"I think Brody is going to make a play for Cam," I said absently.
"Like I said last night, it's about time. I think she'll be good for him," Ben said. "She doesn't let him get away with any bullshit but she's sweet, too. So after she tears him a new one, she'll give him a back rub."
I had to laugh at that because it was so true. Cam would give tough love but followed it with nurturing.
"But it does make things sort of difficult between us," I said, gesturing from me to him. "Brody didn't say all that much but I think he's got serious feelings for her."
"Why does that make things harder? I understand why you don't want her to know, but you and I are on the same page."
"I just don't think it's a good idea for us to continue. If it could possibly impact my best friend in a negative way..." I left it at that.
Ben studied me for a long moment. Finally, he said, "I get where you're coming from, but I've been having a lot of fun with you the last week."
I had fun with him, too.
He paused as if considering something and asked, "What if we took sex out of the equation?"
My mouth fell open. Say what?
Ben laughed and I realized I'd said that last bit out loud in my surprise. "Don't get me wrong, the sex has been fucking hot, but I have fun with you just eating dinner and watching a movie. I haven't dated a lot of women who haven't had, um, an agenda. But you don't and that's—" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "Jesus, that sounds way more pathetic when I say it out loud. You know what, I get it. We should definitely take a step back."
He started to turn back toward the house. My brain decided that was for the best but my mouth, my stupid, stupid mouth, had no common sense.
"We could be friends," I called.
Saywhat?
That time, I managed to keep those words internal, thank God.
Ben stopped and looked at me, but he didn't speak.
Again, my brain was screaming "Abort, abort!"
And I'm pretty sure there was a Klaxon going off in there somewhere.
But my mouth just kept fucking moving.
"I liked watching TV and eating dinner with you, too. I, uh, don't have a lot of friends and I could always use another one."
Lies. All lies. I didn't necessarily hate people. I just hated that I didn't understand most of them. I blamed my parents since they were never around enough to encourage me to socialize, so instead, I became a freak who studied constantly, skipped a grade, and ended up in college at the age of seventeen. That was hell on my dating life just because I was technically jailbait until the second semester of my freshman year.
I cleared my throat. "Um, and that sounded a lot more pathetic out loud also."
Ben smiled at me. It wasn't the cocky grin or sexy smirk I'd grown used to over the past few days. It was a wide, beaming,genuinesmile. I could see the shadow of the boy he must have been once.
It was as if I was seeing the real Benjamin Murphy for the first time and, holy fucking shit, he was so beautiful it was blinding.
Before he could respond, his eyes shifted to something behind me. "Damn, look at the huge raccoon."
A cold chill slithered up my spine, completely destroying the brain fog his gorgeous smile had conjured. I whipped my head around and gasped as I saw Gary the Evil Raccoon crouched by the fence about twenty feet away.
What in the hell was he doing here? Had he followed us? The McClanes' house was nearly all the way across town. Granted it was only a five- or six-minute drive, but still, in raccoon distance that was a lot.
"Don't. Fucking. Move," I muttered between clenched teeth, refusing to take my eyes off my nemesis.
"Isthatthe raccoon you told me about?" Ben asked, his voice way too loud.
The question caught Gary's attention and the rabid bastard froze before turning his head in slow motion like some sort of freakshow right out of a horror movie. His eyes locked on me and his surprisingly white teeth were revealed as he snarled.
