Page 53 of Because of You
“Do we need to make a stop in town for condoms? I know it’s been forever since you got any. Yours are probably all expired.”
“I would say you could borrow some of mine, but I fuck my girl bare. We’re all committed and shit.”
I slap Jordan across the back of his head. “If Allie knew you were talking about her like that, she would string you up by your balls.” I’m mostly joking, and I know he is too. I have never seen a guy who loves his girl as much as Jordan loves Allie. He worships every inch of her and the ground she walks on.
“Probably, but it turns me on when she gets angry. Sometimes I make her mad on purpose just to see it.”
“You and Allie are so fucking weird. Come on, let’s keep going, or my knee is going to lock up.” Jeremy starts walking, and Jordan and I both follow. “And Ben can tell us more about last night.”
“It is definitely story time.”
“Worse than the old ladies for sure,” I mumble under my breath.
There’s a knock on my door just as I’m pulling on clothes after my shower. I open it, and Julie is standing there with her “we need to talk” face on. I sigh. Just when I thought maybe I was done with deep conversations for the day.
“Mom said you were up here getting changed. I thought maybe we could talk.” Nailed it. We may not have the twin telepathy thing, but I know her faces.
“Yeah, Jules, we should talk.” I step back and let her in, closing the door behind her. She sits cross-legged on my bed. I take a seat across from her, our knees touching, just like we used to do when we were kids. We just look at each other for a second, and I’m not sure where to start.
I take a deep breath and start to talk at the exact same time she does.
“Jules, I…”
“Hallie told us…”
We both laugh, and that breaks the tension.
“Let me go first, Jules, okay?”
She nods.
“I wanted to tell you with Hallie this morning, but she wanted to tell you herself. We weren’t keeping anything from you, I swear. Last night was the first time anything happened.”
“Hallie may not have been keeping anything from me, but you were, weren’t you?”
“What do you mean?” I know exactly what she means, but I want to hear it from her. I also haven’t gotten all the details fromHallie about their conversation, so I don’t know how much Julie knows.
“It may have started for her last night, but I think it started a long time ago for you.”
“She told you?”
“She didn’t have to. I know you, Benj. From the look of the two of you this morning and from what Hallie told me, last night was more than just a little kissing between friends. And you wouldn’t make that kind of move on a whim. You’re more careful than that. For last night to have happened the way Hallie told me it did, you have to have been thinking about it for a long, long time.”
Why do sisters have to be so damn smart and perceptive?
“I have been.”
“How long?”
I know I’m not getting out of here without telling her everything, so I just mumble, “Eleven years.”
Julie looks at me, slack jawed. “I’m sorry, did you say eleven years?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus fuck, Ben. Hallie left out some key details during morning story time.”
“Well, what did she tell you?” Now I’m extra curious, because if she didn’t tell them that, then she must have told them about…
