't need to do that, Ryk," I tell him, the nickname slipping off my tongue just as mine did for him. "Let's not pretend like we don't know each other and let's not pretend that I'm here for you. I'm here for your son and him only."

A lazy grin slips onto his face. "Yeah, you're right, which if I remember rightly, you usually were. Ben's right through here."

"Does he prefer Ben or Bennett?" I ask as we go through the hallway, where pictures are displayed. I recognize a couple of the people in them as Brody and Hailey and there are a few of his teammates, but the majority of them are of a girl I knew all too well back in high school. Heather Stanfield. Ryker's girlfriend during their senior year.

"He's three," he chuckles. "He prefers what he's told he will, but he's a strong-willed thing, so normally, he won't answer to Ben unless he deems you worthy or something like that. I'm no child psychologist, so I can't tell you exactly what he thinks about."

"Aw, dammit," I tease. "Here's me thinking that you were great at everything."

"Then you're way off the mark," he replies as he pushes open the door. "Ben! What are you doing?"

When I poke my head inside the living room, I'm greeted by an upside down mini-me of Ryker. "Um, I'm copying the monkeys on the TV, daddy. Duh."

Ryker turns back to me with a sigh. "As you can see, he's a bit of a handful."

"I wonder where he gets that from?" I ask sarcastically, knowing fine well that Ryker was a little wild back when he was younger.