Page 88 of Just Enough

“You shouldn’t have been hiding at all,” he whispered close to my ear.

I turned my head toward him. “Says the guy that claims to have wanted to be with me for a long time and kept his mouth shut.”

“I don’t blame him,” Mom piped in. “You were never fazed at all by him in high school. If he had made a move then, I don’t know…”

I scowled at her while Benjamin moved in his seat next to me. “Ah, this is somehow depressing. Even Deb realized my feelings and took notice that you never saw this hunk of a man next to you all these years.”

“I might not have noticed you in that way, but I did notice you, Benjamin. You were everything to me growing up just as you are now… Just now there’s a bonus.” I grinned, batting my eyes toward Benjamin who gave me a hooded look that made my toes curl.

“Emily, your mother is right here.” Mom informed me. Sarah laughed next to her.

“Besides, I thought your feelings for me were brotherly with the way you coddled me all the time,” I added.

Benjamin sighed. “How many times do I have to say I don’t coddle you, Emily? I fucking see red when it comes to you and your well-being—just everything about you—because I care.”

I grinned at his outburst. There was something so sexy and satisfying that the subject of me got him riled up so easily. I never took the time to notice how truly lucky I was to have someone in my life that cared so much about me.

He saw my smirk and swore. “Emily. Don’t get me started.”

Mom and Sarah were watching us with interest. “So, there’s a reason I invited you over, Emily.” Sarah pushed her plate to the side as she spoke. She stood up, turned toward Mom, and Mom and I both gasped because we realized what was happening as she dropped down in front of Mom.

“Yes!” Mom said before she even asked.

Sarah laughed. “You’ve got to let me ask you.”

Mom waved her hands around. “Okay, then ask.”

“Will you—”

“Yes!”

I laughed, full of happiness and a bit of sadness at the same time. I couldn’t explain how I felt. Somehow, I was still thinking of Dad all alone in his empty house with neither Mom nor me.

______

Benjamin

I was irritatedwhen I didn’t want to be. I didn’t want to be one of those guys that got angry over past boyfriends. But the moment I saw Roger, all I felt was the urge to beat the shit out of the guy that looked just as surprised as Emily and I had been to see him at her mom’s. He had no idea we were together, Deb had no idea, and we had no idea Deb had invited him over. Not knowing about us either put us in a weird situation. I shouldn’t still be upset. Roger manned up and walked away when all I wanted to do was neuter him because he had been in a relationship with Emily for a long time. I had also wanted to throw her over my shoulder like Gorilla Ben did Rosie and disappear somewhere where no one could find us.

So who I always thought I was and who I was when it came to being with Emily were surprisingly different.

Which meant I was in over my head. Although I already knew Emily had a certain hold over me, it didn’t change the fact that a little over a week into this new relationship with her and I was teetering off an edge.

I wasn’t the only one in a mood when we left her mom’s place. Emily was quiet as I drove us back to the apartment. She had been since Sarah proposed to Deb. It was because of her sadness that I was able to ignore the bitterness in myself and focus on her. It was never hard to focus on her.

“Are you not happy for them?” I asked softly.

She never turned her head, she simply shook it with a sigh. “I am… I just… Can we go visit Dad?” She looked at me when she asked. “If you don’t want to go with me, I’ll go by myself when we get home.”

“Of course, I’ll go.” I looked at her like she was crazy, then I got lost in a word she said and smiled. “Home.That word sounds even better when it means that we are both going home to the same place.”

That earned me a smile. “We’ve been living together for months already.”

“Not like this.”

“I know,” she assured me. “It means so much more now.”

“Your dad’s happy, Emily,” I said what I thought she might be worrying about.

---