The Betting Groom (Last Play Christmas Romance Book 1; The Legendary Kent Brothers)

by Taylor Hart

  Grant turned off the car, ending the conversation. He didn’t feel bad for cutting off his agent; Steven would talk incessantly if he let him. He looked in the rearview mirror. “I’m Batman,” he said in his best Batman voice. Then he scrunched up his face and pushed open his car door. It didn’t sound quite right.

  He grabbed his duffel bag from the back seat and started into his house, reminding himself that without pain-in-the-butt Steven he wouldn’t have been able to afford a home like this. He’d bought this house after his fifth Raced and Wrecked movie. They weren’t exactly meaningful films, but they paid the bills for his opulent lifestyle. He was fortunate, and he couldn’t forget that. For a while, he had loved doing the movies. He really didn’t spend too much time in LA. Most of his life was spent going from shoot to shoot. Well, it had been until he’d taken custody of his seventeen-year-old cousin last year.

  Anticipation pulsed through him. He loved coming home to his cousin, who was a senior in high school. “Hello!”

  The first thing he noticed about the house was that it was fully decked out for Christmas. It was the seventeenth of December, so he figured that was reasonable, but with his filming schedule, it felt like Christmas had already eluded him this year. Ari had asked him if she could decorate, and he’d told her to do whatever she wanted.

  Coming out of the hallway into the large kitchen and family room, Grant saw a huge tree covered in ornaments and a forest of wreathes hanging on the walls. Amusingly, it was all neon and sparkles. Pink, yellow, and blue. He grinned, thinking Mrs. Smith, his housekeeper and part-time helper with Ari, had never been this extravagant. It felt good having Ari around to liven the place up.

  “Bro!” Will, his brother who played quarterback for the Denver Storm, bounded toward him. All of the Kent brothers were between six feet and six-four, Walker being the tallest, but somehow, it felt like Will had grown since they’d last seen each other. Before Grant knew what was happening, Will was grabbing him bear style and pounding him on the back.

  Grant laughed, mostly out of surprise. “What’s going on?”

  Will let him drop, and then Tom, his baby brother the firefighter, pulled him into a hug. Not a bear hug, thankfully. “Nice dreads,” Tom teased, tugging one.

  Batting him away, Grant chuckled, unable to believe his brothers were here. “What’s going on?”

  Tom shrugged. “We’re just on a layover, didn’t know if we’d catch you. I won a trip!”

  “What? To where?”

  “Maui.”

  Will jerked his thumb at Tom. “Yeah, some old lady gave him some fruitcake and cursed him to find true love.” He chortled.

  This made no sense. “I don’t get it.”

  Will tugged one of his dreads on the other side of his head. “These are stupid.”

  Grant slugged him in the shoulder. “Enough with the dreads.” Dang, the dreads were part of his character façade, and he wasn’t usually so bothered about them.

  Will snorted. “’Bout time you got here. We’ve been gabbing Ariana’s ear off.”

  Ari bounded toward him, jumping into his arms. “You’re back early!”

  He laughed and caught her, unable to believe it’d been a little over a year since he’d agreed to be her guardian. Her parents had tragically passed in a car accident, and when he’d gone to the funeral, Ari had asked him if she could live with him so she wouldn’t have to move out of her school. Grant had been tentative about it, but it had given him some stability in his life he hadn’t even been aware he was lacking.

  He held her close before letting her go, marveling at how good it felt to have someone care if he came home or not. With all the attention the world seemed to heap on him, none of it was as real as this. “Yep, shoot got done early. Thank heavens.” He breathed out audibly, giving his brothers a look. “Been too long.”

  Will scoffed. “Yeah, because you forgot us ever since the Tracy era started.” He flared his nostrils and pushed his nose up at him, making a pig face.

  “Stop. Tracy and I are finished.”

  “Not according to Inside Edition.” Will gave him a pointed look. “You and Tracy are supposedly hot and heavy.”

  He huffed. “Well, she was hot and heavy with the stunt guy, so that’s that.”

  “Ouch.” Tom cocked an eyebrow.

  Will burst out laughing. “Oh my gosh, that woman has nerve. I’m so posting crap about her.”

