“Lucy, I can hear you thinking all the way over here. Angie is fine. Go.”
She swallowed hard, and, fuck it, she was going. “I mean, I guess I could go to the store.”
“Yeah, ’cause there is so much you need at two in the morning.”
She stood, reaching for her keys. “I do need stuff for snacks tomorrow.”
“I saw the oranges in the fridge,” he pointed out.
“Oh, yeah, but I mean for us,” she said, reaching for Benji’s coat.
“True, true. Have fun picking out Skittles,” he said with a wink and she glared.
“I’m seriously going to Walmart,” she said, trying to save face, but Jayden saw right through her.
“Yeah, of course. Good thing they’re twenty-four hours, huh?” She felt her lips turn up and her dimples cut into her skin as Jayden grinned. “Have fun. Tell Benji I said he’s welcome.”
Reaching for the door, she looked over her shoulder at him. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
But even she couldn’t hold in her laughter as she shut the door and hightailed it to the car.
Once in the car, though, she had second thoughts.
She should go.
Should she stay?
She really wanted to go.
But…
You need to do some things that make you happy. Her mom’s voice rang loud and clear in her head, and she was right. Putting the car in reverse, she pulled out of the driveway and headed for Benji’s. She considered calling him, telling him she was coming, but then, she kind of wanted to surprise him.
But what if he had someone there? She couldn’t come, so he got a replacement?
Stop, he isn’t Rick.
Swallowing that absurd thought, she drove faster to Benji’s, nearly bouncing in her seat. She was doing this. She was going to freaking do this.
Stopping at a stoplight, she grabbed her phone, texting him.
Lucy: Are you asleep?
Benji: No, I unfortunately slept on the plane thinking I was coming home to hot, naked butt.
Lucy: That sucks.
Benji: You have no clue. So if I suck at kissing tomorrow, we can blame you.
Lucy: Me?
Benji: You.
Lucy: Rude.
When he sent an emoji smile that had his tongue sticking out, she giggled. When the light turned green, she set her phone down as she hit the gas, taking off in a frenzy. She was ready to see him. Now. Turning into his community, she sang to Sam Hunt, loud and with no cares. She was so excited, so damn happy, and she felt good. A little guilty, but then Jayden was Angie’s family, she was fine. Lucy was doing this for herself. She needed this.
She missed him.
When she turned onto his road, she could see his house and a grin appeared on her face as she slowed to pull into his driveway.
But then she noticed a pair of blue lights flashing on his white house.
Looking behind her, she saw they belonged to a cop car.
That had his spotlight on her car.
“Driver, stay in the car.”
Stunned, she muttered, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
But this was Lucy’s life.
A fucking mess.
When blue lights started to flash in his window, Benji turned in his chair to see that there was, in fact, a cop car in front of his house.
At two in the morning.
Probably some dumbass drinking and driving.
“Idiot,” he said, getting out of his chair to shut his blinds since the lights were distracting as he tried to watch Netflix. He really didn’t think Lucy would be there, but a part of him hoped she would be. Because of that, he was annoyed, and this was not helping. As he reached for the cord to the blinds, he looked out to not only see the cop car, but also a car that looked very much like Lucy’s.
In his driveway.
“What the hell?” he said, moving to the front door and opening it. As he stepped out onto the porch, the cop turned, and sure enough, Lucy was sitting in the car, looking at him with a sheepish expression on her face.
“Sir, return to your house. Nothing to see here.”
Benji scoffed. “You’re in my driveway. Obviously, there is something to see,” he said, coming down from the porch.
“Sir, please stop where you are. I’ll be done in just a minute,” the cop demanded and Benji paused, Lucy slowly shaking her head. Even in the dark, he could see her face was beet red. “Ms. Sinclair, why are you driving over here so late at night? Have you been drinking?”
“No,” she said, frustrated. “My, er, friend, just got home from a trip, and I came to see him.”
The cop looked back at Benji, and he waved. “Hi. I’m the friend.”
Turning his back to Benji, he said, “Now, ma’am, you were speeding through a residential neighborhood.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I was excited to see him and wasn’t paying attention. Please, don’t give me a ticket. I get one more ticket and my license gets suspended and I have a kid, and ugh, I should have never left the house.”
“I agree, ma’am,” the cop said sternly, looking at her paperwork. “But give me a minute. Let me make sure you don’t have any flags on your record.”