Page 109 of Burn Bright (Cobalt Empire #1)

HARRIET FISHER

M ove in together.

He says it so casually. Like it’s an easy next step, and maybe it would be.

Sharing his company has brought me literal happy-go-lucky joy, and he hasn’t grown tired of Too Much Harriet.

Some might say living with a boyfriend isn’t always a recipe for good times.

But I’ve lived with people who only bring darkness and misery.

My parents. My mom. Her exes.

A TV remote to the face. Insults to the mind.

The real bad times.

Those don’t exist with Ben. We could be battling a thousand demons together. He could be struggling with his OCD. I could be a mopey grump cocooned in my Hello Kitty blanket, and still, it wouldn’t touch that kind of bad.

All Ben has ever done is shelter me, love me, care for me.

But I also want to make sure I’m doing the same for him. So I shake my head when he suggests we move in together.

His confusion downturns his lips. “Too fast for you?”

“It’s not that.” I’m glad his arm is still around my shoulders. “You’re on the road to recovery. I think you need your brothers more than you need to be living alone with me. I’m going to be busy, but they’ll always be around. One of them, at least.”

I imagine Ben all by his lonesome in an apartment while I’m doing research or volunteering or at office hours or possibly in a recording studio. Now, more than ever, he needs his four older brothers.

That’s why they wanted him in New York in the first place. I can’t derail this path—one that he’s mentally tried to derail himself. In a bad, bad way.

“Hear me out,” Ben begins to smile. “You and me. Living with my brothers.”

I snort into a laugh.

“I’m serious.”

Oh…now I feel bad. “On the couch?” I ask. He’s still been on the pull-out since returning from Alaska.

“They’d consider moving to a bigger place, I think.”

“You think?”

He sucks in a breath. “Okay, maybe not that, but I think they might consider renovating. Buying the unit next door. Knocking down a wall. If it’s possible…

” He trails off like it’s probably not. I bet there are fire codes and red tape.

“They did talk about buying the building when I first moved in.”

Holy shit.

“The building?” I widen my eyes, shaking my head slowly. “Just when I forgot you’re all trust fund babies.”

“That reminds me, I’m getting you back for the drinks.” He pulls out his phone to send me cash. “They’re on me.”

Uh, fuck. I wish I didn’t mention money. My stomach nosedives. “Don’t worry about it.” I scuff the pavement with my boot.

“You’re grimacing, Fisher.”

And he clearly knows something is up now. Good one, Harriet. I’ve been seriously stalling on addressing this topic, but I just go for it. “I met Gordon.”

“Gordon…” His eyes superglue to me like he’s a frozen search engine. “Gordon Brown?”

“Your estate lawyer, that’s the one.” I snap my fingers into a half-hearted finger-gun.

His chest falls, and he takes off his beanie with a heavy sigh, raking a hand through his hair. “He contacted you?”

“When you were in Alaska,” I nod. “He wanted me to sign some documents.”

“Great, yeah, he wasn’t supposed to do that. Not until January.” He runs another hand into his thick hair. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“I didn’t want to stress you out. Not with you just starting to talk to a new therapist, and I was also kind of half-hoping one of your brothers would tell you because I didn’t know how to start the conversation.”

“They all know?”

“That you left all your money to me, yep. They know.” My bangs catch in my eyelashes from a strong gust of wind.

I brush them aside, then tug my earmuffs to my neck.

“They honestly didn’t find it as shocking as me.

Like it was totally in your nature to go broke for a random girl you barely knew, but I’m not going to lie.

It shocked me. And I especially don’t get why you wouldn’t tell me. ”

He fists his beanie, his gaze descending on me in a serious sweep.

“I set up the trust before I decided to move to New York. I had no idea…” He takes a breath.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, Harriet.

When I ran into you at the frat, I didn’t tell you about it then because I planned to leave the city well before January.

Which is when you can access the money. I was worried if you knew why I was broke, you’d think I was even more unhinged or you wouldn’t accept it. ”

“I don’t accept it.” I tuck hair behind my ear. “I don’t want it. Take it back.”

“I can’t, and it’s yours.”

“ Ben ,” I growl. “I cannot keep your money. You gave it to me thinking you didn’t need it. Well, now you do.”

“I really don’t. I’m getting a deposit into my trust fund in May.”

My forehead creases in an even deeper scowl “That’s six months from now. You can’t even budget your bartending tips for two weeks.”

He smiles.

“This isn’t funny, dude. You gave me a fortune when you barely even knew me.

You’re so lucky you chose me and not someone who’d leech off you like an ugly little parasite.

Because as soon as I access the trust, I will be slowly redepositing it into your account.

”I’m not sure if I’m even able to do that—it’s not like I’ve ever had a trust before. But it sounds plausible.

Off his grave expression, I’m thinking it might not be.

I add quickly, “You said it’s mine, so I can do what I want with it.”

He cups the back of my head. Strokes my hair. It. Is. My. Weakness. His voice goes soft but deep. “I’d love if you kept it because it’ll be put to better use with you, but you’re right, it’s your choice.”

I bite the corner of my lip. I don’t want to fight him on it. Not today when there’s so many other upheavals in our lives.

Like our living situations.

My entire fucking future.

Throwing money into the mix complicates an already complicated ordeal. I also love our weekend bartending gig at the End of the World, and we just agreed we’d keep working there together. I don’t want that to change, no matter how loaded I am on paper.

