Five Ways to Fall (Ten Tiny Breaths, #4)(110)

There’s a long pause as he processes my words. And then he shrugs as a sheepish smile curls his lip. “I dunno. Figured you were maybe giving me one last ride before you took it away?”

“No, you . . . ugh!” I roll my eyes as I fall back onto the pillow. This couldn’t have possibly played out better. Not five minutes ago I was terrified of Ben seeing how I truly feel, and now he’s gone and confessed that it’s not one-sided.

This changes everything.

“So, you’re saying that you’re not getting back together with him?” he asks cautiously.

“No!” Suddenly I feel like laughing as the tension slides out of my body, making way for the rash of butterflies that have taken flight.

Beside me, I hear a quiet mutter of “Thank God” escape his lips, followed louder by, “Why not?”

“Because of this jackass I picked up in Cancún. That’s why.” And there it is. Not exactly romantic, but Ben and I have never been about waxing poetic.

“Seriously? Wait . . . I’m the jackass, right?”

When I sigh with exasperation, he rolls onto me to assume his previous position, the wide grin back on his face. “So, what does this mean exactly?”

I chew the inside of my mouth as I consider my next words. We’ve always been about blunt honesty. There’s no point changing now. “It means I want your womanizing mama’s-boy football-player butt all to myself and if I catch you with any Twinkies or beauty queens or anyone else, you’d better run far and fast because I will hunt you down.”

His fingers brush wayward strands of hair off my face. “You know I’d never even consider this if I thought I could hurt you like that, right?”

I can only manage a nod, but it’s enough. For all the faults that people could find in Ben, they’ll never find someone with a bigger, kinder heart then his.

And just like that, something monumental has changed between us.

He leans down and captures my mouth with his in a deep, needy kiss that has my head sinking into the pillow, on the cusp of gasping for air. I’m marginally aware as he reaches into a side table to grab a condom. Tearing it open and sliding it on with ease—one–handed, no less—he pushes into me smoothly, all while never breaking his kiss.

My body is long past ready to accept him.

All of him.





Chapter 34




BEN





I don’t believe it.

I, Ben Morris, have a girlfriend. At least, I think I do. Aside from the loose threats of bodily harm, we didn’t get into the specifics.

I roll my head to study Reese’s still form as she takes long, slow breaths, her head nestled in the crook of my arm, her hot, naked body suctioned to mine. She’s like a sleeping dragon, so peaceful in slumber, so fiery when conscious. And I can’t wait for her to be conscious again.

Tonight was . . . enlightening.

I went from being a cocky ass that was sure he had her, to feeling my guts tumble out thinking she was going back to her ex, to utter f*cking rapture as she laid it all out on me.

Reese wants me and only me.

If I had only known back then, when I watched that purple-haired girl slide off her chair in her drunken state . . . I smile to myself, unable to keep my arms from tightening around her little body.

Josh’s words from earlier are sinking in. Letting my dad’s faults and errors dictate how I will live my life is the worst mistake I can make. And like it or not, it’s what I’ve been doing. Letting a girl like Reese get away because I’m afraid that I’ll be like my father will only lead to a miserable, lonely life. The ironic thing is, I don’t know that I would have appreciated that had she not already been here, within reach. Showing me what I have to lose.

I lean into her, unable to keep myself from placing a soft kiss on her lips. She lets out a feeble groan in response but otherwise doesn’t stir. I’m tempted to wake her up, but I won’t.

Tomorrow’s going to be a long day for all of us.

That reminds me . . . I shift her off of me as gently as possible and then sit up, earning a small mewl of protest. Reaching down to the backpack leaning against the wall beside the bed, I quietly unzip the outer pocket that Mason described when he called earlier. Inside sits the stack of envelopes, bundled tightly with an elastic band.

Answers to the questions she’s been asking all these years.

I don’t know what Jack and Mason are thinking, having me be the one to do this. Mason said they were planning on showing her everything tonight at dinner. That’s nuts. I don’t see how you deliver this kind of news over a plate of fries. Then again, I guess there’s probably no good time to lay this on a girl like Reese. Doing it when she’s up here, in a place that I can tell she loves, away from civilization, with me to rein her in, may be the best option.

I just hope she sees it that way, too.





Chapter 35




REESE





“I can’t believe how much you all look alike,” I say, taking in the row of Morris children standing and watching two little blond girls tease Quincy with a ball. The hound’s attention sways back and forth between the girls and the crowds of people as if she can’t decide if she’d rather have the ball or the scraps of food that are bound to fall from the small paper plates.