Page 84 of Every Hidden Truth

Checking my side table, I verified the supplies inside before rushing into the bathroom. I wasn’t positive about the logistics, but since I was the more experienced, it was probably better if I prepared to take one for the team tonight. If Ben was into that, at least.

Once I was finished taking care of everything in the downstairs department, I washed my hands and ran my fingers through my hair to bring my messy strands under better control. I leveled myreflection with a hard stare and wet my lips, my eyes too bright and manic to be normal.

“Don’t be a wuss,” I growled at Reflection Silas. “Get it together and don’t act like a bumbling virgin. We want him towantto have sex with us after this so don’t fuck this up.” I took a deep breath before nodding sternly at the mirror. “Okay, good talk.”

I reapplied deodorant and brushed my teeth before checking my reflection once more to ensure I looked attractive enough to seduce my boyfriend. Once satisfied, I exited my bathroom and hurriedly cleaned up the small amount of laundry scattered on the floor of my bedroom. I turned on the bedside lamp to cast the room in a subtle glow before doing another quick scan of the room.

Clean floor, relatively clean sheets, and nothing smelled weird. We were good to go.

I scrambled down the stairs, hoping to make it to the living room where I could plan a sensual pose of some sort, but luck was not on my side. Ben stood in the entryway, his lips spreading in a smile as he watched me almost slip on the last step and fall on my face. I caught my balance at the last minute and straightened my stance, exuding a cool confidence I did not feel.

“Hey,” I blurted, my voice cracking like a prepubescent boy. I flinched and cleared my throat, trying again. “Hey.”

“Hey.” His amused grin was hard to smother, and he turned away to remove his coat, biting his bottom lip as he tried not to laugh at me. “I told Aunt June I wasn’t coming home tonight.”

And cue the fireworks in my stomach. “Okay, cool.”

I sauntered across the living room, pausing behind the couch as Ben hung his coat on the rack and tugged off his shoes. Facing me, he held eye contact as he stretched his hand to the door and turned the deadbolt with an audibleclick.

When neither of us spoke, Ben swallowed thickly and rubbed the back of his neck. He chuckled nervously, and my anxiety leaked away at the sight of his lopsided grin. This was Ben, my Ben, and even if I totally botched this, he would still like me.

With newfound peace, I turned off the living room lamp, plunging the house into darkness save for the light in the stairwell. I held Ben’s gaze with an encouraging smile and offered my hand in invitation.

He walked around the couch, stopping a foot in front of me with a shaky smile. He slipped his hand into mine, his palm cool and slightly clammy. I gave his trembling fingers a reassuring squeeze as I stepped backward, slowly leading him toward the stairs.

24

Cotton Sheets

We were tangled soclose I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. He trembled beneath me, and I burrowed into his embrace as our sweat cooled. His fingers dug into my back, his lips ghosting over my skin as he whispered soft words of adoration.

I curled into him as my eyes burned, my throat thickening against my will. I wanted to beg him to hold me forever, but like all things, this moment, too, would end. I didn’t want to lose this, whatever this was, not now that I’d found it.

“Si? You okay?” Ben’s voice was deep and husky as he cradled me to him, his hands running over my back in loving sweeps.

I nodded, unable to form words to explain the stinging moisture accumulating in my eyes. “Just… don’t let me go yet.”

He didn’t. He held me close, like I was fragile and irreplaceable.

After kissing my cheek, he slid his lips to my ear, and his whispered promise nearly broke me. “Never.”

One lone tear escaped the corner of my eye and trailed down my cheek, mixing with our combined sweat as it disappeared into Ben’s neck.

Wow,I thought.So this is what it feels like.

Warm and sated, I woke from the memory to the sound of Ben’s deep breathing in my ear. Blinking my eyes against the sun streaming through my open blinds, I burrowed into my pillow to hide from the light.

I must have forgotten to shut my blinds last night. I had been rather distracted, hadn’t I?

With a satisfied smile, I basked in the smell of spring soap drenching my sheets and the hot, deliciously naked body framing my back. Ben’s limbs coiled around me, locking me in place like an anaconda about to swallow me.

I snorted at the thought, and Ben groaned.

“Shh.” His garbled rebuke slurred against the back of my neck. “Too early. Go back to sleep.”

I tried to obey, but the sunlight was too bright. And now that I was awake, I couldn’t ignore the dull ache in my ass and thighs from last night. Not that the sex had been rough, but after a six-month dry spell, my body needed to get back into the swing of it.

Stretching the best I could in Ben’s vise-like grip, I tightened then relaxed my muscles in hopes of working out the leftover discomfort. It was the best kind of soreness, but I winced nonetheless.

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