  Grant appreciated the protectiveness, but he put his hand out. “You can’t. I wouldn’t want you to anyway. We have to keep up appearances until the premiere in January, but that’s all it is … appearances. My agent told me to lie low, and that’s what I plan on doing.”

  Will grunted. “Tracy was—”

  Grant cleared his throat. Will didn’t always have the best language when it came to describing Tracy. “Let’s not talk about it now.”

  Ari rolled her eyes and moved toward the kitchen table. “Hey, I know Tracy’s a—”

  Grant cleared his throat again. “Ahh. Remember what we discussed about language.”

  Will and Ari locked eyes and laughed. He put his arm around her. “I like you, cuz. You should have come and lived with me. I’d be a lot more fun.”

  “Whatever.” Tom snorted and nudged Ari. “Should have chosen the firefighter. A sure bet every time.”

  Grant pushed both of his brothers. “No, she knew what she was doing. I’m the fun and responsible one.”

  Ari, Will, and Tom all burst out laughing.

  “Hey.” He gave them all a mock glare, though he inwardly cringed at how whiney his defensiveness sounded. “I am.”

  Ari winked at him. “Yes, you’re fun when Tracy’s not in the picture.”

  Grant bristled. The truth stung. “Well, she’s out, okay?”

  Tom play-punched Grant in the shoulder. “No more ex talk. We’ve only got a couple of hours, so let’s go jump in your pool.”

  “Yeah!” Will punched a fist into the air.

  When the brothers were together, it felt like they were all still kids. Of course, Tom wanted to go swimming. He grinned. “All right.”

  “Hold on.” Ari moved back to the table. “Come look first.”

  Grant turned to his kitchen table and noticed bottles were everywhere. “What’s this about?” he asked Ari.

  “Haven’t you heard about the love potions Kira Knight used on her now husband, B.C. Knight, to get him to fall in love with her?”

  Grant rolled his eyes. B.C. was another of Grant’s co-stars, so Grant knew the story well. “B.C. always plays the love potions up. Always talks about those commercials he and the wife are recording in Utah on his ranch. It’s disgustingly sweet.”

  She laughed. “You’re jealous.”

  “He talks all this crap about true love.” He threw up a hand as if to bat the concept away.

  Ari sighed. “True love changes you.”

  Tom moved to Grant’s side and snorted. “That’s what they say, but I’m not convinced. And I’ve got six more brothers at the fire station who will back me up.”

  Will let out a loud laugh. “True love. Yeah, right. Outside of Grant’s movies, that’s not real.”

  Grant high-fived Will and then Tom. “Amen.”

  “Nope,” Ari agreed, “and none of you have found it yet either.”

  All of them laughed.

  Grant crossed his arms. “Leave her alone, guys. She just hasn’t been wrecked by true love yet.”

  Ari beamed at him. “Thank you. It’s good to have you home.”

  Once again, he was so grateful she was a part of his life. It was like he had a little sister, but he felt more like a father to her, and he enjoyed that role a lot.

  Grant was happy to have his brothers here, too. “So exactly how long do we have?” Truthfully, he was a bit upset his brothers couldn’t stay longer. “Why don’t you skip the trip and stay here?”

  “No way,” Tom said. “It’s Maui, and I don’t have money growing on trees. I’m going.” T
om pointed at him. “But you could come with!”

  “Yeah!” Will took a handful of peanuts off of the table and threw some back into his mouth. “Come!”

  “No,” Ari said, piping up. “He’s staying home. But remember, I leave Friday night for that acting camp in New York.” She shrugged. “So you could meet them then.”

  Grant considered it. “That’s right, but you’re home on Christmas Eve, right?”

  She flashed a grin. “Yep.”

  “Meet us.” Tom nodded.

  The more Grant thought about it, the more he liked the idea. Why not go meet his brothers in Maui? “Maybe I will—single Kent brothers hit Maui.”

  Will tossed more nuts into his mouth, but put up a fist in solidarity.

  Grant laughed. “It feels like I haven’t seen you guys forever.”

  Will shook his head. “You missed Thanksgiving, idiot.”

  “Yeah.” Grant’s shoulders sagged a little. “Yeah, I went with Tracy because it was in the contract.”

