4. Chapter 4
Beth
“ T his is going to be fun,” Benny said as we walked into the skating rink.
“I’ll even make sure you don’t fall, unless it’s for me.
” He winked before he half-jogged to the counter to grab a couple pairs of skates.
As he walked back toward me with each pair of skates tied together and hanging over his fingers, he swung his hips, and I laughed.
“For you.” He handed me the smaller pair, and I sat down on one of the many benches scattered around the carpeted area surrounding the rink.
“Thank you.” I tied the laces tight, wiggling my toes before I stood up. It took me a second to get my balance. Once I did, I rolled my skates back and forth. “Shall we do this thing?” I asked when the song changed and Madonna started to play over the speakers.
“Can’t say no to that.” He laughed and held out his arm.
When we got to the edge of the carpet, I paused, staring at the transition from the bright pattern to the smooth, polished-wood surface. “You don’t have to be nervous,” Benny said, dropping his arm to grab my hand.
“Oh, I’m not.” I giggled when he tilted his head like he hadn’t been expecting that answer. “I’ve been roller skating since I was like seven years old because my older sister got invited to a lot of parties, and she always had to take me with her.”
“I bet she loved that.” He chuckled, watching while I stepped onto the wood and turned around on the skates to face him.
Then I shook my head, giggling. “She hated it actually. Nobody wants to drag their younger sister along with them when they go out with their friends, even if they’re only thirteen and it’s not the end of the world.
” I shrugged, remembering the way my sister would throw a fit each time our parents demanded that she take me with her.
I think they just wanted us both out of the house at the same time.
“She especially hated that I was a better skater than her.”
“Oh, were you?” He smirked like he was ready for a challenge. I took a deep breath and swallowed the competitive lump that started to form in my throat—the one that usually got my sister and me sent to our rooms.
“I was. I bet I skate better than you too,” I said. Apparently I never learned my lesson growing up. “Come get me.”
Then I skated away before Benny had even fully stepped onto the rink himself.
The same music that was currently on the tape in my Walkman played overhead and made my hips sway while I rounded the corner.
When I turned around to skate backward, Benny was still near the entrance.
He moved slowly, like he was still trying to find his balance.
“Are you coming?” I asked, giggling when he narrowed his eyes.
He nodded. “Yeah, it just takes me a second to warm up!” I rounded the last corner quickly, coming up behind him and stopping next to him.
“Do you know how to skate?” When he pursed his lips slightly, I took it to mean he knew how to skate well enough that he thought he’d be the one leading me in laps while I struggled to balance.
“Of course I do.” He smirked. “I just didn’t expect you to be so good at it.
What else are you so good at?” Benny winked, and my stomach sank.
Surely he wasn’t looking for me to tell him that I was good at algebra or that I made really good cinnamon rolls.
What would he do when he found out I had never done any of the things he was picturing me excelling at?
I shrugged. “Maybe you’ll find out sometime.” Who doesn’t love cinnamon rolls?
“I’d like that.” Benny took my hand, pulling me toward him as if he had lost all interest in pretending he could skate circles around me. “Hey, what do you say we get out of here? Go someplace a little quieter? I want to get to know you—see what else you’ll surprise me with.”
“Sure,” I said. I hadn’t ever had a guy so interested in getting to know me. Usually they didn’t look past the stack of books to really see me. “What do you have in mind?”
Benny took my hand, skating slowly back toward the carpet.
When he almost came close to losing his balance, he tightened his grip, and I bit back a giggle.
“I was thinking a movie at my place? We just got a new VCR.” He looked relieved when he was back on the carpet and even more so when he was at the bench.
“Do you have snacks too?” I sat on the bench next to him, pulling the lace and kicking off the loosened skates.
“Of course I do.”
When I untied the second skate, I looked at him and shrugged. “Then I’m in.”
“Come on in,” Benny said, opening the apartment door to an empty living room. “My roommate should be gone.”
I looked around the too-quiet-for-there-to-be-someone-here apartment, noting the furniture was nicer than most college kids would have. “You have a nice place.”
“Thank you. Make yourself at home.” He was digging in a closet that muffled his invite but when he pointed vaguely over his shoulder, I assumed he meant I could get comfortable on the leather sofa. Is that real leather?
