He laughed as he met his friend’s gaze. “I’m not going anywhere.”

And he wasn’t.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

Lucy’s face burned as her lips curved while she pulled out of the school parking lot after dropping Angie off. From where her phone sat on her dashboard, Benji watched as she turned onto the main street. She had said she would call him, but when he ignored her call to FaceTime her, she decided she liked that more. She liked seeing his face, especially when he was all tired and sleepy. She also very much liked when he called her beautiful. Particularly when she felt like she looked like dog shit. But under Benji’s gaze, she felt like a princess.

It was really fucking stupid, childish almost, but she sort of, maybe, liked it.

“Morning. Late night? You look tired.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I didn’t get back to the room until two. Those dudes are crazy. We have to be at the rink for morning skate in an hour. I’m dead.”

“Aw, does that mean I won’t get my goal tonight? I mean, you got Angie one. Where is mine?” she teased and he laughed.

“I’m getting there, I can feel it.”

“Well, you have one more night,” she reminded him as she turned onto the interstate. She was heading to Rayne’s house to pick her up to run some errands.

“Yeah, I know. But the question is, if I don’t come through, will I still get a kiss tomorrow when I see you?”

She met his gaze for a moment as she chewed her lip before looking back to the road. “Benji, my family will all be there and so will Angie. I don’t know.”

“We can sneak off like kids.”

“’Cause no one would suspect anything,” she said sarcastically and he smiled.

“I want to kiss you, and I’m going to.”

She sucked in a breath, her belly going crazy with butterflies. “I don’t know.”

“You’ll see.”

Her lips curved. “Well, one thing is for sure—I’m excited to see you. Like, the real you.”

“Yeah, Ms. Change the Subject,” he accused and she grinned.

“I’m not changing anything. We were done.”

“Okay, I wasn’t.”

“Oh?” she asked, turning off the interstate.

“Yeah,” he said and she watched as he sat up, his bare chest coming on the screen as he repositioned the phone. “Never mind.”

“Never mind?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, nothing. What are you doing?”

It wasn’t nothing, and she didn’t like that. Glaring, she snapped, “No, what? Why aren’t we done? You got something to say?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, I’m just tired.”

“Ha, and you say I lie a lot,” she accused as she pulled onto Rayne’s street. “Don’t hold back, Benji. If you’ve got something to say, please say it.”

“You’re being snarky, missy.”

“Because you’re holding back,” she said simply as she pulled into Rayne’s driveway. “What? Are you mad that I won’t kiss you in front of my kid?”

“Lucy, I didn’t say that, and I don’t want to fight with you—”

Frustrated, she let out an angry sigh. But she knew it wasn’t all his fault. Before she’d dropped Angie, she’d gotten the call that she would be getting a refund on her apartment and shop because they weren’t sure they’d have the money to fix it. The damage was more extensive than they’d thought, and the landlord’s daughter was scared Lucy would sue. She wouldn’t. They were good people and honest, but it fucking sucked. She was pissed, she was annoyed, and she sure as hell didn’t like how much she missed Benji.

Glaring at him, she snapped, “I told you this wouldn’t work. I have a kid—”

“Jesus, woman, shut up,” he said sternly and she glared, but her lips slammed shut.

What the hell?

“Don’t tell me to shut up,” she snapped and he glared back.

“No, why are you so pissy? What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Lucy.”

“Fuck, fine. I got word that I can’t go back to my shop or my apartment.”

His shoulders fell. “I’m sorry. I know how much you loved it there.”

“Yeah, it’s whatever. I’ll be fine.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, but don’t snap at me.”

She shrugged. “Sorry.”

He held her gaze. “All I was saying was that I fucking miss you, Lucy, and the first thing I want to do when I see you is wrap you in my arms and kiss you stupid. But I get it. We aren’t even together and it’s wrong of me to want that, especially with Angie being there. You’re right, it’s just hard. I get that you’re upset and I’m sorry, but stop throwing Angie in my face. I know you have a kid, and I adore your kid. So, yeah, I’ll respect your boundaries. Just know it’s fucking hard, but I’ll respect them.”

Why was he so great? And why was it becoming really difficult to keep her heart locked up? She swallowed hard as she looked down at her lap. If she was honest, what he said was what she wanted. She missed him so damn much, which was just dumb and irrational on her part. Like he said, they weren’t together. They were just talking. But that night together, wrapped in his arms as he bestowed those kisses on her had spoiled her. The fact he called her beautiful any chance he got had also fueled her need to see him in person, but that was insane. And the way he was with her when she was being a fucking bitch was award-winning. But they were just talking.