  “Dude, when are you going to stop being such a sellout?” Will strolled into the kitchen, grabbed a glass, and filled it with water.

  Annoyance rippled through Grant. “Sellout? Says the professional football player that dates a different woman every week.” He wagged a finger at him. “I see all the social media on you, bro.”

  “My choice to post all that. I like it.” Will glared at Grant. “I don’t date women because I’m getting paid for it. Man, I think every relationship you’ve had since you’ve started being in movies has been fake.”

  Tom pulled out another glass and offered it to Grant. “It’s true.”

  More annoyance flooded him, but he still took the glass since he was thirsty. Saying nothing, he focused on filling the glass and drinking it all.

  Tom filled one too. “He’s right. When was the last time someone dated Grant Kent, not ‘movie star’ Grant Kent?”

  The words struck a chord inside of him, a chord he hadn’t known would play so loudly. The things his brothers were saying had been there somewhere in his psyche. He’d felt it for a long time now. “Shut up.” He turned away from them and put his glass in the sink, thinking of a way to change the subject.

  Will puffed out a sigh and kept his voice lower, turning to just Tom and Grant. “Dude, you’ve never talked about losing that little girl when you were Secret Service, but I think it messed you up.”

  Grant suppressed the familiar surge of anger. He glanced at Ari, not wanting her to hear this conversation. “That’s enough.”

  “Stop,” Tom warned Will. “Grant’s fine.”

  Thankful for Tom, yet simultaneously irritated because he didn’t need protecting, Grant chose to put the clamp back on all of that information. He focused his thoughts back on the present and away from the image of the president’s daughter lying on the ground beside him, a bullet in her chest. He blinked and left the kitchen. “Tell me more about the trip.”

  Will and Tom followed at his heels. “You can guess who his favorite brother is,” Will said, “because he asked me to go.”

  Tom nodded. “Yep, it had nothing to do with availability.”

  Will angrily pointed at Tom. “Shut it. My shoulder’s fine, and everyone knows it. Cameron Cruz just wants to torture me by making me sit out of the game before the league break for Christmas.” He glared at Tom, then shrugged. “So it worked out I can go for a couple of days.”

  Grant knew the topic of Will’s hurt shoulder and play time with the Storm was touchy at the moment, so he didn’t push it. He winked at Tom. “Try to have a good time.”

  “Whatever.” Tom grunted and grinned at him. “So you’re meeting us on Sunday.”

  Grant grinned back. “Probably.”

  Will laughed. “And then Zane’s house for Christmas. You were planning that, right?”

  “I’ll be there. So will Ari.”

  Ari clapped her hands. “I can’t wait to hold little Lily.”

  Grant thought about Zane’s new baby and smiled, thinking of the FaceTime chat with Zane the other day where he just oohed and ahhed with his little girl.

  Will grunted. “Right, I hope the kid doesn’t puke on me. I hate kid puke.”

  Tom pushed him in the shoulder. “Dude, shut up. You sound like a jerk.”

  Grant ignored their antics. “Yep, I’ll pick Ari up at the airport Christmas Eve, and we’ll drive to San Diego and be on the beach for Christmas, baby. That’s all that counts!”

  “True.” She frowned. “We’re kinda on the beach in LA too.”

  He pointed at her. “No, Zane is right on the beach.”

  “Dang straight.” Tom grinned. “Good thing I have all these rich brothers so I can live like a rich man.”

  Grant laughed at the comment. “Hey, my money is your money, man. You know that if you ever need anything—”

  Tom’s jaw hardened. “Stop.” Tom was a firefighter and did just fine for himself, but Grant had to admit it was nice to make millions.

  Will slugged Tom in the shoulder. “You’re a mooch. You’ve always been a mooch.” He was kidding, but Tom slugged him back, and Grant noticed it had some bite to it.

  Grant smacked Will’s good shoulder, feeling protective of Tom. “Who runs into burning buildings for a living? Give him a break.”

  Will held Grant’s gaze for a second, his hand in a fist, ready to punch Grant, but then he shrugged, laughing. “Fine, I’ll give Tom a break. Too bad I won’t give you a break. I’m serious about the fake stuff, bro.” He pointed to the dreadlocks in his hair. “Why don’t you start with those and cut them? Maybe I’ll recognize someone who looks like the Secret Service guy I used to know. The guy Mama used to say was the best of all of us.”

