As soon as Ben heard the door to his apartment unlock, he practically ran to it. “Where were you?” He was aware that he sounded more like Ryan’s father than . . . whatever he was to her, but he couldn’t help his tone. To say that he’d been concerned for the last few hours was an understatement. Panicked was more like it. When she hadn’t come home after four hours, he’d texted her. And when she hadn’t responded, he’d called to make sure she was all right. But when she hadn’t picked up—or replied to the voicemails he’d left—his slight worry had escalated.

She looked at him like she was surprised to get the question. “I left you a note that I had errands to run.”

“Yeah. I saw it.”

“Sooo . . . why are you asking me where I was, then?”

“Because errands don’t take more than a couple hours.”

“They do when you don’t have a car,” she said simply.

She had him there. “Well, still. I tried texting and calling, but I never heard from you.”

She pulled her phone from the small bag that was dangling around her wrist. “Oh. I haven’t checked it since this morning. It was on silent. Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.” Her voice sounded flat.

Ben ran his hands down his face and let out a sigh of relief. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I have no right to ask you where you’ve been. Whatever you do when you’re not with me is your business. I didn’t mean for it to come across like I was checking up on you. I just . . . I’m glad you’re okay.”

Ryan looked up at him, a tight smile on her lips. “It’s fine,” she said. But her body language didn’t match her words. Everything about her made him think it was anything but fine. Her eyelids hooded her usually bright eyes, and her arms looked heavy as they hung at her sides. “I’m fine.”

They were words he tried hard to believe, mainly because he wanted to believe them. The problem was he couldn’t. Ben waited for a moment before speaking. The slight quirk of her lips made him think she was going to speak again, but to his surprise she remained silent. “What? What is it?” He kept his voice low, calmer than it had been a few moments ago.

Bringing a hand up to rub her eyes, she shook her head but said nothing.

“Come here,” he said, moving toward her and pulling her against him. She felt so small, so delicate as he wrapped his arms around her. He began rubbing his hands up and down her back.

“It was a tough day,” she finally said, her face buried in his chest.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Ben replied, though he wished she would. She’d been gone most the day and come back with no bags or anything from her “errands.” He was more than curious about what had happened while she was out, but clearly she didn’t want to share more than she had with him. And when it came down to it, that didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that she was here with him now, safe in his arms where he could protect her from whatever had made her feel this way. He hoped anyway.

“Will you hold me?”

Her voice was so faint, Ben barely heard her. He brought his hand up to massage the back of her head lightly, and he planted a gentle kiss on the top of it. “Of course.” He would hold her until she was ready for him to let go.

And he hoped that wasn’t anytime soon.

Eventually, they moved to the couch and Ben allowed himself to calm down. He’d been so amped up, it took a while for the adrenaline to dissipate even once he’d discovered that Ryan was fine. He hadn’t even realized that he’d fallen asleep until he heard Ryan speak.

“What time is it?” she asked, shifting her body from where it had been sleeping against Ben’s. She sounded drained, but he couldn’t hear the sadness that had been there before.

“Time to move to a bed. This couch isn’t big enough for both of us.”

“I don’t even think it’s big enough for you.”

Ben put a hand to his chest, feigning offense. “Well, that’s very not nice.” He waited until she smiled and then put a thumb to the corner of her lips. “I missed that. I didn’t realize how much until it was gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

Ben’s eyebrows furrowed with confusion. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

She smiled again, but this time it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You never told me what time it was,” she said. “Our flight’s tomorrow. Or maybe today. I don’t even know if it’s late at night or early in the morning.”

Ben moved on the couch so he was lying next to her and brought his face to hers. “We’ve got time,” was all he said before he brushed his lips along her jaw until they reached her mouth. Though he didn’t know what time it was, their flight wasn’t until the afternoon. With the sun still down, he knew there was no rush.

He could feel her relax almost instantly, her body softening in his arms as he slowly kissed her. He was content to keep it to this if that’s all Ryan wanted. But after another couple of minutes, their lazy kiss intensified. Ben wasn’t sure who initiated the shift, but his whole body responded to it. It felt like his skin was coming alive as electricity seemed to surge underneath it.

He wanted to grind against her, feel her take hold of his dick and wrap her fingers tightly around it. The thought had him aching for her. But this time wasn’t about him. He didn’t want it to be. So when her hand began rubbing over his sweatpants, he gently moved it away. “Not this time,” he said before lifting himself enough that she could shift beneath him.

He let himself enjoy her fingernails tracing lightly along his sides and hips before bringing both of her hands above her head and interlacing his fingers with hers. He resisted the urge to bring his weight down so he could feel the friction of her body on his, and instead returned to kissing her neck. “This time is about you,” he said.

He wanted to bottle up all the little sounds she was making so he could hear them again any time he wanted. They were low and soft and sounded so full of pleasure. He tried to ignore how turned on he was, but the more he ran his mouth along her skin, over her breasts, the more he wanted to be inside her.

When his lips finally touched the sensitive flesh between her thighs, Ryan sucked in one of those quick, shuddering breaths before letting out some soft moans and a “Jesus, Ben. Holy shit.” Somehow she always made him feel like he was some sort of sexual god she was worshipping.

The hitching of her breath and how tight her pussy felt around his fingers urged him to keep going. God, he wanted her to let go, feel a release that he hoped was more than physical. She had one hand on his head, pushing him harder against her, as if there was some way for him to get closer to her.

A few seconds later, she was coming. Her whole body went rigid as her orgasm shot through her. He began to slow when she did, his tongue licking her leisurely through the last few pulses until they stopped completely. When they did, her body seemed to relax fully.

He kissed the inside of her thighs, up her stomach, and settled himself beside her. They were silent for a minute or so before she turned toward him, their foreheads touching. “Let me do something for you.”

He smiled, letting out a short laugh through his nose. He appreciated the offer, but there was no way he’d let her follow through on it. Slowly, he shook his head. “Just lie with me.”

She smiled back, adjusting her position so that she was tucked under his arm, her head resting on his chest. Ryan fell back to sleep a few minutes later, but Ben couldn’t fall asleep. He lay awake, watching Ryan’s chest rise and fall slowly in the dim light. When the sun came up, it seemed to illuminate Ryan’s face, somehow making her look more beautiful. “You okay?” he asked when her eyes opened to look at him.

“I am,” she said. And this time he could tell that she meant it.