Every Hidden Truth (Far From Ruined #2)

6. One-Track Mind

6

One-Track Mind

When Ben parked outside his house, the driveway and garage were empty. Excitement quickened my heartrate as I unbuckled my seatbelt. We were going to be alone in his house, most likely in his bedroom. And we were boyfriends now.

I hoped he wanted to make out. A lot. Because I did. A lot!

“Where are your aunt and uncle?” I asked casually, hoping to gauge how much time we had before parental figures might interrupt us.

“Church.”

Unfortunately, his answer jarred me out of my current train of thought as I followed him into the mudroom. “Wait, church? They go to church?”

Ben slipped off his shoes and set them on the shoe rack as I plopped my used Vans onto the floor beside it.

“Not religiously,” he said, lips quivering with the need to smile.

I shoved his shoulder as he hung his coat on the hook. “Wow, telling terrible dad jokes at age eighteen. You should be embarrassed.”

“I thought it was clever.” He turned on the light and descended the stairs. “But, yes, they do go to church every once in a while.”

“And they’re cool with…” I trailed off as we hit the landing, and Ben glanced over his shoulder in question. “Us?”

He nodded as he caught my meaning. “Aunt June could tell I liked you the moment she met you. Why do you think she acted so weird while we washed dishes?”

True, she had been extremely interested in my non-existent love life. “She was fishing?”

“She likes to think she’s good at matchmaking.” As we entered Ben’s room, I slipped my bomber jacket off and tossed it on the back of his couch as he propped himself against the pool table with a sheepish smile. “Unfortunately, she’s not as subtle as she thinks she is.”

“Well, maybe I’m dense. I just thought she was nosy.”

“Oh, she’s definitely nosy,” he corrected with a half-humored, half-exasperated shake of his head. “I apologize in advance for everything she’ll put you through.”

“She’s nice.” I didn’t know why I defended her when Ben clearly adored her. Maybe because she was the closest thing to a mother I’d experienced since my own mom left us when I was twelve.

“So they’re cool with us, you know, being an us ?” I finally asked.

“Yes. They love me, and by extension, who I like. And I like you.”

Feeling naughty, I slunk across the room until my toes touched his. “You like me?”

He nodded confidently, but the tips of his ears colored. “Obviously.”

Since he currently slouched on the pool table, we were the same height, and I shuffled forward to force him to widen his legs. I slid closer until his thighs framed mine, and he tilted his head, the blues of his eyes darkening. His lips quirked in a wicked smile as I slipped my arms around his neck, linking my fingers behind his head.

“How much do you like me?” I teased, our noses brushing.

A shuddered breath escaped his lips, fanning over my mouth. “More than I should.”

I barely heard his whispered answer, and he cut off any reply I might have made with his delicious lips. Smiling into the kiss, I wiggled until our torsos met. His hands on my hips flexed, his fingers fisting in my shirt. I followed his lead, the kiss slow and lazy. I tangled my fingers in the curls at the back of his neck.

As we kissed, my pulse quickened, and it wasn’t long until I grew impatient. Ben was the epitome of calm control, but I’d never been gifted that way. I wanted what I wanted, and I wanted it now. And Ben just so happened to be the object of my desire.

My tongue teased the seam of his mouth as my hand snaked under the collar of his sweater, dipping down his spine. He chuckled against me, parting his lips. Coffee and chocolate met my taste buds as I eagerly explored, our tongues dueling. He pulled me impossibly closer, and I shivered when the hem of my shirt shifted and warm fingers tentatively grazed the skin at my hips.

Hoping to encourage him, I wriggled in his hold and sucked his tongue into my mouth. He moaned and touched me with more confidence, his hands gliding to my back underneath my shirt. I delved my fingers into his hair, upsetting his beanie, as I kissed him harder.

The need to breathe broke us apart, but I didn’t take my lips from his skin. I blazed a trail over his jaw, using my grip on his hair to angle his head so I could taste his neck. He murmured my name as his fingers dug into my skin.

I groaned at the bruising hold, loving the electric shock of pain crackling over my spine. “Shit, Ben.”

He released me instantly with an apology written all over his face. “Did I hurt you? I’m sor—”

“Shut up.” I smashed my mouth onto his again.

With a grunt, he nipped at my lower lip, and I gasped at the sting. I loved it.

“You’re terrible,” he panted out the words as he kissed my lips, my jaw, “for my self-control.”

“Self-control is overrated.” I hummed as he kissed the spot in front of my ear, his tongue shaping the metal of my piercing.

“Do you have any idea how much I like this?” His teeth caught one of the balls and pulled gently. “The first time I saw it, I thought it was so sexy.”

“Oh yeah?” I bit my lip to smother a smug grin. “Well, I think you beat me in sexiness. You look good in a Speedo.”

Breaking away from me, he snickered. “I knew you were checking me out at my meet.”

“How could I not? You were practically naked.” I tossed his beanie across the room so I could have unimpeded access to his hair and sifted my fingers through his curls. “Why do you think I agreed to go to your meet in the first place?”

“Ah, so it was entirely selfish, was it?”

“Definitely.”

Our foreheads met as my heart hammered in my chest. I was hard, obviously, and as his hands rubbed the goosebumped skin at my waist, I shivered. I needed him closer, but there was an insidious little voice in the back of my head that sounded like Eric, telling me this wasn’t safe.

But that voice was wrong. Ben would never hurt me. He wasn’t Eric.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” He kissed me softly, tenderly, and I melted like butter in a piping hot skillet.

“Kinda hard to think with all my blood flowing south,” I mumbled against his lips, and he burst into laughter.

“You have a one-track mind.”

Maybe he’d meant it as a joke, but my smile faded. I didn’t want him thinking I only wanted him for sex. He was one of the most important people in my life. Did he really think I just wanted his body?

“Hey, where did you just go?” Ben pinched my chin lightly, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“I don’t want you for sex,” I blurted, and his eyes widened. “Shit, that’s not what I meant. I do want that because you’re just”—I gestured at the entirety of him—“chef’s kiss, really. All of it works for me. Very much. Um, I just meant that I don’t only want that. Because I am so into you, like it’s unreal. And oh my God, I need to stop talking.”

Ben was beaming at me, and my entire face felt like it was roasting in an oven.

“I never once thought you were using me, if that’s what you mean,” he offered, and my body relaxed.

“Okay, good. Because I’m not. I like you. Like, a lot.”

“I like you a lot too.”

“Good. That’s real good.” I buried my face in my hands and groaned. “That was so embarrassing. I told you I suck at this.”

“I like when you ramble. It’s cute.”

“Shut up,” I moaned, and he chuckled.

“Come here, Si,” he said, tugging my hands away from my face. He was still smiling, but his tone took on a serious note as he said, “Sex is something we could do. Someday. If we both want that. If we’re both ready for that.”

A strangled sound caught in my throat, making me squeak out, “Okay.”

“But I don’t want to have sex right now.”

“Okay,” I said again, voice stronger. “That’s totally fine.”

“But maybe we could make out more?”

Nodding, I pressed my forehead to his. “Yeah, that would be good. I like making out with you.”

He looked at me like I was the sun, which was just crazy. Because he was the sun. He’d always been the sun. And when he kissed me, his sunshine soaked into my bones and set me alight, and I never wanted it to end.