“You do it a lot, so yeah,” he teased and she elbowed him in the gut, not hard but he faked hurt anyway. “Meanie.” He didn’t mean it as he chuckled against her cheek. “Anyway, before you beat me up, where is your real dad? Do you know him?”
She paused and leaned her head into his. “Yeah, my mom and dad got divorced about three years ago, give or take.”
“Oh, you never speak of him.”
“’Cause I hate him,” she said simply. “He broke our happy home. My family is so close, all of us. I mean, Jude shits glitter. Everyone knows in seconds, we’re that close.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I can tell.”
“Yeah, well, even though my dad was kind of tough on us, he was our dad and we loved him. But come to find out, he had another life with another woman. Broke my mom’s heart, broke all our hearts. Over the years, he’s just kept on being shitty. Like, he’s never apologized to any of us, and he just keeps causing issues.”
“Wow. That’s sad.”
“Oh, you have no clue. He almost physically fought my three brothers. He stalled on the divorce and cut my mom off financially when she was stay-at-home mom, so she had to go back to work. He refused to let the boys get access to their trust funds to help our mom. Then he tried to buy Jayden back, but Jayden hates him the most, so there was no help there. But Jace, he just wants to be loved, you know? He wants his whole family together, and my dad tried to buy him to keep him from all of us because Jace was in a bind with his wife and they were pregnant. It was a mess.” She inhaled deeply. “Wow, I really went off there. Sorry. Gosh.”
What in the hell? She never did that. Never talked about her dad.
All of a sudden, she had diarrhea of the mouth.
This guy… Man…
“No, I want to know. I’m sorry that happened, baby. That blows.”
“Yeah, he’s a dick, which is why I don’t talk about him. It just sucks ’cause Angie loves him so much, and he’s always been good to her. But I can’t do it. Sometimes I feel like such a piece of shit for not allowing him time with her, but I’m still so mad at him.”
“Has he tried to see her?”
“Once or twice, but I can’t, and I know that makes me a shitty person.”
But Benji shook his head. “You know what’s best for your daughter. You’re her mother, Lucy. You have to trust your gut.”
“Yeah, exactly,” she said, turning to look at him. “Like, what if he tries to buy her off? She’s young and impressionable, and fucking Rick already does enough of that. So, no, I can’t do it.”
“And you shouldn’t have to. Come here, it’s okay,” he said, cuddling her in his arms. “You need a hug, you’re all riled up. Sorry I asked,” he murmured against her cheek.
“No, it’s fine. He just bugs me.”
“Understandable.”
For a moment, she thought she’d said too much, but then, wasn’t that what a relationship was? Talking about stuff you didn’t like? And Benji did it wonderfully. He listened like he always did and it was nice. Really nice. Leaning into him, she closed her eyes, feeling completely content. Something she hadn’t felt a lot unless she was with him. That should be a blinking sign in her face that he was becoming more, but she had her blinders on because she liked the way he felt. Was that such a bad thing?
When it was just them, alone, with nothing from the outside world in the way, she was good. Walls down, she was happy. It was the thought of everyone knowing that she liked him, Angie knowing, and ultimately Rick, that had her sick to her stomach. Angie would handle it like she did everything else—head on, fast, and with zero cares—unless Lucy was upset and then she would be upset. Lucy couldn’t have that. She couldn’t stress her baby out. Her family would get too excited way too quickly. Knowing her mother, she’d want to have a double wedding, and Lucy could handle that, but she couldn’t handle Rick. Knowing her luck, he’d run Benji off, and in the end, break Lucy’s heart all over again.
And Angie’s.
And she could never let that happen.
But in his tub, Benji’s arms around her, nothing could touch them.
No. She was good, real good.
“All I need is a glass of wine, maybe some chocolate-covered strawberries,” she said with a giggle, and he chuckled against the back of her head. “Do you have any wine? We should pop open a bottle, drink it like queens and kings.”
He chuckled against her ear, kissing the spot below it. “No, I don’t.”
“That’s a travesty. We’ll need to get some for next time.”
He didn’t say anything right away, but then he cleared his throat. “About that…”
She opened her eyes, leaning over so she could look up at him. “What? No next time?”
He scoffed. “Oh, Lucy, if I had my way, this water would stay hot and we wouldn’t leave. But it’s not that.”
“Then what?”
He paused and sucked in a deep breath before meeting her gaze. He was unsure, something was holding him back, and that made her concerned.
But nothing prepared her for what he said next.
“I’m an alcoholic.”
Whoa. What?
Her face must have given her away before he looked away. “I’ve been sober for twelve years, though.”