No Shots Missed

Chapter Twelve- Magic

(Kalen's POV)

The girls had been impossible to pull from the water. At least until about half an hour ago when their stomachs had finally led us to the kitchen. Dinner wasn't for another couple hours and like a magican the chef that Zane had hired for the weekend had pulled plates of snacks out for the girls. He justified the size of the snack as he passed them over. "It'll be a late dinner for them."

The familiar way Janessa had hugged his legs and said, "Thank you Teddy, you're the best", indicated that this wasn't the first time he'd fed this crew.

He gave a tug to one of her ponytails. "Your uncle's got a cutthroat round robin of games happening out on the porch if you ladies want to join."

"Yes!" Janessa was moving towards the porch before he'd even finished, Jillian right on her heels.

I watched them go and then turned to him, "Thanks, man."

He gave a smile and reached out a hand. "No problem. Sorry we haven't officially met and I always find it real weird with you famous types because I know who you are, so like do we do an introduction?"

My hand met his as he declared, "I'm Ted and I'm a big fan."

I couldn't help but appreciate the way he handled it. Most people didn't bother to introduce themselves. It was a weird component of being famous that people knew you, or at least thought they knew you, before they knew you. "Nice to meet you. Everything you've made so far has been divine."

A hand brushed away my compliment and he smiled. "Can I get you a snack too?"

I was starving but also if Jilly was settling in on the porch I wondered if I could sneak a moment in with the lady that had been occupying my mind all day. "Any chance you could whip up a snack for two and point me towards Taylor?"

He didn't look surprised but for a fan, also didn't look super interested in helping me.

Interesting.

It was an uncomfortable moment before he finally answered, running a hand through his hair. "You know, I might be a fan of you but I'm her number one fan and she's been through alot. So I guess before I help you, I need to ask: What are your intentions here?"

I blinked. It felt too soon to give an answer and I'd just met the man. "I don't know?"

"Okay, what about this one? Are you the fuckboy they portray you to be?" There wasn't any judgement in his tone, just concern.

I sighed before answering. There was a time that my reputation was in fact quite well earned and really it had helped me because women didn't expect anything from me. Things were different now. "That's not my life anymore."

It was clear that wasn't enough for Ted and so I went for complete honesty. "Look, I really don't know anything other than she's cool shit and I hurt her feelings the other day and I'd like to keep working to make it right."

His stare dove down to the pit of my soul. I kind of liked him and his intensity. It was nice to meet a fan who so blatantly didn't care about my fame and I enjoyed that Taylor seemed to inspire such protectiveness. When his expression changed, I was met with a beaming smile, letting me know I passed whatever oddball test this was. "Well you're going to need some of her favourites then. Why don't you go get changed and I'll put together a charcuterie board, yah?"

I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Sounds fucking fantastic. Thank you."

He gave me a small smile and leaving the kitchen, I peeked my head out onto the porch, noticing that both girls were occupied in some serious gaming with the other kids.