Panties. Right.
“I love my parents, but they’ve never taken me seriously with my cooking. They think it’s a hobby, and any talk of school was always cut off with what they told me I’d be doing.” I don’t know why I’m baring my soul to someone I met yesterday. Sure, I have an insane attraction to him but … roommates. I can’t mess that up. Where would I go?
“Your secret is safe with me,” he says with a wink before popping another strawberry in his mouth.
Panties? What panties? They just melted off my body.
“Thanks, Benjamin. I really appreciate it.” My voice comes out high and squeaky, and he glances up at me. I clear my throat and hope that my voice will return to normal. “What are you doing today?”
“A whole bunch of this,” he says with a shrug.
“You’re eating a whole bunch of strawberries? Can’t that, like, give you diarrhea?” I wrinkle my nose.
Ben barks out a laugh, and his spoon clatters back into the bowl. “Way to make me not want to eat any more. But, no, these are the only strawberries I’m eating. I meant, I’m just hanging out, no plans.”
“You don’t have to work?”
“I’m a volunteer firefighter, and I work some construction with a friend. I don’t exactly have shifts.” He shrugs and then leans back in his chair. “Why?” His forehead creases suspiciously.
I worry my lower lip, embarrassed to even ask, but when his eyes drop to where my teeth are nibbling, I get a burst of courage.
“I’m going exploring today. Do you want to come with me?” I think time has stopped, and I suck all the air out of the room and into my lungs while I wait for his reply.
He leans forward and shoves another spoonful of sugary strawberries into his mouth before looking back at me. “Sure.”
Never has that word sounded more wonderful to my ears.
God, I’ve got it bad for this guy.
His looks mixed with my sexual tension have created a terrible, horrible situation for me.
Do not touch. Do not, under any circumstances, crawl into his lap, baby koala–style, and suction yourself to his mouth.
“Great. Let me go, um … change,” I say with a blush as I stand and try to make sure my T-shirt hem doesn’t ride up.
He doesn’t glance up as he nods, and I scamper off around the corner before I let my breath out, praying the whole time that I won’t wake up to find this was just a dream. I was so frazzled that I didn’t even put my ice cream up. Totally out of character for me.
Roommates.
Right.
7 Ben
As soon as Pepper rounds the corner—not that I was watching or anything—I blow out a breath. Those legs of hers are going to get me into trouble. She looked so sexy, sitting there in a T-shirt, her hair pulled up in a towel, and I had to consciously keep my eyes from straying.
Friends. Roommates. Mason’s cousin. I play that on a loop in my head.
It helps to envision Mason showing up with a bat after finding out I want to bone his cousin. Sue me. I’m a red-blooded male, and any straight guy is lying if he says that he hasn’t noticed Pepper’s … assets.
I made a huge mistake, asking her to live here.
I finish my strawberries before getting up to rinse out my bowl, and I put away the ice cream that Pepper left on the counter before rinsing her spoon off as well.
Straightening, I roll my shoulders and then my neck, loosening the tension I’ve had there since I talked to my brother this morning. I still need to decide what to do about his situation. I hate being the mature one, the one with a good head on his shoulders, but it’s what I’ve always been.
Pepper walks back in the room, talking a mile a minute, effectively pulling me from my thoughts. She threw on a crop top and jean shorts with tennis shoes and pulled her hair into a messy bun. I won’t be able to look at her all day when the promise of some belly exposure is always on the horizon.
“Hello? Ben?” Pepper has stopped walking, and she’s waving her hands in front of my face.
“Sorry. Sort of zoned out. What were you saying?”
“It’s okay. I was saying, you might want to change yourself.” She raises an eyebrow at my outfit.
I look down at the faded fire department T-shirt and basketball shorts I’m wearing and look back up, confused. “What’s wrong with what I have on?”
“Oh, Benjamin. You are a fashion disaster. Come on.”
She grabs my hand, and I fight the urge to wrench it from her grasp, as it shoots tingles up my arm and straight to my dick.
Not good. Not good. Friends. Roommates. Mason’s cousin.
She pulls me into my room, and I watch as she looks around, taking in my bed and dresser, the TV on top, and my bedside table with a stack of books, ten high.
“You read?” She turns back to me and puts her hands on her hips.
“No, those are my coasters,” I say with a smirk. “Yes, I read. I learned how to in elementary school.”
“Not what I meant,” she says flatly and rolls her eyes. “I was just surprised. Most guys I know don’t ever pick up books.”
“Must be hanging out with the wrong guys,” I tell her, crossing my arms.
“Must be.” She starts worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she stares at my books. She startles me by clapping her hands and turning toward my closet. “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got going on in here.”
I watch her throw open my closet door, and she takes in the copious amounts of T-shirts I have hung up. A few pairs of jeans and shorts fill the remaining spots along with exactly two button-ups for special occasions and one sports jacket that probably doesn’t fit me anymore. My shoe rack holds
