Me:
See you in about an hour.
It was closer to an hour and a half later when I pulled my van into Ben’s driveway. The girls begged me to stay home and watch a film with them, but Mom reminded themthatthey had homework to do, and there’d be no films until the weekend.
I knocked on Ben’s door, patiently waiting with a four-pack. Opening the door, Ben greeted me with his custom scowl.“You have a key, you know?”
“Figuredthatwas for work use?”I shrugged, following him inside.
He headed toward the kitchen, throwing over his shoulder,“Use it whenever, Bug.”
As if a magnet was pulling my gaze, I couldn’t stop my eyes from dropping to his ass. For once, he wasn’t wearing his usual smart pants, but had on a pair of grey sweats—My weakness.
It wasn’tjusthis assthathad my cock twitching, either. His black polo shirt stretched across his broad frame, showing every sculpted muscle in his back and shoulders.
I licked my lips. The man had no business beingthatdamn hot.
“I wasn’t sure what beer you drank, so I picked up these,”I said, trying to focus on something other than how much I wanted to eat him whole, and placing the four-pack ofCoors Lightonto the kitchen counter.“I hope that’s okay?”
He took the pack, removing two, and putting the other bottles in the fridge.“Yeah, I drink most beers. Thanks for picking these up. I don’t tend to keep beer in the house.”
“How come?”
Using a bottle opener, he flicked the cap off a bottle and handed it to me.“Honestly? I’d probably drink myself into a coma every night.”
I gaped at him, surprised by his response. Once he had opened his bottle, he held it out to clink against mine. Ignoring the awkwardnessthatdescended around us, we both took a mouthful, my eyes on his throat as he swallowed.
“So, uh…what do guys do when they hang out?”
“You’ve never hung out with friends before?”I replied, my brow quirking.
“Does it look like I have many friends?”
A twinge of sympathy hit me, and I wanted to ask what had happened in his life for him to have no one, but I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable; I imagined it wouldn’t be an easy story for him to tell.
Avoiding the elephant in the room, I shrugged.“Well, we’d watch a game to start with. Why don’t you have a TV?”
He rolled his eyes before nodding, indicating for me to follow.“I wouldn’t watch it. It would be a waste of money,”he said, making his way to the living room.
I collapsed on the couch next to him, glancing around. It was one of the few rooms Bella hadn’t spray-painted, and I hadn’t had reason to come in here before; something I was grateful for, the vile colored walls were almost offensive.
The enormous space was sparse of furniture, with only a couch, a bookcase, and a small table with a lamp standing on it. On one wall was an antique fireplace, the remnants of ashes telling methatBen used the fireplace regularly. Personally, I thought it was a waste of a room; it had so much potential going to waste.
“You don’t watchanyTV?”I asked, partly amused, partly exasperated.
“Nope. Never interested me.”
“What does interest you?”I replied, sipping my beer.
He sighed heavily, and I knew my questions were bugging him, but I was determined to learn more about this man.“I don’t know. Money. Money interests me.”
I scoffed.“Okay, but what else?”
“I don’t know, Bug,”he huffed, rolling his eyes.“I guess I like history stuff.”
“History stuff?”
“Yeah, like the World Wars and Vietnam. I find history interesting.”
