Page 15 of Inked Devotion

I was always going to be on his side because I needed someone to be as selfless as he was being. I knew I needed to tell somebody. Soon.

It might just have to be the man beside me.

Maybe.

Chapter 4

Benjamin

Istretched my muscles before I turned around and remade the bed. I hadn’t slept too well, but I never did on hotel sheets. We stayed at a decent hotel, not a motel off the side of the road, one that might not have room service, but had doors that went to a hallway rather than the outside, and the place didn’t smell of smoke, and there weren’t water stains everywhere. I counted that as a win.

The fact that they had had an extra room for me at the last minute was a plus, considering that Brenna had had her trip mapped out for a couple of months now, so her rooms had been settled. I was tacked on and might be paying the higher rate, but it was still worth it—just time to get away and to think. What was funny is it hadn’t taken me much time at all to make my decision. We hadn’t even left the state yet, and I knew what I was going to do.

I was going todonateto help two people very close to me have a baby. I didn’t know what the legalities of it would be or exactly how everybody else would understand it, but Brenna understood it.

I would tell my family. Just after the fact, as I had mentioned.

Honestly, I knew that they would all support the decision. Only I hadn’t wanted to deal with all of the pros and cons of it with them. Then it would be athing, and knowing Paige, there would probably be a color-coded list and a planner of when I should make mydepositand all of that.

I shuddered, and yet couldn’t help but smile. My family was fucking weird, but I loved them.

I knew that while I wasn’t leaving them in a lurch because I had scheduled myself possible time off, I still hated going as quickly as I had.

I looked down at the clock, made sure it was late enough in the morning they’d be awake, and picked up my phone.

Me:You guys doing good there?

Beckett:Yep. Just getting to the site now. Clay’s going to be late. One of the kids has a dentist appointment.

Me:An emergency one?

Beckett:No. Something that was on the books already. I didn’t mention it to you when you said you needed time off because, hey, you never ask for time off. You and Brenna doing good?

I didn’t want to read anything into that because I knew nothing was going on between them, except for the awkwardness of whatever fight they had had. The two said that they were fine, but I didn’t know anymore. After all, I had been one of the ones that had thought that Brenna had been in love with him.

Me:We’re fine. Long first day, but pretty quiet.

I didn’t go into detail as this conversation wasn’t meant for texting. I would tell my twin my stories later when I needed to, but person to person. Donating sperm really wasn’t discussed by text.

Beckett:Good. Just take care of her. And yourself too. We’ll be here when you get back.

Me:I know.

I ignored the odd ache in my chest since I didn’t usually get sentimental with the family.

Beckett:Try not to strangle each other.

I frowned at that but shook my head and put my phone in my back pocket. I looked around, making sure everything was packed up, and headed out of the room. I’d told Brenna I would meet her in five minutes down in the lobby. There was a complimentary continental breakfast, so I’d pick up a bagel or some fruit, as well as some coffee, and call it a morning.

I wasn’t sure why Beckett thought Brenna and I would want to strangle each other. We didn’t have that kind of relationship. We were friends, yes, but we didn’t fight with each other. I didn’t know if we hung out separately enough to make that happen. Yesterday had been nice. We had stopped for lunch to stretch our legs, and I had driven a few hours before we had stopped to get gas, and then she had taken a turn. I didn’t know who was driving first today, but I didn’t mind. I liked her SUV, and she was a good passenger.

She had even unwrapped gum for me so that way I wouldn’t have to do it myself. We both laughed since she hadn’t even realized she was doing it until she had already been doing so. It was something that her mother did for her father, and therefore all of the siblings did for each other as well.

I remembered my mother had done something similar for my father a couple of times on our road trips, and now that I thought about it, probably the rest of us too.

It was just inherent. When I had wanted something to drink or snack, Brenna had gotten it for me, just like I had done the same for her. We worked well together, and it was a good trip so far, even though I still wasn’t sure why I was here or how I ended up sitting in a car with Brenna.

We had dinner last night at a local chain restaurant next to the hotel, so that way we could each have a couple of beers and then walk to our rooms. We said pleasant good nights, and we’d see each other in the morning, planned out our trip, and hadn’t spoken. It hadn’t been awkward or weird. It had just been…normal. There was no pressure, nothing pushing at me to be one way or the other.

---