Friends with Benefits - Nicole Blanchard Page 0,31
it acceptable. It felt so normal to climb in after him, but it was a delicate normality, one I wasn’t used to and wanted to savor. Tripp handed me the soap, and I used it to wash his back. He did the same to me, although he paid special attention to his favorite parts on my body. As much as I wanted to linger, the twins were due home, and then we had dinner with his parents.
Oh, God, I had to look his parents in the eye after this.
“Don’t,” he said before I could begin overthinking it.
“I can’t help it.”
“Well, try. You’ve known me forever. Nothing has changed.”
I couldn’t help but feeling like everything had changed.
Chapter Twelve
Tripp
“You sure you’re going to be okay?” I asked.
She gave me a look. “We had sex, Tripp. I’m not damaged. I’ll be fine.”
“I didn’t think—yeah, okay. I’ll get changed and then pick you three up.”
Her expression faltered. “Is this a good idea? Maybe we should reschedule.”
“Never thought you were the shy type, Em. Good to know.”
“Shut up, jerk,” she said, but she was grinning. “I’ll go get the girls. My rule isn’t that we can’t tell anyone about this. Just not...not now. I know how that sounds, and I don’t want to make you feel bad, but there’s just so much going on and I can’t—”
“You don’t have to explain it to me. Hell, I’m the one person you’ll never have to explain yourself to.”
I’d considered all the consequences of us hooking up years ago. I never thought it’d actually happen, but now that it had, I was faced with what would happen if it all went wrong. While I didn’t regret what we had done—and to be frank, I couldn’t wait to do it again—those consequences were all too real. If this arrangement went sideways, I risked losing it all. Losing her.
And that scared the shit out of me.
Looking very vulnerable in skinny jeans and a t-shirt, her face bare of makeup, and her hair a deep red from being damp, all I wanted to do was pull her back into my arms.
But I resisted.
“Alright,” she said with a shy little smile. “Well, um. I’ll be right back then.”
“I’ll meet you back here after I get changed.”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Sounds good.”
Leaving was harder than I thought it would be, which didn’t bode well for when this arrangement of ours came to an end. Which it would. It couldn’t go on forever. She deserved more than just sex, but if that’s all she wanted from me, I’d make it the best she’d ever had for as long as she wanted.
Once I changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt, I shot my parents a text telling them we were on our way. After knocking on Ember’s door, I waited in the hall. On the other side, I could hear the girls shouting, and I smiled. I really did love those kids. I was an only child, so having them around was fun for me.
Ember threw open the door and said, “Two minutes, promise.”
“Take your time,” I said.
Tillie and Molly were sitting on the couch watching cartoons, their hair in identical pigtails. Their backpacks and jackets lay in a tumble by the door, the contents spilling out. I said hey to the girls, but they were too engrossed in the TV to respond.
“I’m ready,” Ember said in a rush as she hurried down the hallway. I didn’t miss that she wouldn’t meet my eyes. “C’mon on girls. Time for dinner at the Wilder’s house. Let’s go.”
There was a lot of groaning and “Aw, man”, but they did as Ember asked and followed us down to my truck. Ember transferred their booster seats—or car seats or whatever they were called—to the back row and then climbed in. Once she was buckled, we set out.
The ride was long, for the girls at least, but they only asked if we were there yet twenty times, so I considered it a win. Ember kept her hands knotted in her lap, and, as much as I wanted to take one into my own, I gave her space. This wasn’t a relationship. I didn’t get those kinds of privileges.
Lights were on inside my parents’ place as I pulled into the drive. The shadow of my mother flitted around the kitchen as she fixed dinner. She liked to fuss now that she was no longer teaching full time. Which meant she normally fussed about me, but I