“I’ll think about it. And I do want you to know something,” I say into a deep breath. “You can give me the entire rainforest, your entire family, your money, your clothes—but nothing will ever compare to you. Just you, Ben.”

His eyes glass, his jaw clenching as he nods. “I feel the same way about you.” He inhales deeply like I just did. “And I know you don’t need anything but me, but you’re going to have to let me spoil my girlfriend from time to time. It’s in the handbook.”

My face contorts. “What handbook?”

“The Ben Cobalt Boyfriend handbook that I created right fucking now. Section 1. Paragraph 1. It’s all right there.” He waves a hand like there’s an imaginary handbook in the air that I can read.

I fight a smile. “Does this handbook have any other info? Like when your big family exodus from Philly and New York is happening?” The Hales, Meadows, and Cobalts typically spend the holidays all together outside the city. At a lake house.

Somewhere mountainous, private, and secluded from the public.

The location has never been leaked, so I had no clue where Ben would be going for Christmas.

Until he told me it’s in the Smoky Mountains.

He’s painted the picture of this boisterous, chaotic, festive atmosphere, a giant house filled to the brim with family.

How there might be bickering and tears, but it’s followed by a lot of laughter.

It always smells like cinnamon rolls and fir trees.

It’s hard to imagine.

I don’t even know my cousins. Ben is close to practically all seven of his. And my childhood home smelled like microwaved pork roast and burnt gravy.

The lake house isn’t as exclusive as Wednesday Night Dinners since their security know of the location, but Ben has said no one has ever invited a girlfriend there for the holidays.

I’m sure his parents worry about a break-up and the scorned ex tipping off the tabloids.

It’d ruin a very private place they’ve maintained for decades.

“I’m just wondering when you might be leaving,” I clarify. “How much longer do I have with you before you go?” We’ll be spending Christmas separately, and I’m kind of hoping it’s the day before. Maybe he’ll pack up on the 24 th .

“Yeah, about that.” He glances at the ice rink, then down at me. “I’m not going.”

Oh no. I straighten up, facing him fully. “Ben, you need to be with your family?—”

“It’s not that.” His smile crawls higher, his eyes flitting over my body. “Your concern for me is cute, Fisher.”

“Stop flirting.” I purse my lips to restrain a smile.

“I told my parents I wanted to stay in New York to be with you and Beckett,” Ben explains.

“He rarely goes to the lake house for the holidays because of The Nutcracker . If he does, it’s very short.

Next thing I know, all my brothers and sisters and my mom and dad have declared Christmas is at the Cobalt Estate this year.

Just my immediate family is staying back, and honestly, I did not want them to at first because…

if something were to happen in Philly, it’d be because of me.

Because they’re doing this for me. But maybe it’s good to work through it with them. ”

My lungs inflate with a deeper breath. He’s going to be here. Well, a couple hours away, but that totally beats being in a secret location at least five or six hours from the city.

“Are you grinning?” Ben asks.

“ You are grinning,” I point out because his grin is ginormous and very bright and coaxing mine out to new levels.

“Don’t stop.” He curves his arms around me.

“My cheeks fucking hurt. How do you do this all the time?” I stretch out my jaw.

And then he says, “You want to spend Christmas with me?”

My face falls. “Wait, what?”

“I talked to the powers that be, and you’re invited to stay the week at the Cobalt Estate for the holidays. In Philly.”

“I’m invited?” My brows hike. “To Christmas?”

“Yeah.” He laughs a little off my surprise. “There’s a guest room in the house. But you’ll probably be allowed to spend the week in my bedroom. I don’t think my mom will care. She loves you.”

“Wait, she loves me?” I touch my chest. This is too much at once. “Are you sure? Did she tell you that or are you guessing? Because you can’t be playing with my heart like that.”

“It’s a very good, educated guess,” Ben replies into a wider smile, then slips the earmuffs off my neck, as evidence. “She designed these for you.”

“No, she didn’t,” I retort, getting hot all over.

“Yeah, she did.” He shows me a Calloway Couture logo underneath the black headband. I figured these are from her boutique.

“She just grabbed me some of her merchandise.”

“No, there are no earmuffs in her fashion line. She made these specifically for you.”

Tears sting my eyes. What the fuck…? “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“She was worried about coming on too strong. I don’t think she wanted to smother you.”

I hold the earmuffs delicately as if they’ve turned to glass. “Is it weird that I think I love being smothered?”

He’s smiling more. “If it is, then I’m just as weird. Because I want to smother you with all the love I can give.”

My heart is so full. “You give a whole lot.” I sink against his side even more. “Christmas,” I say wistfully. “With your family.”

“So that’s a yes?” Ben asks.

“No, I’m going to have so much fun watching Elf from the backseat of Harold this year,” I say into a scowl.

Now he’s scowling. “Is that what you did last year?”

“Maybe…”

He sighs. “Please say yes.”

“I already did. In my head. Like fifteen times.” I watch his gorgeous smile widening again. “But yes . Definitely. Christmas in Philly with your family is going in the calendar. With an alarm alert.”

“An electronic beep?”

“Even better, a punk rock song.”

“Just don’t choose anything from Nothing Personal. If Tom hears that band come out of your phone, he might retract your offer.”

I give him a look. “Are you serious?”

“Deadass.”

“That is so petty.” My lips twitch in a slight smile. “I appreciate the commitment to his feud.” And I guess if I become the drummer of The Carraways, it’ll be my vendetta too.