Page 20 of Every Hidden Truth

“She’s nice.” I didn’t know why I defended her when Ben clearly adored her. Maybe because she was the closest thing to a mother I’d experienced since my own mom left us when I was twelve.

“So they’re cool with us, you know, being anus?” I finally asked.

“Yes. They love me, and by extension, who I like. And I like you.”

Feeling naughty, I slunk across the room until my toes touched his. “You like me?”

He nodded confidently, but the tips of his ears colored. “Obviously.”

Since he currently slouched on the pool table, we were the same height, and I shuffled forward to force him to widen his legs. I slid closer until his thighs framed mine, and he tilted his head, the blues of his eyes darkening. His lips quirked in a wicked smile as I slipped my arms around his neck, linking my fingers behind his head.

“How much do you like me?” I teased, our noses brushing.

A shuddered breath escaped his lips, fanning over my mouth. “More than I should.”

I barely heard his whispered answer, and he cut off any reply I might have made with his delicious lips. Smiling into the kiss, I wiggled until our torsos met. His hands on my hips flexed, his fingers fisting in my shirt. I followed his lead, the kiss slow and lazy. I tangled my fingers in the curls at the back of his neck.

As we kissed, my pulse quickened, and it wasn’t long until I grew impatient. Ben was the epitome of calm control, but I’d never been gifted that way. I wanted what I wanted, and I wanted it now. And Ben just so happened to be the object of my desire.

My tongue teased the seam of his mouth as my hand snaked under the collar of his sweater, dipping down his spine. He chuckled against me, parting his lips. Coffee and chocolate met my taste buds as I eagerly explored, our tongues dueling. He pulled me impossibly closer, and I shivered when the hem of my shirt shifted and warm fingers tentatively grazed the skin at my hips.

Hoping to encourage him, I wriggled in his hold and sucked his tongue into my mouth. He moaned and touched me with more confidence, his hands gliding to my back underneath my shirt. I delved my fingers into his hair, upsetting his beanie, as I kissed him harder.

The need to breathe broke us apart, but I didn’t take my lips from his skin. I blazed a trail over his jaw, using my grip on hishair to angle his head so I could taste his neck. He murmured my name as his fingers dug into my skin.

I groaned at the bruising hold, loving the electric shock of pain crackling over my spine. “Shit, Ben.”

He released me instantly with an apology written all over his face. “Did I hurt you? I’m sor—”

“Shut up.” I smashed my mouth onto his again.

With a grunt, he nipped at my lower lip, and I gasped at the sting. I loved it.

“You’re terrible,” he panted out the words as he kissed my lips, my jaw, “for my self-control.”

“Self-control is overrated.” I hummed as he kissed the spot in front of my ear, his tongue shaping the metal of my piercing.

“Do you have any idea how much I like this?” His teeth caught one of the balls and pulled gently. “The first time I saw it, I thought it was so sexy.”

“Oh yeah?” I bit my lip to smother a smug grin. “Well, I think you beat me in sexiness. You look good in a Speedo.”

Breaking away from me, he snickered. “I knew you were checking me out at my meet.”

“How could I not? You were practically naked.” I tossed his beanie across the room so I could have unimpeded access to his hair and sifted my fingers through his curls. “Why do you think I agreed to go to your meet in the first place?”

“Ah, so it was entirely selfish, was it?”

“Definitely.”

Our foreheads met as my heart hammered in my chest. I was hard, obviously, and as his hands rubbed the goosebumped skin at my waist, I shivered. I needed him closer, but there was an insidious little voice in the back of my head that sounded like Eric, telling me this wasn’t safe.

But that voice was wrong. Ben would never hurt me. He wasn’t Eric.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” He kissed me softly, tenderly, and I melted like butter in a piping hot skillet.

“Kinda hard to think with all my blood flowing south,” I mumbled against his lips, and he burst into laughter.

“You have a one-track mind.”

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