Page 41 of Never Been Worse

“No, I gratefully can and do eat everything without an issue.”

He smiles. “Then yes. I do.” He reaches into the fridge next, pulling out a fresh gallon, then grabs two tall glasses before pouring each of us a glass.

“Plates?” I ask as he peels back the plastic covering the package, and he shakes his head.

“Oreos taste better when you make crumbs.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” I say with a laugh, dipping my cookie in my milk as he stares at me taking my first bite with a smile. I sigh in relief at the processed sugar. My sweet tooth might not be great for me, but there aremuchworse vices in this world.

“It definitely is,” he says before dipping his own cookie and eating.

“A real wild Saturday night,” I say with a laugh, leaning at the counter.

“Do you normally partake in wild Saturday nights?” he asks, not judging, mostly just curious, like he’s genuinely interested in learning more about me.

I shake my head. “No, no. They’re not really my thing.” I smile at him and, for some reason, continue. “I like Sundays best of all. A good Sunday reset, preparing yourself for the upcoming week? Way better than a party. And you can’t do a Sunday reset when you’re hungover.” Wes chews, watching me thoughtfully, and under his careful scrutiny, I keep speaking. I could tell myself it’s the jet lag or the exhaustion, but I know it’s just Wes, and this strange pull I have to him. “I think the last wild Saturday night I had got me arrested, so…”

“Ah, the glitter,” he says with a laugh, and I nod. “What made you land on glitter?”

“We had a long list of revenge options, but that seemed the most…impactful.”

“A whole list?” he asks with a laugh, and I nod. “Do you still have it?”

I reach for my phone. “I think so, it was in my notes app,” I say, then smile when I find a note titledWays to Destroy Shithead. I hand it over.

“God, he should be happy you stuck with glitter. Ruin his car?”

I shrug. “He has the ugliest classic car that isn’t even cool, and he brags about it all the time. I’d love to key it or something.” I sigh, grabbing another cookie and dipping it. “Unfortunately, I learned my lesson, so I will no longer be fucking with him.”

“A shame.”

“I don’t know, I think marrying into his favorite band and being temporarily more famous than him is more than enough payback. He always used to brag about how much more clout he had than me.”

Wes shakes his head before handing my phone back to me. “He’s a tool.”

“You’re telling me.” And then, again, because I’m exhausted and I think my brain forgets I’m not with my best friends and venting, I blurt out, “He couldn’t even make me come.”

Wes snorts out a laugh, coughing and choking as I feel my cheeks get hot.

“Well, it seems like you did a pretty good job of that yourself,” he says, and at the reminder of what happened in the hotel room, the burn deepens, my blush spreading to my chest.

“Look, Wes, I know I haven’t said it yet, but I’m really sorry about that. I put you in a really uncomfortable position and?—”

He shifts in front of me, stepping forward and pinning me to the kitchen counter before moving his hands so he’s holding my face.

“Harper, baby, look at me,” he says, and when I do, he keeps talking. “Never—and I meannever—apologize for there being this attraction between us, or for you acting on it.”

My cheeks feel like they might alight, but he keeps going, shifting his body closer to mine.

“Harper, I have jacked off twice as many times since yesterday at the mere memory of you moaning my name through a goddamn door.” Heat floods me, and my mind stupidly tries to figure outwhenhe would have done that. “And each of those heavily featured what was once a far-off fantasy of you offering yourself to me.”

“But you turned me down,” I say without meaning to. “You didn’t want to?—”

Quickly, he shakes his head. “Oh, no. No, no, no, Harper. That’s not what happened, and if that’s what you think, let me set you straight.” He moves, his hands going to my hips and lifting me to the counter so we’re eye to eye. “I want you more than you could ever imagine, but I am not going to let you belittle this thing between us by calling itfriends with benefits. I am your friend, and I wantbenefits, but that’s not all I want. I know you don’t think that’s a good idea, which is why I said I’d be patient. Because Iknowwe’ll be the best idea when it happens. And yes, I saidwhen,” he says with a smile.

“You’re not ready for that, and that’s fine. You were fucked over, and we threw ourselves into this. I want you to know I’m ready when you are, but take all the time you need. I’ll be here until then. Waiting.” He gently presses his lips to mine, and my body goes slack with the simple kiss, the traitor.

It’s short, but it says everything I know he means before he grabs another cookie and moves on like nothing happened like, he didn’t just shift my entire world on its axis.

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