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He chuckled, low and warm.“We’re not exactly an affectionate family.Mom’s more of an air kiss kind of woman.”
“Tell me more about her.You know my entire family, and I know nothing about yours.”
“Kind of hard to tell you when you spend your days dodging me.”He said it with a smile, but there was a slight edge to it.
Guilt nudged at my stomach, and I shifted in my seat.“I wasn’t dodging you,” I said softly.“I was protecting myself.”
His expression didn’t change, but there was a flicker in his eyes.“From me?”
“One night with you, and I knew I would fall for you.”
He came to a stop at a stop sign, and I met his gaze head-on.
“And that scares me.”
“Why?”
“I haven’t exactly had the best luck with men.They tend to get jealous of my dedication to my job and family.”
His finger brushed lightly against my knee.“My mom’s the type who cares more about table settings than real conversations.As long as there’s the façade of being perfect, then she honestly believes everything is perfect.It rarely is.My dad… we rarely see eye-to-eye.He’s old school and hates that I’m more forward-thinking.He always says, if it’s not broken, don’t change it.I only talk to him if I have to.”
“Why?”
His jaw tightened, and for a moment, I thought he might shut down.
“He’s the boss, and you can’t argue with him.It’s his way or no way.He only cares about winning.I couldn’t be a part of it anymore, so I tried to walk away, but apparently, walking away isn’t free.”
“Your label?”
“It was my ticket out, and I failed.”
His voice twisted with regret or disappointment.I wasn’t exactly sure, but whatever it was, it hurt my soul.
“Failing wasn’t even my biggest mistake.Borrowing money from him was.Now I owe him, and I can’t escape him.He holds it over me.”
“How much do you owe him?”
“Any amount is too much.”He ran a hand over his face, then adjusted his hold on the steering wheel.“I always thought happy families were something that only existed on TV, but then I met you and your family, and you gave me hope in a way I haven’t had in a long time.”
“We’re not perfect,” I said.
A faint smile tugged at his mouth.“Perfection doesn’t exist.Though, you’re pretty close.”
My eyes rolled on their own accord.“You already got into my pants.You don’t need to blow smoke up my ass.”
“Kinky.”
“I can’t with you.”I waved my hand as if I could swat him away.He captured it, planted a kiss to my knuckle, then tucked it into his for safe-keeping.
“As I was saying,” he continued, “your family isn’t perfect, but for the most part, you don’t just tolerate each other.You actually like one another.”
“It wasn’t always like that.Nero once used my underwear in capture the flag when he was playing with a group of his friends.I beat the hell out of him and didn’t talk to him for a month.”
Ben choked on air before letting out a contagious laugh.“How old were you?”
“I was eleven, he was twelve.I had a crush on one of his friends, so it was extra humiliating.Then there was the time Franc convinced me to eat a whole jalapeno on a dare.It ended with me crying on the floor, hugging a gallon of milk.Before you ask, I was thirteen, and he was seventeen.In his defense, he told me I’d regret it, but he also knew I loved a good dare, so it’s still his fault.”
“You’re lucky.”