Page 120 of Resisting the Temptation
I just don’t know how to tell him.
We’re approaching Vegas when my phone rings, and my mom’s name flashes on the screen.
I really,reallydon’t want to answer, but I know she’ll just blow up my phone if I don’t.
“Put it on speaker,” Ben commands, and I do, even though I think this will end terribly.
“Hi, Mom.”
“I hope you plan on stopping to say goodbye before you leave.”
“Ben and I left this morning. We’re driving straight through and wanted to get an early start.”
“Well, that’s rude of him to take you away before you said goodbye to your family. Do you even know the trouble he’s caused? Hailey’s demanding I cut you off for how he spoke to us.”
Ben rolls his eyes.
“She’s one to talk. Hailey’s more dramatic than my junior high production ofSeussical,” I grumble.
“Your little friend wasrude.I don’t know why you’re even with him. You can’t possibly be okay being with a man that…aggressive.”
“I’m with him because he’s an incredible man. And he wasn’t aggressive. He was standing up for me. Something no one else has done for me my whole life.”
“You don’t need standing up for! If you weren’t so sensitive or so—so—dramaticyou wouldn’t find yourself in these situations. You can’t be the victim every time, Emma.”
“When it comes to Hailey’s poisonous tongue, I’ve always been the victim. You’ve neveronceprotected me from her. Even when I was a child. The things she and Amanda were saying were so cruel, Mom. And you didn’t do anything. Not to mention Ian’s racist comments.”
Ben pulls off of the freeway and into a gas station.
My mom sniffs. “Well, were they wrong? You got yourself into that situation in high school. If you weren’t so careless, if you stayed true to the gospel, it wouldn’t have happened. If you hadn’t been sodumbto throw yourself at—”
Bensnatches the phone from my hand.
“Mrs. Price, I will not tolerate you talking to the love of my life like that. Until you’re ready to apologize, you will not contact her again.” He stares directly into my eyes as he says, “I’m her family now—me and Jordan and her friends. The ones who love her unconditionally and want to see her succeed. I’ll protect her at all costs.” Then, he presses the red button to end the call and places my phone in the cupholder between us.
The silence in the car is only broken up by the sound of my breathing and the sounds trickling in from outside.
A car honks. People walk by, and their conversations carry on the wind. The gas station attendant’s tinny voice echoes over the speakers.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped,” Ben finally says, then steps out of the car, leaving me speechless.
I unbuckle myself to follow him, but he rounds the car and yanks open my door, leaning down until we’re face to face.
“Actually, I’m not sorry. Fuck your mom. Fuck your entire immediate family. You should have cut them off much sooner, Emma. But I know you want to keep the peace, and I’m sure cutting them off would have been hard to do all on your own, but you’re not alone now. You have me. You have Jordan and Kiera and your other friends. You have my family, and you have your cousins.”
“Thank you for standing up for me twice in twenty-four hours.”
“Emma, it’s not a hardship to protect you, toloveyou.Pleaseget it through your head. I’d do anything for you.”
I push him back slightly so I can get out of the car. I reach up to clasp his face in my hands, and his stubble tickles my palms.
“I love you.”
Ben’s eyes widen, and the biggest smile I’ve ever seen breaks out on his face. “Say it again,Dulzura.Please.”
“I love you, Benjamin Rossi. I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I’ll forever be grateful you’re the one who decided to stick around—to try. I didn’t want to do this in a gas station parking lot but—”
Ben wraps his arms around my waist and smashes his mouth against mine, cutting me off before I finish my sentence.
