Page 88 of Bless My Body

He places our order on his phone and then helps me organize the mess I’ve made on my bed.

“Thanks for coming to help me.”

“Anytime, Red.” He sits back on my bed and pulls out his phone while we wait for the food. I

study his beautiful profile. It’s not fair that someone can be as attractive as he is but also funny and

smart and caring. In the four years I’ve known him, he’s never once done anything mean or

disrespectful. At least, not that I’ve seen. Not like the other boys that lived in this house.

I’ve seen Ozzy blatantly ignore women before when they tried to talk to him. Instead of telling

them he isn’t interested, he would turn his back and act like they weren’t there. He also literally beats

people up for fun. I’ve watched Wes sucker punch a guy in the face for kissing his sister. Before her

relationship with Ozzy, obviously. Luckily, both of their women have rubbed off on them, and they’ve

learned some manners.

But Ezra is different. Not once have I seen him be rude to anyone. It could be a show he puts on

for me, but I don’t think so. Ezra has a big heart. I think he tries to hide it sometimes, but deep down,

he truly cares about people. He’s the perfect package. Any woman would be lucky to have him.

And here I am. I have him in my bed, but I’m too scared to keep him for no good reason other than

I want to be selfish. I don’t want to be locked into anything long-term.

Why am I like this? Will I ever be able to commit myself to something or someone? But part of me

wishes I would give in to him, and part of me wants to keep him all for myself. But these are

questions I definitely can’t answer tonight when my brain is full of textbook terms I spent hours

reviewing.

“I can feel you staring at me.” His comment brings me out of my daydream about what life might

be like with Ezra. “What are you thinking about?”

“Oh, you know. Just the different ways I can repay you for all your help,” I tell him with my

sexiest smile as I reach for his pants.

His hand falls on top of mine. “If the food wasn’t going to be here in like five minutes, I would

take you up on this right now.” He leans over to me and hovers his lips over mine. “I don’t want my

payment to be rushed, Red. I want to make sure we’re both satisfied.”

He finally presses his lips on mine, but only for a second. He leaves me wanting so much more

from him, but I know he’s right. I’d rather us take our time than bust out a quickie.

He stands from the bed and holds his hand out to me. I take it, and we make our way downstairs.