Ben's voice interrupted my thoughts. "I don't know about you, but I need some time to recover. Want to watch a movie?"
I glanced over my shoulder at the digital clock on the nightstand. Almost nine-thirty. "I don't know. If I come in at four a.m. again, Cam's going to get suspicious. And I'm supposed to go to her parents' for lunch tomorrow."
Ben chuckled. "Then I guess I'll see you there."
"What?"
"Colette invited me."
So I would have to sit at the table with him, thinking about all the things we'd done tonight and trying not to squirm. Wonderful. That didn't sound like torture at all. Maybe I should just stay over and work out with him in the morning because it would be less painful.
"That won't be weird, right?" Ben asked me.
"Of course not," I insisted. "It's not like I'm going to have a big red A stamped on my forehead."
"If you're not married, then why would you have an A for adulteress?"
I scowled at him. "Way to get technical there. You know what I meant."
Ben grinned. "Accuracy is important."
"Blah, blah, blah."
He kissed me. "Excellent use of your words."
"Speaking of words, one more and I get dressed and leave."
Ben rolled over on top of me, pinning me to the bed. "And how are you going to do that?" He tilted his head as he considered me. "Maybe I should hold you hostage until you tell me what your tattoo means."
His face was only a few inches from mine and he was laughing at my puny struggles to escape. Until I licked the tip of his nose.
"Ugh," he said, pulling his head back. "Really?"
Now, it was my turn to laugh. Until he wiped his nose and stared down at me, retribution in his eyes.
"Don't even think about it," I said.
He only grinned, but it was pure evil.
Oh, shit. I poked him in the ribs and scuttled off the bed when he reared back to escape my fingers.
"You're in trouble now," he said, chasing after me.
I barely managed three steps because I was laughing so hard before he grabbed me and pressed me into the wall. I guffawed and tried to twist free, but he had a good grip on me.
"Don't!" I cried, kicking and yanking at his arm around my waist.
We were both laughing and shaking. I kept trying to break free and he kept finding another way to hold me.
"Uncle! Uncle!" I yelped as his hand skimmed my ribs, sending me into a giggling fit.
"Oh, ticklish there, huh?" he asked.
"Ben Murphy, I will Photoshop a picture of you with a goat, write a caption professing your unnatural love for barn animals, and share it far and wide if you don't let me go right now!"
He hummed beneath his breath. "I don't know. Might be worth it. Especially when I finally get the story about your ink." His hands moved over my ribs again, on both sides this time and he tickled me without mercy.
"Gah! Ack! Stop! Stop!" I shrieked as I struggled in his hold. It wasn't until my knee came perilously close to his naked genitals that he relented.
