Chapter Twenty
Felix
May: One Month Ago
Clara’s car pulled up next to where I sat at the café, sipping a mocha latte. I got up and walked to the car while Bennett reached across the front seat to open the door for me as I ended our phone call.
“I thought you might want to just go home,” he said as he saw my face light up at Benny curled up in the front seat. “Clara said we could take the car for the week and come back and get my truck next weekend. I did warn her Benny pees in vehicles.”
A smile spread across my face. Fuck, I love this man.
“That sounds perfect, Bennett. Thank you.” Bennett picked up the puppy while I sat down and then passed him back to me. Benny rubbed his head against my stomach and settled.
Bennett reached across the center console and squeezed my knee. “You want to talk about it?”
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head as I focused on petting Benny. “I don’t want to lie to you about where I was, but I don’t want to get into the details right now.”
“Did he hurt you?” My head snapped up to meet Bennett’s eyes, and he cupped my face in one hand. “I trust you completely. I just need to know that you’re okay, handsome.”
“I am now,” I said, giving him a sad smile. “Being around him brought up old shit and feelings that I didn’t know how to process. There were too many triggers, and then the cravings felt intense and I didn’t trust myself.”
“You should have,” he said. “You knew exactly how to help yourself and I’ll always come when you call. You can continue to fight this battle, but you’ll never have to do it alone again.”
“I know.” I looked down and pet Benny before meeting Bennett’s eyes, my own full of tears. “I love you so much, Bennett. It amazes me how much I feel for you already and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that this morning.”
“Hey.” He put his arms around me and pulled me against his chest, kissing my head softly. “Don’t apologize for that.”
“I just thought—” I shook my head and swallowed the lump in my throat. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. All that matters is moving forward together. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Whatever that looks like and whatever it takes for us to be together.”
Bennett smiled proudly and looked at his watch. “Fifty-four days.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s how long it took me to make you fall in love with me.” He sighed contentedly. “That’s half as long as I was expecting.”
I laughed and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling his mouth to mine. “You’re still very charming, you know.”
“Obviously, or it would have probably taken longer.” He smiled against my lips as he kissed me again. “Seriously though, I would have spent fifty-four years pursuing you if that’s what it took.”
I kissed his cheek and sat back in my seat, petting Benny again. “That’s ridiculous, you would have been wrinkly and old. If I didn’t want you in your prime, why would I want you at the end of your life?” I joked.
“Wow.” He laughed, running a hand through his hair. “Harsh.”
I smiled at him. “I love you, Bennett. I’ll love you when you’re old and gray. I’ll love you no matter what happens, for the rest of my life. You’re the only one for me.”
He grinned at me. “I love you too, Felix. Forever.”
“Can you take me home now?” I asked.
“Sure.” He pulled out onto the street. “I just need to stop at my place for clothes.”
“Oh,” I said, stomach dropping in disappointment.
“What?” He glanced at me quickly before turning back to the road.
“I kind of meant your place?” I said sheepishly.
His smile lit up his face. “Thought you said you had six weeks left on your lease?”
“I do, but if Benny’s going to be at your place, I want to be there with both of you.”
Bennett squeezed my knee. “I’ll take you home, Felix. We need to get some supplies for the pup and we can stop and feed Marley too.”
“That sounds perfect. Thank you.”
“Always, Felix. I’ll always give you whatever you need.”
I’m not sure why we’re pretending I don’t live here. I definitely live here.
When Bennett was at work each day, I went back to my apartment for a few hours before my shift so that Marley didn’t get lonely, but other than that, every minute not spent at work was spent at Bennett’s.
Benny couldn’t spend a whole night alone yet, so sleeping at my apartment wasn’t an option, and sleeping apart from Bennett wasn’t something I wanted to do ever again if I could help it.
About a week after our visit to Crescent River, I had the evening off, and we planned to pick up Bennett’s truck, return Clara’s car, and then pick up Marley for the weekend so she could come with me and spend a few days getting used to Bennett’s house and the dog.
I’d spent the day at The White Fang helping Ally do inventory, so I walked to Bennett’s garage at five o’clock when he said he’d be finishing up for the day.
When I stepped into the garage, I was surprised to see someone sitting at the front desk. Usually when I came to visit Bennett at work, he was here by himself. I’d actually started to joke with Bennett that Calvin was just a figment of his imagination.
The guy behind the desk looked up and ran a hand over his dark, buzzed hair. “Dropping off or picking up?”
