5. Perry

Chapter 5

Perry

"A silver angel?" Beau says, looking confused.

I playback what I just said. Fucksticks

"I got my similes mixed up."

"But what were they meant to be?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is I can help you, and these cookies are getting broken," I say, lifting said cookies up to show him.

"They will if you wave them through the air like that," he says in that deep voice of his. It's like he has a direct line to my cock, which is really fucking inconvenient. I'm going to have to start wearing jockstraps and jeans whenever I'm around this man.

Even when he doesn't talk he is a huge temptation.

Gray sweats, practically see through white tee, and a backwards ball cap.

What a slutty outfit to be wearing at nine am on a Sunday morning.

"Do you want to come inside and tell me how you can help me?" Beau says.

"Thank you, yes."

I follow after him, watching as his ass moves so perfectly in those sweats. I should probably stop thinking about Beau's ass if I'm going to help him out.

And considering he is the only person who knows my family situation.

That is a sobering thought.

One careless comment and my life comes crashing down.

Because even if I do have the best friends in the world, they still won't look at me the same way. How could they? They'll pity me. Or hate me for not telling them the truth.

How can anyone love you when your own family doesn't even love you?

"I don't have a lot of groceries, but I definitely have milk to wash those cookies down. Is half and half okay with you?" Beau says as we head into his kitchen.

It looks like a pine explosion has gone off in here. Cabinets, walls, furniture, even flooring. All pine.

"That's great, thanks." I sit down at the table and put the mostly whole cookies in the middle.

Beau places a glass of milk down in front of me and sits down opposite me.

"So you can help me?"

I nod. "We can help each other."

He cocks his head, and I feel my cheeks start to heat. How is it that this man can make me throw my carefully crafted control out the window?

"I have a college assignment where I need to launch a small business from the ground up. Marketing plans, what forms to file, permits. I need to plan it all. We could throw all our stones in the same basket."

Beau's mouth twitches like he's trying not to smile.

My eyes narrow. "You better not be thinking I can't do this," I start.

"Shit, no no no," Beau says, leaning forward. "Perry, this is kismet. I need you."

I need you too. On your knees, sucking me off, wearing nothing but that fucking hat. Slutty man.

Head in the game, Perry.

"We need each other. There is one other thing I want in exchange for my help." I ask straightening my spine.

Beau's eyes flash with something I definitely wish I could explore.

"Anything," he says, voice even deeper than before.

"M-my friends don't know about my relationship with my mother and sister. I want it to stay that way. If I help you, then I want your silence in return. Please."

Asking this of him strangely wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Probably because I've made a fool of myself in every interaction, we've had.

I'm kind of impressive like that.

"Perry," he says in a way too soft a tone. All sexy huskiness gone. "I would never talk about your family stuff to anyone. That's your business. I want your help. Fuck, do I need it, but I don't want you to do it because you think you have to in exchange for something. In fact, I should be paying you to do this. What's the going rate?"

I choke on my own spit. "No, Beau. You can't pay me."

"Is it against college rules?" He pulls his phone out and starts tapping away.

"What are you doing?"

"Googling if I can pay students for private services," he says, not taking his eyes off the screen.

I lean over and grab his phone from his hands and place it next to me.

"Hey." Indignation laces his voice.

"Beau, that wording will land you on some kind of FBI list." I roll my eyes so fucking hard it actually hurts.

"Shit," he says, cheeks taking on an adorable pink hue.

"You're not going to pay me and I won't think you will spill my secret unless I do this. Deal?"

I hold out my hand for Beau to shake. He spits on his own and then takes my hand with the perfect amount of grip.

Shame it wasn't my dick.

"Okay, well, I wasn't expecting that. Maybe next time you spit on me, you warn me first?"

The pink on his cheeks intensifies. "Shit, sorry, I-wait. Next time?"

I pull my hand away and surreptitiously wipe it on my pants under the table. Thankfully, Beau's phone starts ringing, letting me off the hook.

I look at the caller ID.

"Pa is calling. Is that different grandpa?" I ask, remembering his mentioned his dad died.

Beau snorts and picks up his phone, canceling the call. "No, it's my ex-boyfriend."

"Oh. So, is that a daddy thing? I don't know much about that kink," I say, with what I hope is a judgement free smile.

I am a little shocked. Beau doesn't give off boy/little energy.

"What? I'm not into that. No shade to it, it's just not my yum," he says. He takes his hat off, runs a spit free hand through his messy black waves and puts the hat back on.

Is he nervous?

"You're going to think I'm an idiot, but Pa is actually Paul. We were together for three months last year. He kept doing things like standing me up to go hang with his buddies, and when we did go out on a date, he always forgot his wallet when it was his turn to pay. I started deleting a letter from his name and decided when his whole name was deleted I'd break up with him. Found out he was engaged before that happened."

"Wow, shit, I am so sorry that happened to you." I cover his hand with mine. "The man is a cunt and I hope he walks into his bedroom to find his fiance railing his dad."

Beau throws his head back and lets loose the sexiest laugh I have ever heard. His throat muscles are mesmerizing.

I am such a dick for ogling the guy when he just shared his trauma.

"That is amazing. Thank you for that imagery." He gives me a sly look. "I might have got my own petty revenge. He worked for a company owned by his fiance's mother. I sent her and every employee at the company screenshots of Paul's hook up app profiles, screenshots of our conversations, and anything else I could get my hands on. Legally she couldn't fire him, but she did demote him, which was just as fun."

This moment will be etched in my memory as the day I fell in love with my future husband.

"That is so petty," I whisper.

Beau squirms in his seat. "Um, yeah, I guess it was a little immature."

"Fuck no," I say louder than I meant to if Beau's wince is anything to go by. "What you did was beautiful. A work of art. Too few people appreciate petty revenge. Fuck, forgiving and forgetting. Protect your peace by giving them none. Less silence, more violence."

Beau chuckles. "You are my kind of person, Periwinkle Cyan Hawthorn."

"Full name me again, and the kind of person I will be is your worst nightmare." I smirk at him to take some of the bite out of my words.

"Sure thing. I'll stick to calling you my silver angel, like you said."

I will not blush.

"You're extra cute when you blush," Beau says.

Well, that worked out well.

This business launch assignment is going to take a few weeks and I honestly think I won't survive it if Beau is going to be the perfect petty man the whole time.

He is going to kill me.

Even if it's just by proxy.

Is Beau an accessory to murder if I die of dehydration due to jerking off to thoughts of him multiple times a day?

It's official.

He's turned me stupid.