Page 67 of Only You and Me

“Excuse me!” Emily shouts. It draws everyone’s attention. “Can we please get back to the part where my sister said she has an ‘aggressive and explicit’ creeper after her, to where Ben is worried enough to send a police officer with us?”

The fear in her voice is palpable, and I want to make it better for her. I don’t need Emily worrying about me after the year she’s had.

“This is exactly why I told him Rachel shouldn’t come. It would just make everyone nervous. Em, I promise you I’m fine. I’m being safe and I’m sure the guy is some harmless weirdo living in his mom’s basement and he’ll never actually seek me out. Now, please, can we just enjoy the night?”

“But, what if?—”

“Emily. Please. I need this night out without thinking about that or anything else except having a good time. Okay? I’m being careful. I promise.” The fatigue in my voice is obvious..

My sister peers at my face, likely searching for any sign that I’m not being honest. Finally, she agrees, but her face is no longer relaxed and jovial like it was before I had to tell her.

It’s going to be a long night, so when Janie comes around with cinnamon whiskey shots, I request—and she obliges—a double.

* * *

BEN

As I drive home, I think about Trina and how she appears to be all hard-edged to people who don’t know her well. Yet she’s one of the most caring, compassionate, loyal people I know. She strives for control in her life, not liking the unpredictable, but if she cares enough to let you close, she’ll do anything for you. Tonight, I realized I’m becoming one of those people she cares about.

Did I want to be vulnerable with her and tell her I’m afraid about her situation? No, my ego wants her to think I’m always strong and unfazed by whatever comes my way. But me not sharing how I felt about things a decade ago led us down a painful path and cost us years together. So, my ego can fuck off because I love Trina Flynn. I have for years, and I’ll be damned if I let my wounded pride or a bruised ego convince me to act like a child and not communicate like an adult with her this time around.

I get back to my house in plenty of time to put the final touches on our bachelor party for Jack. He wanted something low-key, so we settled on a poker night on my back deck with my dad, brothers-in-law, and Fitz and Finn. Within thirty-minutes, people arrive, and we sit outside in the warm summer air, eating the dinner my mom and I prepared—Jack’s favorite, lasagna—as the main course.

Over the course of the next few hours, periodic text messages from Rachel come through, assuring me nothing exciting—stalker wise—is happening. Apparently, Janie has some party game seeing who can get the most phone numbers by the end of the night and several of the women are getting pretty competitive about it.

Me: Who’s winning?

Rachel: Is that your way of asking if Trina is getting a lot of numbers?

Shit, am I that obvious? She looked smoking hot earlier in a short dress that only came to mid-thigh. It wasn’t sexy in and of itself, but on her it was fucking amazing. Especially in the beige heeled sandals she wore that had just a few tiny straps holding them onto her feet. Between the shoes and the bottom of the dress, her legs looked killer.

Me: Shit, it’s her, isn’t it?

Rachel: Lol. No, but it would be if she was playing. She and Shayna have had lots of men approach them, but both might as well be wearing flashing neon signs that read, “fuck off.”

It’s immature of me, but I enjoy hearing that about Trina.

Over the next few hours, we play poker and, as we get closer to midnight, my dad and brothers-in-law leave. It’s just Finn, Jack, Fitz, and me left. We sit around the poker table for one last game.

When I fold, I’m actually glad to be out of the game. I glance down at my phone, at the text chain I’ve had with Trina tonight. It starts out with her initial text after she first got on the party bus, followed by another one about forty-five minutes later telling me she loved Annie, but would rather be home watchingBridgerton. After that, it became progressively clearer that Trina was drinking more than her usual. Half her texts made little sense, and her words were so badly misspelled it was like I was doing the daily jumble with each message.

So, when midnight strikes, and we hear hushed laughter from the walkway on the side of my house, it’s no surprise when a gaggle of drunk women come around the corner, completely failing to catch us off guard. Besides, I knew they were coming. Rachel had given me a heads up. She was on her way home and the party bus was on the way to my house.

Trina rushes right past me, calling out, “I gotta pee so bad!” She practically runs to my back door and enters the house. I give her about a minute head start before I follow.

I wait for her in the living room and when she comes out, her cheeks are flushed, and she’s smiling, looking more relaxed than I’ve seen her in quite some time. Except during sex. That’s the one other time she seems to let go of the tight control she keeps on her life. I just wish it would last.

“Hello,” she says coyly, sauntering toward me. She leans in for a kiss and I give it to her but, after a few seconds, I pull back. The alcohol may cause her to let her guard down, but I know she doesn’t want anyone finding out about us yet and the chances of someone else walking in to use the bathroom and seeing us kissing are pretty high.

A frown flits across her face for a second, but pouty lips that I can’t take my eyes off quickly replace it. “Don’t you want to kiss me?”

“You don’t know how much I fucking want to kiss you right now. And more. But our friends are here, and they might walk in.”

She wraps her hands around my neck, and I splay mine over her hips. When she rests her head on my shoulders and releases a satisfied sigh, I’m thrilled. Trina may still have her reservations about us, but this tells me she’s at least trusting me some.

“Can you make everyone go home? I want to go to bed.” Her mouth is so close to my neck that I feel her warm breath against my skin, and it makes me shudder.

“I’ll try. Why don’t you relax for a few minutes, and I’ll go take care of things. Okay?”

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