“Benson!” Delaney calls, then stops when she sees us.
She deflates almost instantly, and actually looks hurt for a brief second. I’ll explain to her later that Benson has been mine for three years, but I didn’t realize it until I woke up on top of him.
“Do not leave me alone with them,” Benson says quietly as I lower my hand, and I hear Liam start to laugh.
“Glad I came in at the end of this beard thing,” Liam says, causing Benson’s lips to twitch.
“You’re the one who was over there with them. I always hang out in this exact spot,” I point out, still looking up at Benson, who frowns down at me.
“I had to talk to Paul about importing some materials too big to drive on that rickety road behind my place. He’s the one with the barge. Then I had to listen to fifteen stories about random things before I could get away from him. You know how Paul is.”
And now I feel like I’ve been pouting for no reason.
I shrug, looking back over at Liam, who is staring at anything but us right now as he leans back on the picnic table.
Benson wouldn’t embarrass someone by shrugging them off, hence the reason Lindy and Delaney touching him didn’t get rebuffed. I still don’t like it. I’d rather him be an ass. I’m used to my brothers—they’d both be total assholes.
“I kind of miss my beard right now,” Benson grumbles when Lindy starts walking our way.
“I miss your beard too,” I say too quietly for him to hear.
No other women noticed him before I stupidly helped get that bad beard gone. Now it feels like I’m struggling to keep him to myself like I’ve done for the past three years.
“Lindy!” Aunt Penny yells before Lindy can reach us. “I need help with these desserts!”
Lindy stares at Benson for a beat, but he leans over like he’s hiding beside my face, his breath tickling my neck until I laugh, unable to stop it. His arms are strong around my waist as they tighten there.
I’ve never once gotten a death glare from another woman.
Not a damn one.
Until now.
I never should have ruined the beards.
“Coming,” Lindy says before spinning on a heel. “Maybe Lilah could help us too,” she adds so sweetly.
“Lilah always helps. She’s at all these gatherings. Thought maybe some of you new girls could pull your weight for the night,” Aunt Penny, the most awesome woman in the universe, says.
Benson snickers beside me as I laugh, and Liam even chuckles.
His eyes scan the place, and I secretly wonder who’s missing. It’s a small town. Sure, there are more single women than I realized initially, but I don’t know who he’d be looking for.
“Still don’t see her?” I ask.
He shakes his head, darting an apprehensive glance to Benson, and I realize he doesn’t want him knowing.
Got it.
“See who?” Benson asks.
“One of the girls here asked him for a three-way. He’s trying to avoid her,” I deadpan.
Liam’s lips twitch when Benson strangles on air, and I wink at him, letting him know I’m damn good at keeping secrets.
“I don’t want to stick around for fireworks. Think they’d get mad if we bailed early? All the buzz over my beard being gone is getting annoying,” Benson says close to my ear.
Butterflies. I’ve totally got butterflies. Because I’m fairly sure he’s telling me I’m coming with him, or at least assuming I am.
That’s normal, but tonight it seems a little different. I think. Or maybe I’m being a girl and seeing something that’s not there.
“Sure,” I say all too readily.
He stands, his arm sliding around my waist, and we both tell Liam bye before making our way toward the boat.
“Hey, Nolans. We need to talk to you,” Killian says, eyeing the hand Benson has on my waist.
Benson sighs. “Ignore them,” I tell him.
“Can’t. Just let me deal with it, then we’ll get out of here.”
Even though I try to stop him, he still goes to my brothers, who smirk at me. Fortunately, I’ve seen Benson rough both of them up in the past. Like that time they broke my bathroom window and I got stung by a bunch of bees as a result. Did I mention they broke my window with a limb that had a beehive on it?
Yeah. They were like Pooh Bear going for honey, and it didn’t end well for me when the limb and hive crashed through my bathroom window as I was showering.
The damn hive didn’t have any honey in it. It wasn’t honey bees.
Dick bags.
I know they had to know that.
Benson literally beat the shit out of them for a while before he made them go buy me comfort foods, hydrocortisone cream, and various other things while he patched up a temporary window and ordered me a new one.
That they paid for.
Why didn’t I think I liked him sooner?
I really should have just slept on top of his chest a year or two ago. Then I could have had him before he lost the beard and every other girl wanted him.
“So what’s up with that?” Delaney asks me, her tone guarded as she stares at Benson talking to my brothers.
He’s smirking. They’re not smiling at all.
“What’s up with what?” I ask as I turn to face her, playing dumb.
She narrows her eyes at me. “You’ve never acted interested in anyone, then I flirt half the day with him, competing with Lindy this entire time, and suddenly you’re cuddled up with him on the picnic table? Seriously, what gives?”
My smile slowly spreads. “You never saw him before he lost the bad beard, did you?”
She frowns. “What?”
“Delaney, that is maybe a little more affectionate than we’ve been in the past, but not much. We’re always touching, and always hanging out at these gatherings—not that you’re here to see that. I do his shopping on Tuesdays when I go into town. Benson and I have been friends for three years at least. I’ve even talked about him to you, and it’s like you never paid attention when I said his name. Nothing romantically related, but he came up in many conversations.”
Her entire face falls. “Oh,” she says, her face reddening.
The sun is starting to set now, and she fidgets awkwardly, focusing on where the massive ball of fire is sinking into the horizon.
“Makes sense why he was so uncomfortable with us. I thought it was just because he was shy and not used to the attention. Found it sort of cute or endearing. Now I feel stupid.”
I laugh lightly. “No need. I feel stupid for making the beards go away.”
Her eyes widen and she grabs my shoulders, shaking me a little. There’s my Delaney. “Don’t you ever say that again. This town finally, finally has men in it that don’t look like they crawled out of a gutter or survived an island where no one had to look at them for a decade. We should erect a statue of you to commemorate this momentous occasion that has forever changed Tomahawk for the better.”
We both dissolve into laughter, and Benson is suddenly back, his arm slipping around my waist and dragging me closer.
“What’d I miss?” he asks, though he feels a little stiff.