“Benjamin.”
“Just stay, Jessie. For a week. A month. Two years. As long as you need.”
“Wouldn’t I be getting in the way of you getting ass?” I asked skeptically.
He got a funny look on his face, unreadable. “Let me worry about that on my own time.”
“Is this just a guilt thing? Because you think you ruined my relationship?”
Ben sat up and put the popcorn bowl on the coffee table. He faced me. “Jessalyn, here’s what’s going to happen. Tonight, you’re going to sleep in my bed, because it’s more comfortable and you need a good night’s sleep. In the morning, we’re going to go next door and get your stuff. We’re going to move you into my spare bedroom, and you’re going to be my roommate.”
I studied him. His eyes seemed earnest, the amber color glowing in the light of the TV. He was taking charge with me. I was so exhausted.
“What are you getting out of this?” My voice was dry and crackly.
“Being your best friend,” he said with a smirk.
I leveled him with a look.
“I’m serious. I kinda hate living alone. It’d be nice to have someone to come home to.”
“So, like a girlfriend for you?”
Ben shivered. “That word terrifies me, Jessie. I think we might have fun if we just tried being there for each other.”
“As friends,” I clarified. The last thing I needed was to leave one questionable relationship and jump right into another one.
Wait, was I having thoughts about getting into a new relationship with Mikey?
I wasn’t even entirely sure things were over with Cole. He just told me not to come back, and he’d never said anything to me like that before. Ever. Maybe he’d ask me to come back tomorrow.
“As friends,” Ben agreed.
Chapter 12
Mikey
I sat at my kitchen island, grinding my teeth. It had been five minutes since I heard Jessie crying next door. Asshole Cole had exchanged some harsh words with her and left. She’d left the living area, because her cries were more faint. How much longer could I listen to her sob like that?
She’d spent the morning combing apartment listings, which I let her do even though it killed me. I didn’t get why she wouldn’t just stay with me. Before she went over to her apartment, she told me she found a place a little out of budget and farther from work for her, but she’d go look at it in the afternoon.
I couldn’t let this go on. Jessie was losing her mind in the drama of it all. I could be the strong one. I just needed to put my foot down.
I stood, ready to take over. Her and Cole’s apartment door was unlocked and I walked in. I found her on the bedroom floor, a half-packed duffel bag open next to her. She gazed up at me with bloodshot eyes, waiting for me to talk.
“You’re coming with me.”
“I found a place, Ben.”
I crouched next to her. “It’s too expensive and it’s farther from work for you. Do you really want to do that?”
“I don’t want to be near him. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to hear him.”
Now that was a fair argument. If I laid eyes on him in my present state, I’d probably knock his teeth out. “I’ll make sure he stays away from you. Just stay with me. It’s free. It’s no further from work for you.”
“I can’t live with you for free.”
“Jessie, money’s not an issue for me. I don’t want your money.”
