He climbed out of the Jeep to pet the dogs. I all but sprinted down the front walk. Behind him, Boots and Doodle batted at the rear window with their little paws like, “Lemme out, lemme out!”
Ben straightened as I neared him. Just in time.
“Hi,” I said, taking a flying leap at him.
He caught me out of the air with an, “Oof!”
I wrapped my legs around his waist and clung to him like a spider monkey, peppering the side of his face and neck with kisses.
His chest rumbled with laughter. “Glad there’s no awkwardness between us now.”
“God, you smell good. You want to come inside and then come inside?”
His answering groan went straight to my core. The hands that held me up slipped to my ass, pulling me close, so that I couldn’t miss the way his dick swelled in response.
I heard a muffledyipover the sound of my racing pulse and craned my head around to see Boots and Doodle watching us from inside the Jeep with their tongues hanging out.
Awkwaaard.
“The dogs,” I said.
He let me go, and I slid down him. His erection pressed between us in a way that made it difficult to think about anything else.
“The dogs,” he repeated, his expression dazed as he stared at my mouth.
A thrill of power shot through me. There was something infinitely satisfying in knowing that I drove him to distraction the same way hedid me. I’d been absolutely useless since we’d gotten naked together. I burned dinner last night because I was distracted by my memories. The skin on my fingers pruned in the shower this morning because I was so lost to daydreams ofnext time. Every hour or so, I stopped whatever I was doing to giggle.
Ridiculous.
I rose onto my toes and pressed my lips to his, briefly. “The dogs,” I said, pulling back. “Doodle looks about ready to diddle on your car seat.”
The lust cleared from his expression. Nothing like the threat of puppy piss on leather to snap a man out of it. He jerked away from me and pulled open the back door. It was too high for the puppies to jump safely down from, so we each took one and placed them gently on the ground. They were immediately swarmed by Fred and Sam, who sniffed them over like concerned parents. I could almost hear them consoling the puppies about the discomfort of car rides.
Ben leaned against the Jeep and then reached out and pulled me to him, turning me so that my back pressed against his chest. One long arm wrapped around my waist. The other snaked across my shoulders, and I was enveloped in his warmth. I let out a contented sigh and settled in to watch the dogs tumble after each other through the snow.
“I came over here because I want to talk to you about something,” he said. He sounded serious.
“What’s up?”
“You know how my parents were going to fly out here next week?”
I nodded.
“Well, we pushed the date up. They’re on a flight out right now.”
I stiffened in his embrace, nervous about meeting them in person so soon after our relationship had changed. “Okay. And the reason for this was?”
“I scheduled the advanced tests for CTE. I’m going to meet them in Boston tomorrow.”
Holy shit.
I turned within his arms. “How are you feeling?”
His expression was drawn. “Honestly? Terrified.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him, burying my face in his jacket. So many words crowded together in my mind, of comfort, of consolation, but I hesitated to say them, feeling like none were worthy.
“I’ve been terrified about this for months,” he told me.
