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I did, side-eyeing him the entire time. The second the ranch and warm potato burst over my taste buds, I hummed a little in satisfaction.
“Mm-hmm,” Ben mused. “That’s what I thought.” After dipping the rest of the fry back in the ranch, he offered it to me once more.
This time, my lips parted immediately, and he pushed it inside, fingertips brushing my lips. Tingles raced over my scalp from the brief contact, and beneath the blanket, my thighs clenched together.
As if I wasn’t already invaded, Ben leaned closer, swiping some ranch off my lower lip with his thumb and then sucking it into his mouth. I glanced at him, the fry in my mouth completely forgotten. I don’t know how he did it, but somehow as I sat in a room filled with people, talking about how someone had literally tried to murder me while the fresh stitches in my head throbbed, I forgot about all of it.
None of it seemed to matter in that split second. Time had no meaning, other people had no presence, and food had no taste. All I focused on just then was how close he was, how he made my heart pound, and the fact that it wasn’t his thumb I wanted against my mouth but his lips.
“Chew,” he said. Even his voice was slightly intrusive for the feelings he stirred within me, and it took a moment for the order to sink in.
Everything came flooding back at once, and I wondered if this was how Matty felt when his senses were overloaded because it was honestly too much.
My jaw moved on instinct, chewing the food he fed me, but I didn’t taste it at all.
Ben’s two-toned eyes glinted as if he felt the chemistry between us too, and I stared so hard at him that the green and brown of his irises blended into a single shade.
“Good girl,” he murmured, caressing my chin before sitting back.
Conversation resumed around me. I assumed they were talking about everything that happened, but I wasn’t sure. The only thing I focused on was swallowing the food he’d put in my mouth and then doing the same when he fed me more.
“… So that’s why she’s staying here.”
My attention snapped back like a rubber band stretched too far. “What?” I said, whipping my eyes to Ben.
“Here?” Max said, surprise in his tone.
Ben glanced over at Max who had his whole sleeve of tattoos on display. “You’re the only ones that live off campus. The only ones I trust enough to watch her.”
“I don’t need watched,” I said instantly.
Ben made a rude sound. “Well, you sure as hell aren’t going back to that dorm.”
I grimaced, twisting the blanket in my hands. Hadn’t I just been dreading that very thing as we left the hospital? Even still, there was nowhere else to go. The dorm was where I lived.
“I just won’t go in the basement,” I said.
“And what about your roommate?” Ben asked, turning toward me, eyes flashing.
“What about her?” I asked.
“She was the only one who knew you were in the basement today.”
The implication in his words made me feel cold. “B-but she helped me carry the laundry. Then she went to class. It wasn’t her.”
“Are you sure?” Ben pressed.
I fell silent. How could he ask me that? He knew I wasn’t sure about anything right now.
“You can’t stay on campus right now, sweetheart,” he said, his voice gentling. “There’s not enough privacy. We have no idea who—” His words cut off abruptly, lips pressing into a thin line.
“Who wants me dead,” I stated, flat.
He pushed up off the couch and moved across the room to pace. My eyes shifted to Matt who was watching me with a concerned expression on his face.
“You can have the spare room as long as you need it,” Max announced.
Win made a sound of agreement. “Bro, sure. We won’t let anyone bother you.”
