Page 47 of Because of You
“Hallie, why aren’t you already at breakfast? Answer the door or I’m coming in.”
Hallie drops her head back onto the pillow with a quiet groan.
“She’s never going to go away. I think alone time is over, Benji.”
I glance over at the clock and see that it’s already after nine. “I’m shocked they lasted this long. You’re usually in the kitchen with my mom way before now. I guess we’re about to go public?” I phrase it like a question, knowing if Hallie changes her mind and wants to hide this, I’ll go along with it.
“No time like the present,” Hallie sings. “But, tonight? We’re doing all of that again, so don’t make plans.” She grins at me and jumps out of bed, grabbing the clothes scattered all over the floor.
I grin back, already making plans for the next time I have her alone, which fucking better be tonight. I drag myself out of bed and to the bathroom, gathering my own scattered clothes along the way.
Chapter Thirty
Hallie
Waking up in Ben’s arms and having an orgasm before breakfast is the best. The second-best is opening the door and finding not just Molly, but also Julie and Emma outside my door and watching their expressions as they take in my appearance. I haven’t looked in a mirror yet, but I’m sure that I look exactly like I was doing all the things I was definitely doing last night.
And again this morning.
I plaster a nonchalant expression on my face and play it cool. I wanted to talk to Julie alone, but I guess that’s not happening. The new and improved, hooked up with her best friend last night and can’t wait to do it again Hallie decides to roll with it.
“What’s with the wake-up call?”
“Where have you been?” asks Julie. “We literally never beat you to breakfast.”
“And what the fuck happened to your hair?” Molly is nothing if not predictable.
“We just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Emma says, looking at me with concern. “You look okay.”
“I am okay. Better than okay, I think.”
The bathroom door opens at that moment and Ben walks out looking delightfully disheveled with his hair everywhere and his clothes rumpled from a night in a pile on the floor. And I’m confused now about how I ever saw him as just a friend, because the way he looks right now is doing crazy things to my insides. And other parts of me. He doesn’t hesitate. He just crosses the room and comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me back into him.
“You think? If you just think you’re better than okay and don’t know it for sure, I better try harder next time.” Then he drops a kiss on my cheek, presses two mini-Reese’s cups into my hand—and where the hell did he get those?—and saunters out the door, calling, “See you at breakfast, Hallie girl. I’ll have your coffee waiting.”
“I want…”
“Iced coffee with milk and one Splenda,” he tosses over his shoulder, never even looking back.
Fuck me, he’s right again. “How do you know that?” I call at his back.
He finally turns back around. “I’ve told you a million times, Hallie girl. I see you.” Then he throws me a wink and heads toward the kitchen.
I turn back to my friends and snicker, wishing I had a camera. I want to remember their shocked, slack-jawed expressions for the rest of my life. They are all quiet for a second before Molly breaks the silence.
“What. The. Actual. Fuck. You have some explaining to do, Hallie.”
“Give her a break, Mol,” says Emma. Then she mumbles, “I knew I wasn’t imagining things yesterday.”
Julie hears exactly what Emma said. “What happened yesterday?”
“Ben was acting weird, and Hallie was acting all blushy. I don’t know if that’s a word, but if it’s not, it should be, because that’s how she was acting.”
“Wait. You and Ben were the last to leave the bonfire last night. When Emma came up, I asked her where you were, and she said you were still outside with Ben.”
“Wow, nothing gets by you, Mol.”
She points a finger at me. “Don’t Mol me, Hallie Kate Evans. Benjamin Parker—our Benjamin Parker—just walked out of your room in clothes that looked like they spent the night on the floor and you look freshly fucked, girl. Now spill.”
