“Wha... how... your shoulder?”
“It was fine. You’re not that heavy,” he assured me. “And you had a nightmare. Do you get those a lot?”
Mikeywas the one who helped me through my nightmare? There was so much information to take in.
“You cuddled me! With a boner!” I tucked my legs under me. I was still in my same clothes from the night before. We weren’t even under Ben’s sheets. He’d pulled a blanket over us on top of the duvet. That probably confirmed that nothing untoward happened beyond the canoodling I’d just initiated. Entirely on accident.
“It’s just morning wood, Jessalyn. It’ll go away in a minute. I was sleeping, too, you know.” Ben rubbed his fingers across his forehead and yawned. “You want coffee?”
“Coffee? No. I need to leave. Where are my shoes?”
“I threw them down by the door.”
I stood, crossing my arms over my chest. “Why were we snuggling?”
“That was all you, Sweet Cheeks. I put you on your side and you just came over,” Ben said with a laugh.
“Why didn’t you sleep on the couch?”
Ben seemed annoyed. “I’m sorry, princess. I wanted a good night of sleep, too. Seems like you slept pretty damn good, so I’m not sure why you’re complaining so much. I didn’t want you to wake up and freak out not knowing where you were.”
My eyes must have been bugged out of my head as I processed everything.
“Shit, my phone!” I cried.
“I plugged it in. It’s on the kitchen island.”
I scrambled out of the room, tears pricking my eyes. Ben came into the kitchen as I was reading my messages, looking fine as hell in a pair of gray sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. The shirt I’d just had my face nestled into.
My phone held message after message of Cole looking for me.Where are you? Why didn’t you come home? Hope you’re okay, Caterpillar. Well,I’m going for my run.
“Why are you so upset?” Ben asked.
“Cole’s going to think I cheated. He’s already accused me of it.”
Ben shook his head. “Fuck Cole.” His voice was harsh. I glared at him. Ben went on. “That guy isn’t treating you the way you deserve, Jessie.”
“Listen, you might think you know everything about me, but you don’t know shit. Alright, Jockey? I have to go home.”
I turned to go but Ben crossed the room at light speed. I backed up against the door and he put a hand on the doorframe, leaning toward me. His body’s heat pressed into me, though we weren’t actually touching. He hung his head to meet mine, amber eyes burning with an intensity I hadn’t seen. His voice came out as a commanding growl.
“You think he’s giving you what you want. You think you want nice. Stable. Boring. But how’s that working out for you? He’s accusing you of cheating on him.”
Ben’s eyes flicked between mine, and he went on. “Nice isn’t what you need. You need someone who scares you a little bit. Someone who surprises you. Someone who supports you just as much as you support them. Someone who loves you so fully and completely that there’d be no reason to think you’d ever cheat. Someone who would stop the elevator to push your skirt up and feast on you. Someone who would fuck you so good in the coat closet at a party that they have to put their hand over your mouth to keep you from screaming. Someone who would treatyou like the princess you are on the streets but turn you loose at home in ways you never imagined. Someone who would make you come until you can’t fucking stand it and you’re begging for mercy. That’s what you need, Jessalyn. You need to be loved, well and thoroughly.”
I trembled under him, breathless. Why was I so wet? Why were my nipples tiny hardened peaks? Why did his mouth look so tempting gaping in front of mine? Why could I feel every inch of my own skin? Why did I want to reach out and push his pants down, drop to my knees, and show him what a woman I am?
“I have to go,” I managed. He stepped back to let me leave.
Before the door slammed behind me, Ben called, “You’re welcome.”
* * *
“It’s not a good look, Jessie,” Cole moped. “Think of it from my perspective.”
We stood in our kitchen on opposite ends of the counter. It was better that way. He was just back from his Saturday morning run and smelled atrocious.
“Yeah, I get that. But I swear, nothing happened. I just fell asleep. He tried to bring me here but you didn’t hear the door.”
