Make Me Bad - R.S. Grey Page 0,77
Way too soon. I can’t believe you’d even suggest it.”
“Is it too soon? I’m thirty-one. I’ve dated a lot of women.”
“Well I haven’t dated a lot of women, or men, for that matter. I’ve been living with my dad and I don’t want to jump from his house to yours. I’d like to stand on my own two feet, at least for a while.”
“How long?”
“What?”
“How long is a while?”
“I don’t know.” I turn and walk away from him, pretending I have some important task I need to take care of. I refold a shirt on the card table before I shrug. “A month…two months. I’ve never thought about it.” I’m annoyed that he’s forcing me to put a specific timeline on my figurative goal. “I just don’t want to look back at my life and feel like I was never confident enough to pave my own way.”
“I admire that, but I’d also like to point out that your dad wasn’t supporting you. You work full-time. You take care of yourself. I understand what you’re saying and I’ll let you do what you need to do, but I’d just like to point out that you’ve been standing on your own two feet for a while now—you just don’t realize it.”
With that, he walks out the door.
My heart drops.
“Hey, wait! Where are you going!? Did we just break up?”
He laughs and shakes his head, continuing down the stairs. “I’m going to the hardware store. It should still be open for a few more minutes. Also, no, we didn’t break up, but I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to be my girlfriend.”
He’s back on the ground now, looking up at me. Bugs the size of my fist swirl near the light at my head, but they cannot ruin this moment.
“Okay. Great.” I shrug. “That’d be fine. I guess.”
He smiles smugly and then turns to head for his SUV.
Thank God he left because I definitely need a few minutes to compose myself.
GIRLFRIEND.
GIRLFRIEND!
I step back into my apartment and my gaze leaps from one inanimate object to the next. None of them seem all that excited for me except for the snazzy gold lamp. Lamp is excited for me.
“Girlfriend,” I say to it in disbelief.
About an hour later, I’ve settled into my new role in Ben’s life very well. While he was gone, I reenacted some very lifelike scenarios in my head. What’s that? Oh yes, I am Ben’s girlfriend. Thanks for asking. Oh, sorry, I can’t come to your party tonight because my boyfriend, Ben, wants to have sex with me.
It’s probably good he can’t read my thoughts.
Now, I’m heating us up a Cup of Noodles and he’s drilling through my door, adding a deadbolt. He ran to the hardware store and then to his house to get some tools. He changed out of his suit. He’s Ben Rosenberg, trusty contractor, and his flannel shirt and jeans are making it difficult to get the noodles to my mouth without some major spillage.
I sit crisscross nearby, watching him work. “Did you happen to ask Mrs. Allen if this was okay before you started doing construction on her property?”
He aims a pointed brow in my direction and keeps right on working. “First of all, it’s a door—I’ll buy her a new one if she has a problem with it. Second of all, this is about your safety. She should be glad I’m doing this.”
I smile. “Plus, isn’t it better to ask for forgiveness than permission?”
He smirks. “Spoken like the true bad girl you’ve always wanted to be.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Oh god, can we please forget that whole thing ever happened? It was silly.”
He pauses and glances down at me, studying my features. “Was it? Seems like a lot of things have happened in your life in the last two months, things you might not have had the courage to take on if you hadn’t set that goal, silly or not.”
I stir my noodles. “True. I finally stood up to my dad and laid down the law. I told him I wanted him and Colten to give me room to grow. He didn’t even protest when I asked to move out—did I tell you that? I was really relieved. And now, I have these snazzy new digs, not to mention”—I tilt my Cup of Noodles in his direction—“you.”
He opens his mouth for a bite and I oblige, grinning like a fool.
“It’s like I’ve evolved into my final form: a big,