Page 74 of Every Hidden Truth

Rolling us onto our sides, Ben settled his head on the pillow, our noses brushing. Our legs entwined, the sheets pooling around our thighs. I admired the view, dragging my fingertips over the curve of his hip.

He conducted his own perusal, hands mapping my chest, then smoothing over my waist to cup the top of my ass. “You have dimples on your back,” he whispered like he was sharing a secret.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He smiled a little shyly, like he hadn’t just had his mouth on me. “It’s, um, it’s really sexy.”

My entire body lit up at the timid compliment. “Thanks.” My fingers played with the sparse curls smattering his chest. “I love this.”

He glanced down. “There’s not much there.”

I shrugged. “I still like it.”

Ben smiled through the shy insecurity swirling in his eyes, and I wondered if I was the first person to see him naked. Well, not counting the drunk girls he’d slept with, at least. I didn’t know how far he’d gone with his ex, and to be honest, it didn’t matter. But there was a small caveman piece of my brain that hoped I was the first person he’d chosen to share this with.

After a never-ending moment of eye contact, his gaze lowered, and he scanned my body from head to toe. I tried not to blush, praying he wouldn’t be disappointed in what he saw. He took his time studying every inch of me, and by the time he made it back to my eyes, my breathing was labored and choppy.

My eyes remained fixed on his face. There was a significance to this moment, and I didn’t want to miss it. Whether he felt the heaviness in the air or not, I couldn’t tell, but our eyes held as his hand cupped the side of my neck.

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”

The mushy sentiment shouldn’t have punched through me the way it did, and I had to swallow twice before I managed to say, “I’ve got nothing on you, love.”

The endearment slipped out, and I covered the possible faux pas by closing the distance between us and kissing him. His arms tightened around me, and we both gasped as our bodies lined up perfectly.

It was… different. It wasn’t sexual, but the feeling of our bodies fitting together seemed vitally important somehow. I’d never been in this position before, never been held like this by anyone, and I was overcome with the odd urge to run. There was a terrifying vulnerability to this that I had greatly underestimated.

Like he could read my desire to flee, Ben tightened his arms around my waist and brushed his nose against mine. A shudder wracked my body as he rested our foreheads together. Westayed like that forever, something unsaid vibrating between us. I wasn’t even certain what it was, but I felt the shift happen.

An unbreakable titanium knot coiled around my heart, locking into place as it forever tethered me to the boy in my arms. The power of the connection threatened to overwhelm me, and I clung to Ben’s neck as I tumbled into the ocean of his eyes.

The waves crashed around me, drowning me in the depths, yet it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt like I’d lived my entire life gasping for air and only now discovered the relief of breathing.

Was this love?

Ben searched my face, asking something of me I desperately wanted to give, but I didn’t know how. Did he feel this too?

He nuzzled my nose with his, his lips tilting in a contented smile. He beamed at me like I was the reason the universe existed, and my ruined, withered heart shuddered with the need to soak him in like a sponge.

The moment was too much, too overwhelming, and I was wholly unprepared for it. I did the only thing I could think of. I kissed him, lips moving urgently against his as I buried my fingers in his hair and molded my naked body to his. One of his hands cupped my neck while the other splayed under my thigh, hitching my leg around his hip.

When we parted, barely a minute had passed, yet I had flown around the world and landed as a new person. Nothing had changed, but everything was different now. IlovedBen. Like, bone-deep, iron-clad, irrevocable love.

It was terrifying and exhilarating. I wanted more than anything for him to feel this too.

His lips ghosted over my forehead as I took a moment to calm my heart and admire his naked body. He was gorgeous, and I told him so. He smiled against my brow, hand tightening on my hip.

As the silence settled around us, I closed my eyes and reveled in the feel of his body wrapped in mine. A phone pinged, and I groaned.

“Probably your dad,” he said.

I huffed and grudgingly untangled myself from Ben’s limbs so I could reach my pants lying forgotten on the floor. I dug out my phone and woke the screen.

“It’s not mine,” I said, dropping my phone on my crumpled pants.

I returned to my position beside Ben, but his phone trilled a moment later.

“That’s a call,” he said, pointing over my shoulder. “Can you see who it is?”

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