Page 6 of Beauty and the Nerd
“Carter, leave him alone,” Emma said leaning over in the car to stare him down. “I mean it. I don’t think you want anyone asking questions about the accident again or why I don’t want to be near you anymore, do you? We’re done Carter. Accept it, or I’ll let Ben drive me to the police station right now to tell them the real reason I was injured.”
“You’re not worth it, bitch,” Carter said, shoving Ben back against the doorframe before stalking away from them. “You know what Emma?” he said loudly getting everyone’s attention in the lot. “We’re not going to work out. I’d rather have a girlfriend that likes to have fun than a stuck up, stupid bitch like you.”
“What thehelldid you just call her?” Ben questioned, unable to stop himself. He was beyond pissed at the guy and nothing was going to stop him this time.
“It’s true, the girl’s as dumb as rocks but we all get why you’re still tutoring her. Hoping to get a little action, aren’t you? She’s not worth it, hotness only goes so far after all,” Carter stated, and Ben shook his head at him.
“You knownothingabout Emma. So why don’t you stop running your moronic mouth and leave her alone as she asked, huh? You want to know why she doesn’t want to go to the lake with you? Try the fact that the last time she was there,youput her in thehospitalafter having a car accident, from which she’s barely started to recover. Get over yourself and realize that sometimes, other people come first,” Ben said before stalking back to the car as the others watching the interaction laughed at Carter.
“Thank you,” Emma said softly as they pulled out of the lot, waiting until they were out of sight before leaning over to kiss his cheek.
“I wanted to slug him, but I knew that wouldn’t help you right now, baby.” He slid his hand behind her head to kiss her lips when they stopped at a light. “Let’s get you home so you can relax.”
“Sounds great.” She sighed softly, leaning back into the seat watching him drive.
It was nice to be able to ride in the car with him without worrying about his intentions. She knew that he was attracted to her, very attracted to her, but he wasn’t pushing them into anything, which allowed her some comfort when it came to taking him up to her bedroom when they got there. Her mom was back at work after staying with her the past week, her dad wishing he could, but his workload was insane after being given another sales rep’s area on top of his own. They’d overlapped cities, but not clients they saw, so now, her dad was gone nearly twice as long as he used to be, and her mom, hating being awayfrom him, started going out to meet him on weekends more since Emma was old enough to stay on her own.
Emma closed the door behind them, sitting her bag down on the desk. She took his hand and walked them over to the full-size bed, laying down as she took off the sling. Ben slipped onto the bed with her and brushed the hair from her face, kissing her forehead gently over the bruise.
“This is what I want.” She looked up at him as he slid closer to her, letting her rest her injured arm on his side. “I don’t want to pretend to date someone else. I’m tired of caring about what people will say Ben. You’re what I want.”
“Em, you know I want that too.” He met her gaze with a smile and soft kiss. “I don’t need the credit next semester for the tutor center. My applications are in, so it won’t help or hurt anything to not have one more semester of it. We can just let people think that this grew from there and no one will question our escapes from school this past semester. You can show people how utterly brilliant you are, show them the paper you sent in for the program if you’re not ready to show them your story. I know you’re going to be chosen as one of the winners. Your paper and your work there were too good for them to ignore. The bigger awards have some amazing prizes attached to them and with one, your schooling will be paid for.”
“Not everyone is as biased as you are Ben, they don’t look at my writing in the same light.” She couldn’t help but smile fully at his encouragement. That was what she wanted behind her, she just didn’t know how it would go for them once they left school.
She didn’t want to think about that right now though, not at all after the accident and everything that happened. She wanted to focus on them, on being together and happy—at least for now.
“They should be—your talent is incredible Emma. They already recognized that with your spot in the summer program. I can see you there going forward, letting your talent take youplaces the people around here would never begin to go.” His sweet words put hope into her heart. “That’s what you deserve Em, not a life here with the likes of some Carter wannabe. You can’t let them keep you boxed into this place.”
“I love how much you believe in me,” she said lifting her lips to his.
“I love you.” The words fell from his lips when she pulled back, one hand cupping her head as he gently traced his knuckle along her cheek and down her face with the other.
She gasped, her jaw dropping slightly. “Ben! No one’s ever said that to me before.”
“I’m kind of glad about that,” he said with a smile kissing her softly. “I like the thought of being your first.”
“Me too.” She leaned up to get rid of her sweater before letting his warmth keep her comfortable as she settled back into his hold. “I’ve never said it or anything like it to anyone before, never felt it before,” she added as he pulled her closer to him, letting his hands caress her.
“You don’t have to Em, not if it doesn’t feel right or if you don’t feel the…”
She stopped him with a new kiss. “I do feel the same Ben. I think I fell in love with you this summer and I just didn’t want to admit it to myself because I swore, you’d never look at me the same way. I was just a surprise to you, not entirely without merit, but not worth really knowing all the same.”
“Not worth really knowing? Emma…” Ben shook his head at her unable to believe how low her confidence was when it came to someone wanting her—the real her with all her thoughts and opinions, and not just her looks.
“From the first moment someone meets you, they want you baby.” He gave her a smirking little smile, his eyes twinkling with the desire he felt for her. “I’ll admit, I had a fantasy or two about you before I ever saw you on campus this summer. Youknow how incredibly gorgeous you are but there’ssomuch more to you than that. I discovered that in an instant and I wanted to be part of that, part of the real world that you belong to, not that stupid group you hang out with during the days. I know that’s not you Em. It’s what the school’s pulled you into, but it’s not you, baby.”
“I love you, Ben.” Those sweet words fell from her rosy lips as tears sparkled in her eyes. “No one has ever believed in me the way you do. No one has ever treated me the way you do, and I love it almost as much as you.”
“I love you too baby, every little part of you.” He couldn’t stop from kissing away the tears that slipped from her eye before stealing her lips showing her precisely what he meant.
Emma felt a blush attacking her as their kisses went on and on, feeling his body react to hers and she pulled back not ready for more than what they were doing. Her body wanted his touch, but her head told her to slow down while her heart simply went along for the ride.
“Em, what’s wrong?” he asked gently, genuinely wanting to know if he’d hurt her, if she was sore somewhere she hadn’t mentioned before, as she shut down and slightly pulled away from him.
“I…I just think we should slow down some.” She finally managed to get the words out as he stared down at her with concern on his face. “I…I’m just not ready for…”
“Em, baby, that’s not what…I’m sorry. I should have let you know that’s not what I was angling for right now. Yes, I want you, but I would never begin to do anything you don’t want, especially not after what just happened with Carter. All you have to do is say slow down or stop, on anything baby, I swear. I don’t care what you’ve done with others because I know with us it’s different.”
