26. Ben
I look over at Aida,who’s leaning on the armrest of the chair, her gaze intense as she waits for me to answer her. I know she’s curious about my family, she’s asked a couple of times already, but I just don’t want to tell her about them and ruin this thing between us. I’d been nervous as hell when I told her earlier that I wanted this to continue past the summer, but it didn’t make it any less true. This girl is nothing like I first thought she was, but holy fuck am I glad she moved in next door and called the cops on me. Because the more I’ve gotten to know her, the more I just want to spend all my time with her. And I haven’t felt like that about anyone in forever.
And the last thing I want to do is ruin it with my family bullshit.
“Ben,” she prompts when I still don’t say anything.
I blow out a breath as I reach a hand to her and say, “Come here.”
“What?” she asks, an adorably confused look on her face.
“Come here,” I repeat, smiling as I wiggle my fingers at her.
Aida stands and I immediately curl my arm around her waist and pull her onto my lap. Burying my head against her neck, I inhale deeply, loving the smell of summer on her skin.
“You know you can talk to me, right?” she says, her fingers in my hair. “I’ve already seen that secret soft side of yours, so nothing you say is going to change how much I like you.”
I lift my head, smiling. “Secret soft side. What secret soft side?”
Aida smiles, leaning in to brush a kiss against my lips. “The secret soft side that helps his grandmother when there’s a power outage, or who lets his friends crash at his place for the summer, or who cleans up the beach even though he hates the guy who organizes it.”
“Fucking dick,” I mutter, and Aida lets out a soft laugh.
“And the guy who was hurt in the past and decided to hide that hurt behind his party boy persona,” she continues.
I blow out another breath, wondering how it is that this girl has seen through me so quickly when not even my best friends can see it.
“I’m right, aren’t I?” she continues.
I shrug. “Yeah, maybe,” I admit, hating that what happened in the past still hurts me as much as it does. It’s not like I thought I was going to marry my now ex-girlfriend, but I didn’t exactly expect her to go and cheat on me a year into our relationship and after I’d invited her to spend the summer out here with me. I mean, I introduced her to my grandma, a woman who means more to me than anyone and then she just went and fucked me over, like none of that mattered.
“Ben,” Aida prompts again and I know if I really want to make this work between us, I have to talk to her. And I do want to make it work, more than anything.
“My dad’s a real asshole,” I finally blurt out. “He’s a workaholic and thinks everyone else should be too. He doesn’t give a shit that I never wanted to be an architect, only that it’s a family tradition so it’s what he expects of me. My mom doesn’t really give a shit either because she’s so accustomed to the life he gives her, including the interior design job for all the buildings and shit he designs, that she isn’t going to ever rock the boat.”
Aida doesn’t say anything at first and as she sits in my lap, I realize my heart is pounding in my chest at the verbal diarrhea that’s just spilled from my mouth. Fuck, I’ve never told anyone this stuff, not even my grandma.
“And your sister,” she eventually asks, her fingers in my hair again. “What about her?”
A small smile tugs at my mouth as I look up at her. “My sister is great,” I tell her. “She’s always been there for me, but it’s different for her cause she’s doing design at college. She wants to be what my mom is, so you know…”
Aida kisses me again, a little deeper this time before pulling back. “Well, I for one think it’s great you’re choosing your own path,” she says, smiling. “You should be proud of that.”
“Hmm,” I murmur, knowing it’s not as simple as that. It’s why I haven’t told any of them about my new job and why I desperately don’t want this summer to be over. It’s not just about going back to the real world, it’s facing the shit I know I’m going to get from my dad for disappointing him and the family name.
“So, will you live with your parents when you go back to New York?”
My gaze drops to her tank, to where her tits are pressed against my chest and it’s only when Aida reaches out and tilts my chin up do I smile. “What, just admiring the view,” I say, squeezing her ass.
She smirks at me, even as she grips my chin a little tighter and says, “No, you were deflecting, and I also asked you a question.”