While I settled in on the couch, pulling the throw blanket from behind me and draping it over my legs, Benny set up the movie.
He clicked on the TV, changing the channel away from the fuzz until the blue screen brought calm and quiet.
When the blue went away and the movie popped up, he joined me, grabbing the corner of the blanket and pulling it so it covered both of us.
When his hand drifted toward me, my heart started to pound nervously. What if he was expecting something from me that I wasn’t prepared to give him? You need to lighten up. I couldn’t lighten up that way. I gulped.
He rested his arm across my back and over my shoulder, pulling me lightly against him.
Just as my nerves started to settle, the door opened.
I jumped, though my heart jumped higher and my stomach did a somersault.
Standing in the doorway was the same man from the bar that had seen me choke on a tequila shot and gasp for air like it was my last breath.
I wasn’t even sure if he recognized me before my cheeks started to get warmer.
“Am I interrupting something?” he asked, closing the door behind him and moving through the room like he didn’t care about the answer.
“We’re just watching Wayne’s World. ” Benny nodded at the TV that I had nearly forgotten was playing. “This is Beth. Beth, this is my roommate, Carter.”
The longer his roommate stood there, the more intensely I could feel his stare on me, and the darker I knew my cheeks were turning. “It’s nice to meet you,” I said, wishing I could disappear into the cushions.
“Same here.” But the way he looked at me was full of recognition—he knew he recognized me for the same reason I recognized him.
“You wanna stay and watch?” Benny nodded at the TV, interrupting the awkwardly familiar silence.
Please say no. Please say no.
“Sure,” Carter said, sitting in the chair off to the side. “I don’t have anything better to do.”
Benny grabbed the remote, turning up the volume before he pulled me closer to him again and settled into the cushion. “Now where were we?”
The movie I had little to no interest in started to play.
Less than a few minutes later, Benny was draping his arm across my shoulders and leaning close enough I could smell the expectation in the warm breath on my neck.
It was followed by a gentle kiss on my cheek that only made my blush feel darker.
When he kissed me again, I sucked in a deep breath that he took as encouragement.
“I thought you were watching the movie,” Carter said, looking from the corner of his eye at what he must’ve assumed was more than what it was.
“We are.” He clearly wasn’t. Benny was nuzzling his nose against my hairline, and I grew more uncomfortable with each goosebump.
His roommate stood up, and I wished he’d stay. If he stayed, then this probably wouldn’t go any further, and maybe we would actually watch the movie. “I’m beat. I’m crashing.” Damn it.
“Alright, bro. Have a good night.” Benny barely paused while Carter walked away; when he was just barely out of earshot, his lips were back on my neck. “Finally I have you to myself. Now we can really enjoy the movie.”
His hand moved to my leg, sliding slowly from my knee up my thigh until panic overpowered the nerves. “Wait, hold on.” I put my hands on Benny’s chest, pushing him back and earning a confused scowl in return.
“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll go slow.”
Then he kissed me again, but this time on my cheek while he held the other.
When his lips met mine, he held my face to his while I struggled to pull away.
Once he let go, I gasped for air that didn’t share his horny insistence.
“I said wait!” I fixed my hair, willing my racing heart to stop slamming against my chest. “Please?” I added more quietly.
“What’s wrong?” Benny looked disappointed but not hurt—like I had let him down. “I thought we were having a good time.”
“I was! I mean, I am. I just—” I wasn’t about to tell this man that the furthest I’d ever gone with someone was an awkward kiss or that I was completely positive I had never had an orgasm. “I’m not ready for… more yet. I’m sorry.”
Benny dropped his arm back into his lap and turned his now-grumpier-than-I-had-anticipated attention back to the TV. “That’s okay.” His jaw clenched when he crossed his arms, and the air between us that had been filled a moment earlier with my anxiety was now cold. “We can keep watching.”
“Would you mind taking me home?” I chewed the inside of my cheek to stop the guilt from taking over. Did I ruin the evening? I hadn’t meant to. “I’m just getting kind of tired.” I faked a yawn that I hope looked less forced than it felt.
“Sure.” He smiled, but his eyes didn’t. “Let’s get you home safely.”