No Strings

“Or she can just spend the night,” Brody suggests, shocking me. “It’s not like Mom doesn’t have that asshole living with her.”

“Watch your mouth.” I side-eye him. “Why don’t you like Ted, anyway?” He’s made several digs at the guy, and his mom mentioned they used to fight. I don’t know the guy, but I’m not sure how I would feel if Brody didn’t like Savannah.

“I just… I just don’t like him,” he mumbles. “But Mom loves him so…” He shrugs. “I’m just glad I don’t have to live with him anymore... as long as you’re here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I assure him. “But at some point, you’re going to have to see your mom… and not just when he’s out of town.” We have fifty-fifty custody, but she’s always had him the majority of the time because of my dumb choices. “Maybe we should sit down and talk to your mom—”

“No!” Brody barks. “Just leave it alone, please.” Something more is going on, but I don’t know what it is.

“What about your therapist? Would you consider talking to him about it?” We still have three and a half more years of him being home until he goes to college, and there’s no way his mom will let him avoid staying at her house that long.

He averts his gaze, looking past me. “I guess.”

Not wanting to push him, I leave it at that for now. “All right. Go jump in the shower. You have school in the morning.”

“Unless it snows enough for schools to cancel,” he says as he walks down the hall toward his bathroom.

Once he’s gone, Savannah rolls over onto her back and looks up at me. “I don’t think I like that Ted guy,” she says, obviously having heard at least that part of our conversation.

“Yeah, me neither,” I agree, dipping my face to kiss her. “Want to spend the night? Unlike Ted, Brody likes you and said he doesn’t mind.” I waggle my brows, making Savannah smile.

“As tempting as that sounds, I think it’s best if I sleep at home. All my stuff is there, and I think we should take it slow… not just for us but for Brody too. He’s been through a lot, and he might be okay with it, but it doesn’t mean we should take advantage of that.”

“You’re amazing,” I tell her, kissing her when she sits up. “I’ll walk you home.”

“Such a gentleman.” She grins, kissing me back.

Chapter Nineteen

Savannah

“Wow! Look at you,” Brianne says, walking into my room. “Benjamin isn’t going to know what hit him.”

I turn around and glance at myself in the mirror, taking in my appearance. Since the Valentine’s Day party at Lush is a black-tie affair with a red, pink, and black theme for the occasion, I’m dressed in a bright-red velvet minidress that’s covered in shimmering sequins and ruching at the waist to accentuate my curves. The front dips low, showing off the swells of my breasts while keeping it classy with long sleeves, yet it has an off-center slit up the side. My dirty-blond hair is down in waves with one side pinned back behind my ear. Since it’s been snowing on and off, I’m wearing red suede closed-toe heels with an ankle strap.

Not wanting to wear a dress bought by another man, I bought this dress for tonight during Brianne’s and my shopping trip. She needed something new as well, so we made a day of it. It was nice since we haven’t had a lot of girl time between dating and working.

“Me?” I say back. “Look at you.”

Brianne went with a sexier, shorter, more formfitting blood-red dress, and she looks amazing. Her hair is up in a tight ponytail with the ends spiraling down her back, and her lips are a matching matte crimson while mine are a bright red glossy color.

“We do look gorgeous, don’t we?” She grins. “Benjamin picking you up?”

“Yeah, he and Brody should be here soon. We’re going to pick up Brody’s date and then head to Lush.”

“I can’t believe how much he’s changed in such a short time. Although, it shouldn’t surprise me.”

“Why is that?”

She shrugs. “I guess I’m just learning that when the right person comes along, it doesn’t matter if it’s hours, days, or weeks… if they’re the one, they’re the one.”

“Are you trying to say Marcus is the one?” Since the night they left together from the club, they've been inseparable, but she hasn’t mentioned how serious they are.

“Yeah,” she says with a smile. “I think he is. What about you and Benjamin? Is he the one?”

I think about her question for a few long moments before I answer. “It’s hard because at one point I thought Neil was the one, but looking back, it was actually the idea of him that I was caught up in. You know? The idea of getting married and being in love and having a family. I didn’t think about the fact that he wasn’t actually the kind of person I wanted to spend my life with.