AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At that, Ben smiled. “It still can be.”
Nova looked over at him. “Sweetheart, we wouldn’t be able to make it back by midnight.”
Ben’s smile widened. “Well, lucky for you, Chanukah isn’t over until sunset tomorrow. So as long as you don’t kick me to the curb and ignore me until seven…”
Nova’s eyes widened. “Seriously? You’re not making that up?”
“Look it up yourself,” Ben said, then bit his lip when Nova’s eyes went dark with want. “But no matter what day it is, I’m yours.”
Nova lunged over the space between them, grabbing Ben, and he kissed him wet and messy. “Come home with me.”
Ben stiffened, then shook his head. “Come home withme.”
Nova pulled back. “Why?”
“Because after my breakup, I kept everyone out. I’ve kept my place like a little sanctuary that no one was allowed in, and I want you to be the first.”
Nova’s whole face went soft. “Yeah, okay.”
“Yes?”
Nova laughed and nodded. “As long as you’ve got warm blankets and something I can cook us for breakfast, yes. And the second one is totally negotiable.”
“I have both,” Ben said with a laugh, then quickly put his car into drive so he didn’t risk an indecent exposure charge right there in the gas station parking lot.
* * *
Ben’s only moment of anxiety came when he put his key in the lock and let Nova step inside. He wasn’t feeling particularly superstitious about letting someone inside his place for the first time, but he wasn’t sure if Nova was going to have expectations, and Ben wasn’t sure what he’d be up for. Literally or figuratively.
The whole mess with Daniel was winding down, but the stress of it all was settling in, and Ben’s body felt achy all over like he had a fever. Every time he blinked, he saw the wild, terrifying look on Daniel’s face, and he felt a pulse of the quiet fear when he realized he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to get away unscathed.
It was a mess. It felt surreal, like it should have been in a movie or in a book and not in real life. He knew people like Daniel existed, but Ben had always been such a quiet recluse that he never thought something like that would cross the threshold of his life.
Then again, things might have been a lot different if he hadn’t had Nova. Ben still would have escaped the date, but he might have been coming home entirely alone with nothing but his weighted blanket to take the edge off. The fact that Nova was there, crowding against him in the living room with a warm hand against the back of his neck and careful lips against his pulse, meant everything.
“Do you want something to eat?” Ben asked after a long beat, trying desperately to reclaim his manners.
Nova laughed. “No, but you had to skip your dinner, and you didn’t even get the creepy sandwich, so if you want something, I can whip it up for you. Or order in.”
Ben shook his head, trying to hold back a shudder. His stomach was still in knots. “I don’t think I could eat,” he admitted. He finally stepped away to shrug off his coat, and then he took Nova’s and hung them both on pegs behind the entryway door.
He ran his fingers through his hair, then gave a weak gesture toward his living room. “So. This is me. It’s not much. I threw everything out after Taylor and I split, and I haven’t had the motivation to do much since then.”
Nova hummed as he moved around Ben and walked toward the window where the chanukiah was still sitting. Ben hadn’t bothered cleaning the wax off the sill from the nights he’d used it, and he grimaced when he saw how much had dripped down the wall.
“I also need to clean.”
Nova laughed softly. “Is this where it’ll go next year when we light it?”
Whenwelight it. Ben’s whole chest went warm, and he gave himself a moment to just feel it. “Yeah. It’s supposed to go in the front window if you have a front window.”
“What if you don’t?” Nova asked.
Ben shrugged. “Where people can see it, I suppose. It’s not something I tend to worry about. Which is one of the reasons my mom and I have struggled over the years.”
Nova turned and frowned at him. “What do you mean?”
Ben really, really didn’t want to talk about his mom right then. “We just don’t see eye to eye all the time.” He pushed past Nova and drew the blinds. “Can we just…”