Chuckling, I ask, “What was it again?”
“I said, are you going to be living with your parents when you go back to New York?’
“Christ, no!”
“So where will you live, with Jason or Troy?”
I groan now, dropping my face onto her shoulder. “Ugh, woman.”
Aida laughs, lifting my head up. “What? Tell me. Are you like, sharing with randoms or something?”
“No.”
She shuffles in my lap, her gorgeous ass doing all sorts of amazing things to my dick, which is already half hard despite the family talk. “So tell me,” she commands, hitting me with a look that I think is supposed to be bossy but is actually just kind of adorable.
“I don’t want you to think…. Ugh, fuck, you’re gonna think I’m a total wanker or something if I tell you.”
Aida lets out another laugh. “Well, I’m going to have to know if you’re serious about this continuing after the summer. Or am I just never coming to your place?”
My eyes lock with hers. “I am serious,” I tell her, meaning it.
“Me too,” she whispers. I lean up to give her a kiss, but she pulls back before I can, smiling as she says, “Come on, you can tell me. Where are you going to be living?”
“God, woman,” I groan.
“Ben.”
“Ugh, fine. I’ll be living in the apartment I got for my twenty-first birthday, okay? Happy?”
Aida stares at me, an incredulous look on her face before she suddenly dissolves into a fit of giggles. “Oh my god, why the hell were you afraid to tell me that?”
I roll my eyes even as I grab her ass again and squeeze it hard. “Because you probably think I’m some pretentious asshole who gets everything given to him, that’s why.”
Aida narrows her brow, but she’s still smiling and I can’t tell what she’s thinking right now. “Where exactly is this apartment?” she asks.
I stare up at her, wishing I knew what was going on inside her head. “Central Park,” I eventually mumble.
“Um, I’m sorry, what did you say?” she asks, smiling in a way that tells me she heard exactly what I said to her.
“I said Central Park,” I shout, my other hand moving to her thigh. “I got a Central Park apartment for my twenty-first birthday, because yeah, my family is rich, obviously,” I add, my eyes moving around the back deck of this incredible beach house we also own. “I did nothing to deserve it and I know it makes me look like a total dick, but fuck, it’s New York and it’s free and?—”
“It doesn’t make you look like a dick,” she says, her hand moving to cup my cheek. “You didn’t ask for it and of course you should take it. It was a gift.”
“It was something my grandfather designed,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I mean, it sounds pretty awesome if you ask me,” she says, smiling. “And a great location too.”
Now it’s me smiling as I look at her. “You know it’s near Columbia, right?” I say, raising my brows. “Maybe you should come and live there with me.”
Aida’s eyes widen, her smile disappearing as she whispers, “I’ve already rented an apartment.”
“Sublet it,” I say.
“Ben, I…we…”
Grinning, I lean in and kiss her, not wanting this to get too weird or for her to freak out too much. “I know, it’s new,” I say, giving her the out she needs. “Anyway, we still have a few more weeks,” I add, almost as an afterthought before kissing her again, deeper this time, wondering if it’s possible for me to convince her that I’m actually kind of serious.
“It’s not that,” she starts, her hand on my chest.
I smile. “I know, it’s cool, Aida, seriously,” I tell her. “But let’s get back to right now and what I want.” She swallows hard as she looks at me and I give her another smile as I say, “That’s you, by the way,” before kissing her again.
The next morning, Aida and I are lying in bed, the sea breeze blowing in through the open doors as she lies with her head on my chest, my fingers drifting over her bare back.
“What do you want to do today?” she asks, her hand drifting over my stomach.
I grin, knowing what I’d really like to do, even if we literally just did it. In fact, I’d be happy to stay in bed all day and do nothing but that.
“Well,” I tease, my hand slipping down to grab her ass and Aida laughs as she pinches my side. “You know you want to, babe,” I continue, knowing neither of us seem to be able to get enough of each other, especially now we have the place to ourselves. We’ve literally spent every night together since the Fourth and I fucking love it.
