Page 102 of How We Loved

I place my hand on his chest. “Come on. Let’s get you some food.”

Hand in hand, we walk into the kitchen. Ben stands behind me, leaning against the island, as I open the fridge to see what we have to eat. I reach for some grilled chicken from last night and hold it up to Ben so he can see through the container.

He grabs it from me, all excited as he examines it. “Oh, is that chicken?” He looks back at me with a raised eyebrow. “Can you make me sliders with this?”

The expression he gives me makes me laugh. It’s so full of hope and desire over a chicken slider. People say food is the way to a man’s heart, and I know Ben will always be first in line when it comes to that statement. The boy can eat!

I take out the other ingredients I use to make chicken, bacon, and ranch sliders and start chopping up the chicken.

Ben, who normally sits on the opposite side of the counter, watching me cook, stays behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist, holding me close to him.

He leans down to kiss me again when I hear the garage door open and turn back to him with a devilish grin. “My dad’s home for lunch.”

“Duly noted—don’t try to sneak around with you during lunchtime.” He chuckles as he leans in to steal one more kiss.

To my surprise, he doesn’t let me go or move to the opposite side of the island. No, he keeps his spot right there, not changing a thing about the way he’s touching me or holding me as my dad walks in.

“Well, I’m glad to see you two finally made up,” Dad says, knowing Ben was here before he even came inside due to his truck being parked out front. “But I am curious why you both aren’t at school.”

Ben speaks up first as he leaves my side and walks straight to my dad. I’m thinking he’s going to answer his question, so I’m shocked when he holds out his hand to my dad, like they are meeting for the first time and my dad hasn’t known him since the day he was born.

“Tim,” he says.

My dad shakes his hand, obviously questioning what’s going on.

“I’d like your permission to start officially dating your daughter,” Ben states.

I laugh out loud as my dad pulls him into a hug.

They step apart, and my dad places his hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Boy, you two did make up.” He laughs. “Glad you finally got your head out of your asses.”

“Daddy!” I admonish.

He blows me off. “I’ve seen it for years. I knew you two would become a couple at some point. Ben”—he looks at him—“I would love for you to officially date my daughter. It’s what I’ve wanted since you were little.”

Ben beams with pride as he walks back to his spot behind me and kisses the top of my head.

My dad walks to the island and peeks over to see what I’m making. “Oh, sliders. Can you make me some too?”

I smile so big that it hurts, loving that I get to be with the two guys in my life. There’s no worrying about if my dad will like Ben or if they’ll get along. Ben’s already family. Everything is how it was always meant to be.

After we eat and clean up the kitchen, Ben and I say goodbye to my dad and head to school.

When I don’t reach for my keys, he gives me a kiss. “All is good in the world again.”

I kiss him back. “That it is.”

I hop in his truck, and he holds my hand as he drives us to school. We arrive just as the bell lets out for fifth period, so we head to the couches, where Ben takes his seat and grabs me to place me on his lap, where I belong.

I wrap my arms around him, kissing him softly until we hear Dalton behind us.

“You two finally got your shit together?” Dalton says as he plops down next to us.

I laugh out loud. “How come my dad had the same reaction as you?”

“Because we’ve all known what you guys ignored for so long.”

I smile at Ben. “Yeah, I guess they’re right.”

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