Need Me (Broke and Beautiful #2)(53)

“It drained the battery.” Honey smacked her forehead, then let her hand drop into her lap. “Guess we’re walking.”

Just because she liked watching him walk and wanted his hands on her again, Honey stayed in the driver’s seat until Ben came around to let her out. His expression told her he knew what she was about, too, and felt the same way. He hooked an arm around her waist and dragged her out of the truck, letting her dangle in the air against his hard body, their mouths hovering inches apart.

“I advise against tempting a man with morning wood, Honey. It can be vicious when not seen to properly.”

She rubbed their mouths together. “I’ll cure you of it later. Even if I’m reduced to sneaking into my brother’s room tonight to get it on with my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend,” he growled, stooping down to wrap an arm around her legs. Before Honey could get her bearings, he’d thrown her over his shoulder, kicked the truck door shut, and started off down the road.

When Honey stopped laughing, she smacked him on the butt. “The farm is the other way.”

He turned without missing a beat, heading back in the right direction. “So, if I’m officially your boyfriend, does that mean you’re dropping my class until I switch jobs?” He laid a kiss on her thigh. “I want to be with you in the open now, please. No waiting.”

Thank God he couldn’t see the dopey grin on her face. “Yes, Ben. I want that, too.”

They walked like that for a while, Honey more than content to be carried like a sack of potatoes. It gave her one hell of a view. Two cars passed in a row, honking at Ben, who simply waved back, as if walking down the road with a girl over his shoulder was the most natural thing in the world. She finally convinced him to let her down and they walked side by side, holding hands the rest of the way.

This. Right there at that moment stood everything she’d hoped for, all in one place. Ben. The town she’d been missing so much. It couldn’t last, she knew that. Ben didn’t go with this place, they were just her two favorite ships passing in the night. But she could savor it while it lasted. She would return to New York in a few days and have the memories of Bloomfield to content her while she and Ben made their own. Maybe someday soon, they could even come back. Together.

When the farm came into view, their steps slowed simultaneously. How odd. Two extra cars were parked outside the house, one of them Elmer’s truck, the other a taxicab. Why would either be there so early in the morning? Or at all, for that matter. Honey felt a tiny pinch of foreboding in her midsection, but she immediately shook it off. Worst-case scenario, her father had overreacted and called in a search party to go find them.

“Uh-oh.” Ben put an arm around her shoulders. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” she murmured. “Let’s go find out.”

The first thing Honey saw when they started up the driveway was her mother. She was sitting on the porch. Crying. It caused Honey’s stomach to plummet right down to her knees. Her mother cried about as often as she did, which was never. It meant something bad. Very bad. Her father was leaning up against the side of the truck with Elmer, their arms crossed over their chests as they watched her and Ben close the distance to the house. Silence. So much silence.

Ben’s grip on her hand tightened, and he angled his body in front of hers. She didn’t need or want him to fight her battles for her. After all, she was a grown woman who lived on her own in a major city. If she wanted to spend a night with her boyfriend, same as her parents had done at her age, she damn well had the right. But it felt cruel to let Elmer see her like this. Very obviously coming home from a night out, engaging in all manner of naughty with her new boyfriend. So she let Ben take the lead for now. “Sir, I’m sorry we worried you. I can explain. We—”

“Which part are you going to explain first?” her father interrupted, pushing himself off Elmer’s truck. “The fact that you’re my daughter’s teacher? Or the fact that you got her kicked out of school?”

Ben froze, as did Honey. Her gaze shot to her mother’s questioningly, but her mother only swiped away more tears. Every inch of Honey’s skin started to prickle, all the way to her scalp. What the hell was going on here?

“Kicked out of school?” Ben’s voice cracked like a whip. “What are you talking about?”

Honey’s mother stood and came toward the four of them. “He wrote a letter to the dean at Columbia. Said you’d been harassing him. Pursuing him relentlessly with no encouragement.” She gave their joined hands a sharp look. “Forgive me if I find that hard to believe.”

“Your financial aid has been rescinded,” her father added, a hint of shame showing in his face. He’d always hated not being able to pay her entire way.

She might have voiced a denial, because in what f*cking world did something like this happen? How could it happen? It got stuck in her throat, however, when Ben dropped her hand and fell back a step. His fingers threaded into his hair slowly and stayed there as he shook his head. Dammit, his eyes were closed, so she couldn’t read him. “No, this isn’t real. This isn’t happening. In my lesson plan. I left it in my lesson plan . . . Peter must have . . .”

“Ben?” She took a deep breath when she heard her voice waver. “Did you write a letter to Dean Mahoney?”