Page 86 of Let Me Love You (Excess All Areas 5)

“Why not?”

He leaned forward, closing the distance between them until his lips brushed her ear. “Because now, you’re my girlfriend. And I’m old-fashioned. I don’t split bills.”

“Ben,” she groaned. “Let’s not be sexist about this. I have a decent job, I can pay.”

He tapped his card to the machine and shook his head. “Not happening, babe.” He added a large tip. He’d noticed when their server had intercepted two girls headed towards his table and he was grateful for being able to spend some time with Chaya uninterrupted.

“Where are we going, now?” she asked as he led her to the Northern Quarter.

“I think our current score is sixteen to you, twenty-three to me.”

Chaya clapped her hands. “Ping-pong.”

Twenty Twenty Two was a basement bar off Little Lever Street that served cocktails and ping-pong tables. Chaya had declared it her favourite combo. Once they had drinks, bats and a ball, and a table, Chaya hopped from one foot to the other.

“I’m going to close the gap tonight. I can feel it.”

Ben circled his shoulder. “I don’t think so, Tobias.”

A couple next to them had a fast rhythm, lots of finesse and skill. Neither of which he, nor Chaya, particularly had.

“Ready?” Chaya asked, holding the ball in front of her bat, ready to drop it.

“Let’s go.”

They were bad, getting worse with each drink. But Chaya’s smile got brighter, and some of the worry she’d seemed to be carrying the previous week lifted. He’d signed a couple of autographs, and he knew there had been phones pointed in his direction periodically. But nothing could ruin their mood.

“Seventeen to twenty-seven. That gap’s getting wider, babe.”

Chaya yawned and placed her bat down on the table. “Okay, I concede for tonight. But I’m tired.”

“Let’s get you home. Want to stay at my place tonight?”

“Yes, please.”

When he let them in, his chest squeezed. Chaya was home, but none of her stuff was, and while he wanted her back fully, he’d told her he’d wait until she was ready to move back deliberately.

But she slipped off her jacket and put it on her hook, and the world seemed to right itself.

He wanted to ask her to move in but knew he shouldn’t. It meant questioning why he always waited, why he could never decide. Was it always simply the fear of making the wrong choice, given everything going on around him? Or had he gotten used to being malleable, by allowing himself to be the last piece to fit into place around everyone else, to keep the peace?

He shook his head to clear the thought and took Chaya’s hand, leading her upstairs to his bedroom.

“I love this,” she said.

“My room? You’ve seen it a million times.”

“No,” she said, standing up on her toes to kiss him. “This. You and me. Just being. Having fun and kissing. It feels so perfect and normal.”

“Definitely.” He kissed her again. More deeply this time. And in doing so, he felt even more connected to her than he had before. He slid his hands down her back until he cupped the curves of her arse, squeezing them as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked them to his bed.

“Can I try something?” Chaya asked as she reached for the button of his jeans.

He set her down on the mattress. “Anything, babe. What do you have in mind?”

She kissed him as she undid the button of his jeans and unzipped his zipper. His dick went from happy to rock hard in a second as she dipped her hand inside his boxer briefs and gripped him. Unsteady on his feet with anticipation, he swayed a little. He was as anxious to get involved as he was desperate for Chaya to continue whatever it was she was going to do.

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