Page 8

BENNIE

“Hey, give me a second. I need to get out of Luca’s bedroom so she won’t wake up. She needs this nap,” Sin whispered. I could barely see her on the screen because of the darkened room she was in, but once she exited it, I was able to see her better as she headed to a different room. “Okay, here I am. What’s up?”

I smiled at my phone. “I didn’t mean to bother you. I’m just nervous and I needed to talk to you.

“Nervous about what?”

I saw her sit down on the couch, and from the background, I could tell she was at Archer’s penthouse. It must’ve been super cool to have two places to call home, with four men always ready to do anything for you and your daughter. Sin was so lucky.

“I have a date. Tonight. With Joska.” I pressed my lips into a tight line, hoping she wouldn’t be weirded out by what I said.

Though she initially frowned, she started to grin right after. “Uh-huh…so you’ve been talking to him?”

“Not really. I thought about texting him all week, but I never did. Then, last night I felt this weird…pull toward him. Well, toward the card he gave me. So I texted him, and the conversation led to him asking me out on a date. Tonight.”

Sin kept grinning, and she got more comfortable on the couch, ready to hear more details. “That’s fun! Excitement is good, Bennie. Where is he taking you?”

“He hasn’t told me yet. He just texted earlier this morning that he’ll pick me up at five. I don’t know what to wear.”

“How about a cute dress and boots? Joska’s a man. He’ll love anything on you,” she told me with a chuckle.

“So you’re saying he’s a simple man?”

“God, no. Not in certain ways. But none you’d have to worry about. I just think he’ll find you amazing in whatever you choose to wear. And you do look good in anything.”

“Thank you, Sin. I’m just not sure if I should take this too seriously. You know, the first time I met him, I talked so much about myself that he didn’t even get the chance to talk about him, and I don’t think I want this to go down like that again. He is still a priest, after all. I don’t know how serious he thinks this date will be.”

Sin pursed her lips and thought about an answer for a while before saying, “I’m pretty sure Joska is very serious about this being a date. I’m going to be honest here with…Joska hasn’t really been much of a dater. Of course, that could certainly be because of his job, and the fact that he’s simply not allowed to date, but he doesn’t really follow rules.”

I figured as much.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “What are you still not telling me about him, Sin? Spit it out.”

She laughed softly. “I don’t know if you want to hear those things from me. Joska’s a good man when he wants to be and believe me when I say that he has never been as interested in a woman the way he is interested in you. It’s different for him, I can tell you that much.”

“How are you so sure about that?”

“Because since I’ve met him, he never went on dates. He did other things, but he never had a woman by his side. Tabor will tell you the same thing.” Sin moved the phone closer to her face and continued whispering, “He often complained about Joska never settling down. And their parents have been whining about it too.”

So, Joska didn’t date much, but there were other things he did. “What are these other things you mentioned?”

Sin lowered the phone again, and she looked around to see if anyone—most likely Tabor—was around to hear her. It was a Sunday, and while sometimes her men worked even on Sundays, Sin was never alone with their baby.

“Joska is very…sexually active.”

“He’s a man whore!” I heard Tabor call out from somewhere in the background.

Sin rolled her eyes, turning her head in his direction. “I wouldn’t say man whore, but more like a…womanizer.”

I scrunched up my nose and watched as Tabor walked up behind Sin. He put his hands on the couch and leaned down until his face was on the screen. “You’re too good for a man like my brother, Bennie.”

Sin sighed. “I think she’ll be good for him.”

“Good to play with. My brother’s an asshole when it comes to women. Fucks them, leaves them, never calls again. If you’re hoping to restore your faith in God, my brother is not the man who can help you with that. Hell, he’s the worst priest on Earth.”

“Hey, that’s not true. You know he does his job well. It’s just that…when he’s not on the altar, he does everything a normal priest wouldn’t do. He’s a man when he doesn’t have his white collar on, and to be honest, I think that’s okay.”

“Yeah, because you and I aren’t religious and don’t care if a priest fucks around in his free time. Bennie here is a saint. She believes in God, or, hopes to keep believing. And now she talked to Joska who is going to fuck her over. I just don’t want to see her heartbroken over my asshole brother. I have my damn manners and values, and I don’t want Bennie to think badly of me just because I’m related to that dickhead.”

Admittedly, Tabor’s words scared the shit out of me. They made me more nervous than I already was, and he made me question my decision to go out with Joska.