  The mention of their mother stung. It was true, though, and Grant wondered what she would think of everything that had happened with him the past year. It wasn’t just making movies. It was exactly what his brothers had said—fake relationships, fake image, fake social media. Still, he wouldn’t give Will the pleasure of seeing he had struck a chord. “Hey, the dreads are real.” He gave Will a taunting grin and jabbed at him, picking up a dreadlock and tickling him beneath the chin. “I got good hair.”

  Will tried to grab for him but missed as Grant darted away.

  Tom and Ari laughed.

  The sound of hinges squeaking drew their attention. Mrs. Smith rustled through the kitchen door, carrying a bag of groceries. She was Grant’s housekeeper and cook. Since she’d also taken on the role of caregiver to Ari when he was gone, he’d fixed a suite of rooms for her so she could live with them.

  Mrs. Smith smiled at him, and his heart warmed. “I’ll be. Half of the Kent brothers are here now to eat us out of house and home.” She put the bag down.

  Grant moved to her, hugging her.

  She pulled back, smiling. “We missed you.”

  “Hey, we want sugar too.” Will moved next to them and hugged her.

  “Do you need help?” Grant asked her.

  She shrugged. “I have a couple of bags and won’t say no when I have such fine strapping men around.”

  Tom moved in front of Grant, slapping him on the shoulder. “You stay. We got this.”

  “Yeah.” Will was already headed out the door. “But I’m eating the Oreos by myself if you have any.”

  Mrs. Smith laughed. “I have some.”

  Grant nodded, thinking of how his brothers could be polite. His mother had raised all of them that way.

  The sixty-something woman squeezed his cheek. “You look good.” Her eyes misted, and she gestured to the table. “The girl’s had us in a mess.”

  Again, he noted all the bottles Ari was messing with. “Tell me again what you’re doing with all of this?”

  Ari sighed. “I’m actually making a love potion for all the geeky drama guys on my team. The kind of geeky drama guy your brothers have spent the last hour telling me you used to be.”

  Grant laughed. “I was not a geek.”

  Will poke
d his head in. “He was a huge geek.”

  “I was not geeky.”

  “Was too,” Tom said, coming back in and using his leg to shut the garage door. “Used to walk all over the house with a scarf around his neck, quoting Shakespeare.”

  As they put the bags on the counter, Will said, “There was that one time where you only spoke in Old English for like a week.”

  Mrs. Smith began unloading them, handing the Oreos to Will. “Here ya go.”

  “Nooo,” Grant protested. “I want some.”

  Will was already hunched over them possessively. “You gotta get ’em from me first.” He ripped open the container and put a whole one in his mouth, crushing it and grinning.

  “Let’s tag-team it,” Tom said, nodding to Grant and circling.

  Grant grabbed Will in a headlock. “Get ’em!”

  Tom snatched the Oreos, running back into the kitchen. “Touchdown, baby!”

  Will looked like the Hulk about to burst.

  Grant let go and dashed away.

  “You’re both getting it!” Will called out.

  Tom slammed the sliding door open and rushed outside. “Time to swim.” He ripped off his shirt and cannonballed in.

  Will let out a scream and pulled his shirt off before leaping after him. “I can still take you down in the water! Cannonball!”

  “Get out here!” Tom called out.

  Ari and Grant and Mrs. Smith all laughed.

  What could Grant say? He loved having his brothers here. “Coming!”

  “Wait.” Ari cleared her throat. “Are you sure I should go next week? I mean, I hate being gone while you’re home.” She frowned. “Are you going to Maui?”

  He thought of the acting camp she’d wanted to go to in New York; he’d bought her a spot in it for Christmas. “Do you not want to go to camp?”

  “I do.” She cracked a large grin. “I can’t wait to go. I just don’t want to leave you after everything with Tracy.”

  He shrugged, appreciating this sweet cousin. “It’s fine. Maybe I’ll meet up with the bros, and maybe I won’t. Either way, I’ll be fine.” The truth, he realized, was that he had looked forward to being home and chilling with her. He’d kinda forgotten about the acting camp. “You go have fun.”