______
Benjamin
2 years 8 months prior…
It was a week before Christmas. I had just gotten back in Wells, Virginia, and the first place I stopped was Crash’s.
I knew Emily was working; we texted daily without missing a beat. If one of us went too long without hearing from one another, we’d automatically assume something was wrong. I hadn’t seen her since the summer break, and I needed to see her face like something fierce.
We’d been having a mild winter, with no sign of the first snowfall, but the cold air was bitter this evening as I opened the door and stepped inside. Maybe we’ll get a white Christmas, I thought as I wiped the fog from my glasses. The warmth of the diner fogged them up the moment I stepped in. I placed them back on just as she saw me.
“Benjamin?” I grinned at the tickled sound of her voice. She walked away from a table after placing their food down. “I should have known you were lying when you said you weren’t coming home.”
I took her in as she walked toward me. The first thing I noticed were her curvy hips and full breasts. She’d gained weight since I’d seen her over the summer. If there was one thing about Emily, she never looked her age. In high school, she attracted older guys because she looked older. Her body was curvy and perfected so that it could be mapped out by someone’s hands.
It was a startling realization, but she looked her age tonight. Actually, she could have passed for a high schooler if not for the sinful way her body was built. Her makeup wasn’t heavy tonight like she normally wore it, and the dark red curls that she usually destroyed with a straightener were wild and stringy around her face.
I was so spellbound by how absolutely breathtaking she looked. I’d seen her every day of my life since she moved in next door, though it wasn’t until kindergarten that I got to know her, but maybe it was because I didn’t see her at all now that she had me mesmerized.
That’s funny, Ben.
She had always ensnared me, even as a kid, only I used to know how to recover. I used to know how to hide it.
She tilted her head at me and moved her hand over her stomach where she thought my eyes were focused on when truthfully; they were focused on all of her. “I know, I’ve gained weight.”
Realizing she’d mistaken my staring for the wrong reason, I lifted my eyes and met her tentative green orbs. “I’m just trying to decide if I’ll have enough days in town to beat the shit out of every guy that hits on you.”
“What?” She laughed, shaking her head. “You wouldn’t know who.”
“I will after you tell me.”
She stepped forward, and I grabbed her for a hug. She let me, quick to return one of her own. I enjoyed myself as I pushed my nose into her hair and breathed her in while I had the chance to. I even peeked over and looked down at her ass. “Your ass looks bigger.” Every guy talked about it in high school much to my annoyance. I couldn’t stand people objectifying her. When in reality, guys should notice how charming she was as a person, then they’d realize the beauty of her outer appearance was a bonus.
Like me. She needed someone like me.
She pushed me away, looked up, her expression equally mortified and amused. “Benjamin, that’s so uncalled for…” Her eyes raked over me. “I don’t talk about how big you’ve gotten.”
I smirked. “It’s all muscle.”
“I know.” She huffed. “It’s weird that you work out now.”
“Why?” I cocked a brow at her.
“Because you’re you.”
I was really curious as to how she saw me in that pretty little head of hers. I knew I was different from any other guy because she kept me around, and she never noticed me like she did the rest.
“Can I get a refill?” someone yelled at her.
“Sure thing!” She smiled quickly. “Are you eating?”
“Nah, I just wanted to see you before I went home.”
She shook her head like I was crazy. “You’d still see me in a few hours.”
“This way it was sooner.”
She studied me. “Go away, Benjamin, I need to work.”
“Wings later?”
She nodded. “I’ll grab my dad’s beer.”
I snorted. “Give it up.”
“Never. I’ll get you drunk. I’ll corrupt you yet.”
She went back to work, and I stared as she moved through the tables. Her nose crinkled and an absent look on her face. If she only asked for more of me, I’d let her corrupt me, then more.
_______
“What happened to that one girl you told me about?” Mom had been herself since the moment I opened the door and stepped inside the house.
“Where’s Dad?” I asked.
“There were some problems at work.”
That sounded about right. All the more reason why I kept holding off joining the family business. I knew that was my future, but I didn’t want to do it or anything else. I just wasn’t in a hurry to sell cars and help with a business where I’d be responsible for every employee that worked under me.
I liked college. I never struggled with schoolwork or hated it like Emily. I liked knowing I didn’t have to do anything if I didn’t want to either. I didn’t have any responsibility besides school and my part-time job at the college.
What was surprising was how my roommate, Luke, managed to get me going to the gym. I never thought I’d find a new hobby in it. I liked the endurance it built and required, and how it physically made me feel better…and the ladies liked it too. Even baseball never kept me in this great shape.
The only thing I missed while I was away was Emily, but I talked to her every day via phone or text.
“About that girl that answered your phone a few weeks ago.” She waited.
I sighed. “It wasn’t anything, we were just hanging out.” Fucking until she became crazy. I’d never been one of those guys that got all caught up in sex, but once a girl caught my attention, I tended to obsess over her for a while. That had been the case with Lauren until she showed me just how much crazier she was outside of the bedroom than she was in it. She was one of those that you’d never think was obsessive and stalker-ish until you saw her everywhere you went, the gym, the café… In your closet at a party, trying to catch you in some sort of act with another girl.
I wasn’t that guy. I’d never cheat if I was in a relationship. I wasn’t even with Lauren besides in the bedroom, but I wouldn’t have jumped into the bed with someone else even then.
Women weren’t worth the headache. As much as I wanted sex—I am a guy after all—the drama that came with females, in general, kept me from dating anyone.
“She had seemed sweet.” Mom frowned, then her eyes brightened once again. “I saw Kelly the other day, she’s still a doll.”
I exhaled. Mom was the very reason I dated Kelly in high school. Her parents were good friends with mine, and they always wanted us together. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have dated her if I hadn’t liked her in high school. Kelly was easy to like, I just wasn’t the best guy at dating. I liked having my own time to do what I wanted, and for some reason, girls seemed to think that they required all of your time once you were dating.
“Well?”
“She asked about you.”
“Well?”
“Well…?” She stood in front of me and placed her hands on her hips. “Aren’t you curious about her?”
“Why would I be?”
“Benny.”
“What?”
She sighed. “Nothing, I suppose.” She sat down on the sofa next to me. “Are you seeing someone right now?”
“Nah.”
“That’s good, I suppose. Plenty of time to find someone when you come back from college for good.”
I arched an eyebrow at her. “I’m just nineteen, I’m sure I’ll find someone that’s worth the effort and time it takes to please y’all females.”
She smirked. “That’s my boy. Let’s not settle then.”
“Want anything from town?” I asked her, standing up.
She shook her head. “Where are you going?”
“Pizza Hut to pick up the food I ordered.”
At the mention of mine and Emily’s favorite place, she scowled. “Are you going next door to hang out with Emily?”
“Yep.”
“Why are you still hanging out with her even now?”
“Why do you hate her so much?”
“Because she’s not good for you.”
“Well, you’re in luck, she only sees me as a friend.”
She gaped at me in horror. “You sound like you want her to see you as something more.”
“Mom, stop. She’s Emily. She’s going to be in my life, always.”