On the other hand, everything he said intrigued me. How could a priest be so naughty? Shit…I needed to go on that date with him.

He sounded like the devil in disguise, and as a saintly woman, I had always wondered what the devil was like.

“I would never think differently of you because of someone else, Tabor. I know you, and I think you’re an incredible man who loves my best friend and his family,” I told him honestly. I took a moment to think about everything he said and smiled before adding, “I’ll have to paint my own picture. It’s just a date, right?”

“Yes, it is. And if you need anything, just text me.” She smiled at me, then turned her head to look at Tabor. “And I did see something in his eyes on Luca’s birthday. He was truly interested in helping Bennie, and you know if he only wanted to fuck her, he would’ve tried it right then and there. But he didn’t. I think he was truly interested in you,” she said, looking at the phone again.

“Fine. I guess you women have superpowers in those aspects anyway, right? You always have this gut-feeling when something is right or wrong,” Tabor said with a raised brow and amused expression. He kissed the top of Sin’s head before saying bye to me.

“Bye, Tay.” I smiled tightly and watched him leave before I focused on Sin again. “Sure you have a good feeling about this?”

“One hundred percent.”

“Me too,” I admitted. “And…everyone’s a bit sexual, right? I mean, you are. All four of your men are too. So what if Joska enjoyed his freedom by having lots of sex? He’s single, so…he can do what he wants.”

“Exactly. Also, I once met two women he had a threesome with and they said he made them feel like queens, and that he treated them with so much respect that they wished he would’ve accepted their numbers. But he didn’t because he apparently doesn’t sleep with the same woman twice.”

There were two things about what Sin said that stuck with me. One, he had a threesome. Two, he never slept with the same woman twice.

The first thing made me want to find out more about his sex life, and the second thing made me want to be the first woman he’d have sex with twice. It sounded like a challenge, and the more things I learned about Joska, the more I wanted to break my own personal rules.

I was never tempted to do anything that went against my religion’s morals, but I feared that after tonight, I would end up sinning.

“Bennie?”

Sin’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked at her with a smile, and with a much clearer mind. “Yes, I’m here. Thank you, Sin.”

“So you’re going?”

“Yes, I’m going. And I’m excited. I think I needed that little push from you.”

“Good. I’m glad. Hey, send me your outfit before he picks you up. I wanna see how hot you look.”

I laughed. “I will show you. Okay, I should start getting ready. I’ll text you.”

“Alright, have so much fun tonight!”

“Thank you. Give Luca a kiss from me.”

We said goodbye, and after sitting on the couch for a little while longer, I got up and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the things Sin and Tabor said about Joska, and I just knew that the date tonight would be one I’d never forget.

***

Joska was very punctual. At exactly five, he rang my doorbell, and as I walked downstairs to meet him, the nervousness I had been feeling all day had turned into excitement.

I was excited to see his face again, and to finally get to know him better. Since the first time I met him, all I knew about him was thanks to Sin and her men, and I was ready to make my own mind up about Joska. I wanted to see what he was really like, and if we were as different as Tabor had said we were.

When I finally got downstairs and opened the door, he looked up and pushed himself off his car. He had his hands in his pockets, and a smug grin on his lips. He started walking over to me, and when he stopped, he looked me up and down before his eyes met mine again.

“You look incredible, Bennie,” he said, meaning every word.

I pursed my lips and looked down at myself. I had chosen to wear a midnight blue, satin skirt that ended below my knees, with a slit on the right side. The boots I was wearing were black, and while they had a heal, they weren’t too tall. The white top I was wearing had this asymmetrical cut, with the long sleeves flaring out slightly. And to finish the look, I decided to wear my black leather jacket which was about the skirt’s length.

I did look incredible, and I felt that way too.

Sin had also been amazed by my outfit when I sent her a selfie earlier, and I was glad that Joska was acknowledging the effort I had put into it. I also did my hair and makeup, but since my hair was short already, I simply straightened it, and I only used a couple of makeup products on my face. I didn’t want to overdo it. There was no reason to.

“Thank you. You look very handsome yourself,” I told him.

His outfit was classy and very clean. He had a white shirt on, with the top two buttons undone. His jacket and pants were black, his sneakers white. He was a man, and he put a lot of effort into his outfit. There were enough guys who would’ve shown up with old jeans and a sweater, or even a football jersey, but the way Joska was dressed for tonight told me that he was taking this date seriously.

It was a good start to our evening, and with my heart now pounding louder in my chest, I was ready to spend the night with him.