“Maybe so,” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice. “But I am going to need some food at some point.”
“Oh shit, that reminds me,” I say, suddenly remembering. “Grandma asked us over for lunch.”
Aida lifts her head, a smile on her face as she asks, “Are we going?”
Laughing, I shove my free hand through my hair. “Um, well, it depends on how brave you’re feeling.”
She scrunches up her face in confusion. “How brave? Ben, I’ve met your grandma before, I know what she’s like.”
“Yeah, but you haven’t met her when she’s with all her friends, have you?”
Her eyes widen and I can’t help but laugh. “We’re having lunch with her and her friends?”
I run a finger down her nose as I say, “Well, only if you want to.”
Aida’s head tilts to the side as though she’s seriously thinking about her answer. “How many of her friends?”
My eyes flick to the ceiling as I say, “Well, let’s see, there’s Fay, Mavis and Beverly. Carol too. Fay’s the one whose daughter and granddaughter busted us on the beach by the way, and of course reported it back to my grandma with some significant embellishments.”
She smirks at that, lowering her head back to my shoulder. “I’ll bet she did. But seriously, five little old ladies, how bad can it be?” I burst out laughing, my whole body shaking in such a way that Aida lifts her head again as she braces herself against my chest. “What, what’s so funny?”
“Oh fuck me,” I mutter, wondering how it is that I ended up with both the coolest and craziest grandma on the planet. “Well, even though Grandma is definitely the…I guess you’d say, worst when it comes to having no filter, the rest of them are also pretty bad.”
“Yeah, but I feel like I’m used to your grandma now,” Aida asserts, and I can only laugh at her cute naivety.
“Maybe so,” I say, brushing the hair back from her face. “But can you handle five of them together? And during their Pitchers and Porn meeting?”
“Their what?” she asks, her eyes widening again.
“Their Pitchers and Porn meeting,” I repeat, smiling when Aida’s mouth drops into a cute little O shape.
“I’m almost scared to ask,” she whispers.
“You should be,” I tease. “Because when I tell you it’s their monthly book club meeting where they sit around and drink pitchers of Long Island Iced Tea and discuss the latest pornos they’ve read. Well, that’s pretty much exactly what it is.”
“Pornos?” Aida asks. “Like, as in…”
Chuckling, I nod as I say, “Like Fifty Shades and shit like that. There is literally nothing they won’t read and discuss. I mean they went a whole summer once where they read nothing but werewolf porn.” I shudder at the memory of my grandmother trying to discuss with me the logistics of wolf-human sex and whether it still counted as bestiality.
“Shit,” she says, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s now starting to connect the dots.
“Yep,” I confirm, my hand grabbing her ass again. “Which means when we show up together and they’re half drunk and fresh off their latest porn reads, they’ll be?—”
“Full of advice,” Aida says, cutting in.
“Exactly.”
“Okay, now I actually am scared,” she says, lowering her head to my shoulder again.
I smile, my hand smoothing up her back as I murmur, “We don’t have to go.”
She turns her head, smiling against my skin as she says, “But I mean, it could also be kinda interesting.”
This definitely piques my interest as I grab her around the waist, hauling her onto me before flipping us over so she’s lying beneath me. Aida squeals at the sudden change in position, but all I can see is her. Her long brown hair splayed over my pillow, her gorgeous blue eyes sparkling as she looks up at me. I’m suddenly hit with an image of what it would be like to wake up to this view every morning.
“You wanna go get some tips, huh?” I whisper, blinking back the image as I drop a quick kiss on her lips.
Aida smiles, her hand snaking down to my ass now. “Well, I don’t actually think we need them,” she says with a smirk. “But it could be fun to go mess with your grandma and her friends. You know, have a little fun with them.”
My grin is wide, my dick once again hard as I close the distance between us, kissing her hard and deep. “You, Aida, are one seriously evil, but very sexy temptress.”