“No, Bentley, don’t. I’m the one who’s sorry. That was a bitch thing to say. I don’t even know why I said it. I knew what you meant.”
“Holy shit,” he said, taking me in his arms and dropping his lips to the sensitive skin by my ear. My head dropped to the side to give him easy access. “So does this mean the boyfriend-girlfriend thing is a yes?”
“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.” I pulled away, taking a step backward. “You still have to admit, you were being pretty presumptuous.”
“Meaning?” he returned, wondering where I was going with this.
“Well, a girl likes to be asked.”
“Oh, of course. What was I thinking?” He got down on one knee as three people spilled out from the side door of the dorm that faced the parking lot. He took my hand. “Mac, will you be my girlfriend?”
“Say yes, say yes,” the trio shouted in unison as they laughed their way to their car.
“Get up, you fool.” I laughed, slapping Bentley on the arm.
“Not until you say yes.”
“Fine, yes.” Bentley rose to his feet and placed a long kiss on me that practically melted me from the inside out.
“Should I start doodling your name on my school folders?” I asked, my voice coming out as a croak as his mouth found my neck.
“I’d expect nothing less,” he said as his lips captured mine again.
fifteen
Bentley
“Yo, Bentley, did you make sure the rig was stocked up?” Steve asked, entering the staff break room, where I was drinking a Coke while waiting for my shift to end. The weekend had dragged, and I was ready to clock out and be done. I hadn’t seen Mac since Friday. We had texted and talked on the phone a few times, but it wasn’t the same thing. I’d say I was completely pussy-whipped, but even Chad had complained about her absence when I arrived home late last night after working a sixteen-hour shift.
“Like six hours ago,” I answered, looking at the clock on the wall, which seemed not to be moving. Today wouldn’t have been so bad if we had been called out a couple times, but with the exception of responding to a 911 call that turned out to be false, Steve and I had been sitting around all night twiddling our thumbs. At least now that midnight had come and gone, we were on the down side of my shift. Three hours to go and I would be home free.
“That’s right. Shit, I must be losing my mind. I swear these dead nights suck my brain cells.” He sat down at the round table across from me. “How about some cards?” he asked, plu
cking a deck out of his shirt pocket.
“Sure, as long as you don’t cheat this time.”
“Whatever. If anyone cheats, it’s you. No one can have the luck you have.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night. Speaking of which, how’s Jacob?” I asked as he shuffled the deck.
“According to Molly, he actually slept through the night last night. Maybe I can get a full night’s sleep in tonight.”
“You mean you won’t have to nudge Molly and tell her the baby needs her,” I quipped, looking at my cards.
“I’m going to regret telling you that, aren’t I?”
“Regret telling me that you make your poor exhausted wife get up every night with your baby? Most likely. You’re lucky my mom isn’t here to ream your ass. She’d have a field day with you. My dad can tell you stories about walking around all night holding me because I had colic or some shit like that when I was a baby. He and my mom both took turns.”
“Hey, Molly likes getting up with Jacob. She’s all about this mother thing.”
“Right? Because she doesn’t value her sleep as much as you do yours?”
“Damn, I’m starting to think you’re my mother. Fine, I’ll get up tonight with him if he wakes up. Now, can we please stop gabbing like a bunch of chicks and play some cards?”
“Just waiting on you, old man,” I ribbed him, looking at my cards.
“It’s about time,” he grumbled, looking at his own cards. “Do you have any eights?”