CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Bethany was pissed.
They’d left her parents twenty minutes ago and she’d asked Benny to drop her back at Lucy’s apartment. That clearly wasn’t happening. Instead, he’d taken her back to his house. They had plans to spend the evening together. Plans he had no intention of changing.
“Benny, I swear to God, if you get out of this truck, I will lose my shit.”
Her shit was long gone. And seeing as he was on a roll, he pushed the door open, fighting back a smile when he heard her growl. By the time he rounded the vehicle and opened her door, she looked damn right murderous.
“Benny,” she warned as he offered his hand. “I want to go home. Take me home.”
“You mean Lucy’s, or back to your parents?” Yes, it was dangerous to poke the bear, but he was pissed, too.
Making no attempt to move, Bethany’s arms crossed her chest. Being sure to shoot him daggers as he stood waiting.
“You really wanna do this here, in my driveway? You sure you don’t want a glass of wine to throw at me while we hash this out?”
She ignored him. Eyes still flashing with fire.
“Fine.” Pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a moment to pray for patience. It didn’t work. “You’re angry because I didn’t deny our relationship.”
It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, one that she answered anyway. “Yes, Benny, I am. We agreed—no labels...and now my parents think we’re together and you’re all buddy buddy with my dad and making damn dinner plans. What the actual fuck?”
Patience, remember?
“Guess what, B, the reason your parents think we’re together is because...we are together!” He was trying real frigging hard to keep his voice at an even level. It was not easy. “Whether we use some dumbass fucking label or not...nothing is going to change what we are, NeNe.”
No longer satisfied with just glaring, Bethany jumped out of his truck. Taking a step until she was in his face. “Oh yeah? And what are we, Benny?”
He was so over pretending this wasn’t real. His feelings weren’t real. It all felt pretty goddamn real to him. He may not want his heart shattering all over again, but he wasn’t too stupid to realize it was already too late to protect it.
“There’s a reason why you ran out on your wedding day.
Same way there’s a reason I’ve spent the last ten years single.
” He closed what little distance there was between them and dipped his head.
His face so close to hers that their noses brushed.
“You’re it for me, NeNe. Then, now, tomorrow.
..it’s only ever been you.” She inhaled shakily, moisture clinging to the corners of her glazed eyes. “And I think I’m it for you, too.”
His throat felt raw, his chest ached and the more she searched his eyes like he was hiding something in them, the harder his heart hammered.
Benny’s hand shot up as a single tear broke free, he was thumbing it away just as another soaked his skin.
“Baby,” he murmured softly. Swiping away more tears than he was mentally prepared for.
He didn’t know how long they stared into each other in silence.
All he knew was the evening sun was beginning to dim by the time Bethany’s mouth opened, but no words came, just a strangled sob caught in her throat.
He watched as her eyes closed, and she drew in a stiff breath.
A moment later, it wasn’t the defeat in her eyes that tore the last pieces of his heart apart, it was the words that followed.
“You broke me,” she whispered.
Fuck.
He was wrecked.
“I broke me, too,” he confessed just as quietly, letting his nose trace hers.
“I’m scared.”
“I’m fucking terrified.”
Breathing each other in, Benny let his eyes close this time.
After a minute, her quiet voice skated over his skin once more. “So, what...are we just supposed to pick up where we left off?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what we’ve been doing.”
“I’m not the same person I was when I was nineteen, Benny.”
His thumb traced her cheek one last time before tipping her chin up. Then his eyes opened, slowly finding hers and staying there. Letting her see everything.
“No, NeNe, you’re not.” His voice came out just as ragged as he felt. “You’ve become everything I always knew you could be...but you’re still you. You’re still mine. And you still own my damn heart, and you always fucking will.”
As his ears pounded and his throat dried to near dehydration, she kissed him.
Hard. And he finally understood that no matter how many lies he told himself or how many times he swore he was over her—he never stood a chance.
Because when it came to Bethany Mayer, Benny had always been all in.
A decade hadn’t changed a damn thing. It had only made him love her harder.
***
“What do you think?”
Benny took another glance around at the shitty one bed apartment.
Like the shop downstairs, it needed a new lick of paint.
The dated floorboards would need a polish or maybe even replaced altogether.
There was also a suspicious damp spot in the corner of the popcorn ceiling above what he was assuming was supposed to be a kitchen.
In reality, it was one sad looking counter and a sink.
“I think you need to stop being ridiculous and move in with me.”
Okay, while it may have only been a month since Bethany had agreed to being in an actual label covered relationship with him, they weren’t exactly your typical couple.
“Benny,” she huffed. “You’re the one being ridiculous. We can’t just move in together. It’s only been a few months!”
Three months. It had been three.
His head jerked back to where Bethany stood, looking stunning in a navy pinstripe dress that clung to every single curve. Her usual confident demeanor she’d arrived with was nowhere to be found though, her hands were now twisting nervously at her waist as her gaze darted around the bare space.
“It’s been fifteen years, NeNe,” he countered, stalking back over to her.
“Or...” Those green eyes flashed. Her shoulders visibly softening with every step he took. He liked that. “It was five years...ten years ago.”
Coming to a stop in front of her, his lips tugged into a slow smile as his hand slipped into her hair. He used his hold on her to gently tip her face up to his until their gazes locked.
“Fifteen, baby. That’s how long I’ve loved you.”
He didn’t miss Bethany’s swift inhale. He hadn’t used the L word, not until today. He didn’t want to scare her away. But enough was enough. There was no way he was going to let her move into this place. Not when he had a house. One he very much wanted her in every night.
She was studying him. No doubt compiling a list of questions in her head. Or a damn pros and cons list.
“Move in with me,” he repeated.
“I-I,” her mouth slammed shut. It opened and closed once more before she finished her sentence. “The apartment comes with the lease. It’s part of the deal.”
He already knew the deal she’d negotiated with the town council.
She didn’t want to take on the shop lease just yet, not with another year left in her residency.
So, she asked them to hold it for six months.
In exchange, she agreed to start renting the apartment above the shop right away.
It was a good faith gesture, a kind of deposit to secure the space until she was ready to begin work on it.
“That’s fine. We’ll start renovations on the apartment right away. When it’s done, we can start storing equipment, furniture and anything you might get for the practice over the next year.”
It made sense. A head start on all the work they needed to complete would save them time and money. And having an on-site place for storage was even better.
“So, I’d pay rent but not live here?”
“Yes.”
“And move in with you?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’d be paying rent twice? That’s dumb.”
What was dumb was that she still wasn’t getting it.
“B, why the hell would you be paying me rent?” She went to answer, sassy narrow eyes scolding him. “You’re mine, which makes my place yours.”
Bethany snorted. “Benny,” she chastised.
“Bethany,” he mimicked.
“You’re insane.”
“And you’re stubborn.” Benny dipped his head until their mouths lined up. “Move in with me.”
“Benny.” She sighed. “I—”
“Move in with me,” he said again. Cutting her off. He wasn’t going to give her time to overthink. He’d thought enough about it for both of them.
Letting his lips brush hers, he repeated his demand. “Move in with me, baby.” Another brush, this time his touch lingered, long enough to swipe his tongue across the seam. “Let me love you the way I want to, NeNe.”
He captured her lips that were already parted and waiting. Swallowing Bethany’s whimper as he used his free hand to grip her hips and haul her body into him.
This was a fight he was determined to win, and he was willing to play dirty.