Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

WARREN

Benji was too cute for his own good—he was definitely too cute for my sanity. A few hours trapped in the truck with him, and I was pretty sure I was going to end up doing something I had no intentions of doing.

There was something about his smile, though, and the way he leaned forward when he was talking to me, like he wanted to close the distance between us, too.

I was usually pretty good at reading people, what they wanted and what I needed to do to get what I wanted from them… but there was something different about Benji.

Something that made me wonder if I'd ever really stood a chance at doing anything other than exactly what he'd planned all along.

I guess it didn't really matter when I was more than happy to go along with it now that I'd given in.

Impulse control.

He trailed in behind me silently as I walked to the front desk, and the tired looking woman behind the computer barely bothered glancing up at me when I stepped to the counter. Either she'd just gotten here and she hadn't had her coffee yet, or she was about to come off of the night shift, and my odd hour of checking in was extending her day when she was ready to go home.

"What's up?"

"Looking for a room, if you have any." I was usually pretty good at gauging space, but I hadn't been paying as much attention as usual.

As Benji slunk up behind me and bumped his shoulder into my side with a quiet apology that didn't sound sincere at all, I realized exactly why. He didn't move away, and the warm press of him at my side was enough to make me only half hear what the receptionist said. When she held her hand out and gestured at me with bitten nails, I had to physically shake myself before I realized what she wanted.

"Right." I pulled out my ID and credit card, taking the set of keys she handed me while trying not to feel flustered.

Had it really been that long since I'd let myself get close to someone? So long that the first brush of skin against mine was making me completely lose my senses?

That wasn't something I could let happen. Losing control was…

It wasn't something I did.

It didn't stop me from leading both of us across the lot to the room I'd booked… but I did realize the second I opened the door the mistake I'd made. I could almost close my eyes and see it now, the words forming on the exhausted woman's lips.

Single bed .

I'd booked a room with one bed, and Benji had probably heard every word of it and thought I'd done it on purpose. "Well, shit."

His laughter behind me wasn't reassuring. His lithe body slid past me, and he tossed his bag onto the couch in the corner of the room with a little twirl.

"She said this was the only room they had." Benji sounded so amused, and it might have had something to do with the slightly baffled expression I knew I wore, or the fact that I was still standing there with the door open and my bag slung over my shoulder.

"I…"

"You weren't paying attention." He filled in for me when I trailed off, then had the audacity to take a few steps back and fall onto the bed. He looked up at me through silky locks of black hair that didn't quite manage to obscure the teasing expression on his features. "What had you so distracted, Warren?"

I was at another crossroad. I could go back to the front desk and make sure he was telling the truth. Though now that he said it… yeah, she'd said they were nearly booked. That didn't mean I couldn't go back to my truck and sleep in there—maybe I didn't have a mattress, but I'd bunked down on the floor or in my seat a few times when I hadn't been able to make it to a motel without taking a nap.

I could do it again.

But Benji was sprawled back on the bed, leaning on his forearms and looking at me like he was expecting something, waiting for something… and I couldn't seem to find the strength to put the door between us.

I stepped into the room and closed it behind me instead, and I knew when I did it that I was pretty much signing up for a world of trouble.

I just didn't think I had it in me to care.

"Don't worry, Warren. I promise I won't kill you in your sleep." He bit his lower lip and widened his eyes innocently. "Honestly, if anything… Maybe I should be the worried one. You're such a big guy, and I could sleep through pretty much anything ."

I didn't miss the way he quirked his brow, or how he splayed his legs slightly wider as he spoke. It would have been easy to think I was just reading into what he was saying, but he tilted his head, and the corner of his mouth tugged into a small smirk.

Benji didn't strike me as someone who said anything by accident. I didn't know him that well, but I was usually pretty good at reading people.

Then again, Benji seemed to be falling squarely into the category of not being like most of the people I'd met.

"I can always take the couch if you're uncomfortable sharing." I wasn't sure why the words came out suddenly, but I couldn't take them back now that they had. His dark eyes slid from my tall frame to the small loveseat in the corner, and he actually let out a little laugh.

"I'd almost say yes just to see you try it. Don't worry, Warren." He stood up and walked past me, and as he did, he trailed his finger along the flannel patterned shirt I had on. "I'm pretty sure I'm comfortable sharing. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Benji paused, tilting his head up so our eyes could meet. "I'm going to go take a shower and get very clean. You know, just in case."

If I'd still been willfully trying to ignore what he was inviting, the wink he gave me before he slipped into the shower pretty much sealed the deal.

Benji wanted me to want him, wanted me to touch him… and judging by the way my jeans were suddenly entirely too tight on my hardening cock, I wanted the same thing.