Page 66 of Inked Obsession

He sighed. “You’re right. I do. Maybe. Or perhaps we can just say that we’re taking this slowly.”

“Beyond having sex with one another?” I said dryly.

“Sex is serious. I’ve never been one to sleep around.”

“I know that, Beckett.” Even though him reaffirming it in my mind warmed me inside.

“Sex is serious, but we can be serious in our intent about it.”

“If it doesn’t work anymore, if we find that we’re better off as friends, then we walk away and continue our friendship—and stop looking at each other like we want to rip each other’s clothes off.”

He shook his head, a smile playing on his face. “Exactly. You have a way with words.”

“Not always.”

“Well, with me, you do.”

“Okay, then. We’re going to go in there, and we’re going to eat some amazing food. I’m not going to just eat a salad and pretend I don’t eat.”

“Please, get something that you want. It’s probably going to be good and I’ll want to steal some off your plate.”

“We can get a plate of fries for the table,” I added, and he laughed.

“I saw that in a movie once. I like the idea.”

“That way, we always have fries, and we never have to steal those off each other’s plates—even if we’re in a fancy French restaurant. They have the best shoestring fries.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Again, read it in a book. Or was it a movie? As for us, this, I don’t know exactly what I want, Beckett. Things are going really fast. Maybe too fast.”

“Then we take a step back.”

Cold seeped through me. “How far?”

“Our families know that we slept together because we can’t keep secrets.”

“We don’t want to,” I corrected.

“True. And because they’re Montgomerys, and Lee and Brenna count as Montgomerys.”

“True,” I echoed with a laugh.

“Well, since they are Montgomerys, they’re going to be in our business. But we don’t have to let it become more than this.”

“So we date, we hang out. We’ll be each other’s people for things to do when we’re not horribly busy.”

“And you can talk to me. Because I know there are things on your mind.”

Marshall and his family filled my thoughts. Same with my brothers. I swallowed hard.

“I need to talk with the girls. But, yes, it’d be nice to have someone else to talk to.” I let out a breath. “And you can talk to me. About anything. Everything. You need to talk to someone, Beckett.”

“I know. And I will. I’ve already talked to you more than anyone recently. And that is just sad.”

“You’re doing better.”

“I’m trying.”

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