“Uh, neither,” I said, assuming that this was Calvin. “I’m here for Bennett.”
The guy looked me over and scratched at the dark stubble on his face. His olive skin was mostly hidden by a long sleeve shirt and jeans that looked far too nice to wear as a mechanic. Bennett usually came home with grease stains on everything.
“I’m Calvin. Who are you?” he finally said, pupils wide. He smelled like cleaning supplies, and the scent lit up familiar pathways in my brain.
Well, detailing isn’t the only thing Calvin sucks at, because his customer service certainly needs work, not to mention he’s high.
“I’m Felix. Bennett’s boyfriend.”
Calvin narrowed his eyes at me. “Right. Okay. He’s in the garage.” He pointed behind him with his thumb, and I walked through the back door that I normally used to get to Bennett.
“Hey, handsome,” Bennett said, his face lighting up when he laid eyes on me.
“Hey, babe, you almost done?” I asked.
Bennett sighed. “Yeah, I just need to finish this tire rotation. Should only be about ten minutes.”
“Okay,” I said, sitting on the floor next to Benny who was curled up in his “shop bed” as Bennett called it.
Not to be confused with his “bedroom bed,” his “living room bed,” and his “truck bed”—which all looked exactly the same because Bennett had insisted on making sure that Benny was comfortable wherever he was.
It was hard to feel envious that Benny had taken to Bennett immediately when I was pretty sure Bennett was going to spoil this dog rotten. Benny rested his head in my lap, and I beamed at his ridiculously cute puppy eyes.
“You know I saved you, right?” I whispered, stoking the bridge of his nose.
“See, he loves you too,” Bennett said, pointing his tire iron between me and the dog.
I tilted my head to the side and scowled at him. “He should love me the most. I practically jumped out of a moving vehicle for him.”
Bennett laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “I can explain why he likes me so much again if you want.”
“Yeah, yeah, fucking alphas.”
“Dogs respect authority. They want a commanding presence in an owner.”
I picked up one of Benny’s chew toys and threw it at Bennett just as he bent over, laughing as it bounced off his ass.
Bennett turned around with a dark look in his eyes. “You hurt my ass, I hurt yours.”
“You should work on your threats,” I taunted, parroting back what he’d said to me in the car last week.
“If Calvin wasn’t out there right now, I’d make damn good on that threat and take you right over my work bench.”
“Urgh,” I groaned. “Why are you so fucking hot?”
He laughed. “Stop distracting me if you want to get out of here.”
“When was Benny’s last walk?” I asked, scratching under his fluffy chin.
“Couple of hours ago, I think.”
“I’ll walk him to Ally’s and back to say hi before we go. Will that be enough time for you to finish?”
“Yeah, but you don’t want to watch me work?” he asked, shaking his denim-clad ass at me.
I laughed and walked to the hooks on the wall that Bennett had installed for Benny’s leash and other supplies.
“Oh, I always want to watch you work. But given Calvin’s presence, I’ll just get hard watching you and then be left wanting. This is better for all of us.”
“The one day he shows up this week,” Bennett sighed, twisting off a lug nut.
“Are you ever going to fire him?” I asked. “Because he truly is shit at this job and he smells like cocaine.”
“He smells like cocaine?”
“Yes, Mr. Alpha Nose. You probably assumed that scent is just one of his cleaning agents—which he does also smell like—but it’s coke. Your employee is high right now.”
Bennett shook his head. “Fuck him.”
“Gonna fire him now?” I asked.
“Yes, but I need a few weeks to find someone else because I don’t want to take the financial hit of closing the detailing services completely.”
“Okay,” I said. I walked over to Bennett and put my hands on his chest. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I love you.”
He grinned at me and kissed me, teasing my lips with his tongue. “I love you too.”
Benny brushed against my leg, tail wagging, and nosed the leash in my hand.
Bennett bent down and scratched him behind the ears. “Make sure he doesn’t eat anything on the sidewalk. He was trying to eat everything this afternoon. Oh, and he’s supposed to sit before you cross the street to practice waiting.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Are you finished telling me how to take care of our dog?”
Bennett smiled sheepishly. “Oops?”
I snorted. “Yeah, oops.” I wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him against me. “I love that your heart is basically just mush for this puppy.”
“Mmm,” Bennett said, scent marking my neck. “Both of you. I’m putty in your hands, handsome. I don’t know why everyone acts like alphas are the strong ones when I am literally rendered useless against your smile.”
I scent marked him back and gave him another kiss. “Nothing makes me happier than watching you melt for me.”