Ben stands there watching as I draw Ivy against my body. I glare at him over the top of her head, and he takes the hint, grabbing her bags with one hand. I bury my lips against her hair, breathing her in. I tighten my hold on her, sending him a clear message. She’s mine, dickhead. Don’t even think about it.
Staring him down, Ben is the first to look away. Good, he’s going to miss quite a show. I bend, capturing Ivy’s lips with my own. She’s a little timid at first, knowing that Ben is probably watching. But it’s not long before she gets swept up in the kiss, moaning against my mouth. I spread my fingers firmly across her back, allowing my thumbs to come forward and play with her breasts. This way, Ben can’t see what I’m doing to her and she opens herself up to me even more. She can’t get enough of me touching them, and I’ve come up with many ingenious ways of fondling her over the past couple of months. I’m all about giving my woman what she wants when she wants it in order to keep her satisfied.
But Ben seems annoyed by our public display of affection as he impatiently beeps the horn. “C’mon, Ivy. We gotta go,” he calls out from behind the wheel.
She pulls away from my lips breathless, my thumbs still circling her nipples. “Ah,” she sighs. “You can’t keep doing that or I’ll never leave.”
“That’s my intention.” I grin down at her as she places her tiny hands on top of my large ones. She hooks her fingers through mine, reluctantly drawing me away from her body.
“I’m going to miss you so much.” She peers up at me as her eyes fill with tears.
“Hurry up and do what you have to do.” I take a deep breath, willing myself to let her go. “I’ll be waiting.”
“You better be.” She tilts her chin, making a valiant effort to smile as her bottom lip starts to tremble.
“I’ll be counting the hours until you’re back in my arms.” I try to encourage her, but it’s hard. I don’t want her anywhere but at my side.
Ben beeps again, and she turns around to indicate she’s coming.
“I love you, Eric Young,” she cries, standing on her tiptoes to give me a quick peck on the cheek.
I want to grab her and hold her close, but I don’t. I know she has to go. It’s getting late, and I don’t want her rushing. Hearing her say my name gives me an idea—it might be just the thing I need to endure this separation until she returns.
“I love you, you crazy girl,” I whisper as she walks backward toward Ben’s truck, never taking her eyes off me.
She gets in and barely has her seatbelt buckled when Ben tears out of the driveway, hitting the road with a cloud of dust forming in his wake. He’s no doubt showing off for her. But he better cut the crap and slow down.
Because he has my whole world riding next to him…
Chapter Five
Ivy
I don’t like the idea of being alone with a teenage boy.
I focus on the acres of farmland flying by in order to calm my nerves—anything to distract myself from reliving some pretty bad memories. It’s been three months since Ryan tried to force himself on me, and I’m a little on edge from being in a similar situation. I’ve seen the way Ben looks at me when Eric’s not around. He has that quarterback swagger, and he’s used to having girls fall at his feet. He’s heard me fooling around with Eric on multiple occasions, and his eyes linger on certain areas of my body that they shouldn’t.
I cringe inside, wondering if he’s seen me naked, and it brings the whole thing with Ryan flooding back. I can’t stand the thought of another horny guy jerking off to me. Look where it led the last time. I have to be more careful. I need to maintain control. Ben may view me as a piece of meat, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to get a taste.
The windows are down and the radio is blasting. He hasn’t really said much. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of his. I’m blatantly aware of his physicality, his tattooed biceps bulging through the sleeves of his t-shirt. If I had to defend myself against him, I don’t think I’d win. He’s way stronger than I am. It wouldn’t be a fair fight, that’s for sure. Now would be the time to establish some boundaries.
“Could you roll up the windows? I’m getting blown to bits over here,” I ask him nicely.
He smirks but grudgingly complies. “I don’t know about you, but I kinda like getting blown.”
I cringe inside and mutter, “Fuck you,” under my breath.
“What was that?” he asks, turning down the radio.
“Thank you,” I respond, giving him a fake smile.
“See, you can be sweet when you want to be,” he snickers, egging me on.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He’s deliberately pushing my buttons and it’s killing me that I’m letting him do it.
“I don’t know. Word is you can be one hell of a tease.” His eyes shift over to me then back to the road.
“Excuse me?” I can’t believe the taunts that are coming out of his mouth.
“You heard me. Or maybe you’d like to explain just what exactly went on between you and Ryan Price.” He stops sharply, throwing me back against the seat as the car he’s tailgating hits the brakes.
“Why? What’s he been saying?” I haven’t heard a word from Ryan after his fight with Eric. I thought he’d licked his wounds and was over it, but apparently not.
“He’s been talking shit about you all over school. How you came on to him in his Jeep. How he turned you down. How you slept with Eric to get back at him.” Ben spouts off Ryan’s lies so casually, like he couldn’t care less if they’re true or not. “Then you ended up pregnant, and Eric, being the honorable guy he is, took your slutty ass in even though you’re only milking him for all it’s worth because you have nowhere else to go.”
“Hmm, that’s it?” I might as well hear it all and pretend that what he’s saying isn’t affecting me in the slightest.
“He says you stabbed his stepsister in the back when she was the only one nice enough to give you a job and that you suck as a writer because she had to rewrite all of your pieces and…” He pauses as I interrupt him.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s more?” I ask sarcastically.
“Oh yeah. Apparently, you have this sick fascination with Cassidy and you want to be her or something.” He glances at me out of the corner of his eye, probably too afraid to look at my face.
“Really?” I can’t even speak. I’m so mad.
“You got yourself pregnant. You’re wearing her clothes and living in the house Eric built for her. So yeah, pretty much.” He shrugs like these phony accusations are completely logical.
“How do you even know about that?” My heart starts to race when I recall Eric’s reaction when he saw me wearing the shirt he bought for Cassidy. I’ll never forget the look he gave me as long as I live.
“Ryan said that the dry cleaner told him that you brought in something he remembered Cassidy wearing in one of the pictures they showed of her on the news, that you ruined it.” Ben shakes his head. “Man, talk about all of the puzzle pieces coming together.”
“Ryan’s saying an awful lot for a guy who should be keeping his mouth shut.” I don’t know how much I should reveal to Ben. He could go back to Ryan and tell him everything I say, turning this battle into an all-out war. I thought when Ryan found out that Will had told me what he was up to that would be the end of it, but apparently not. I’ve been living in a bubble of blissful delusion while Ryan has been launching a total smear campaign against me. I knew Lauren was out there making some nasty remarks, but I didn’t think Ryan would stoop so low.