Ride With Me

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

WARREN

If I was worried that I’d somehow read the situation wrong last night, the sensation of Benji curled against my chest quelled those fears. He clung to me like I was the only lifeline he had, and when I tried to shift slightly, his nails dug into my skin.

“If you even think about trying to sneak out of this bed, I’ll make you regret it.”

For someone so small, Benji sure was good at sounding threatening when he first woke up. Still…

“I was just getting my phone. I didn’t know how long you were going to sleep, and I didn’t want to wake you.” It was weird how comfortable I felt around him. I knew that there were certain people who you just had chemistry with, but I’d never really subscribed to the whole “at first sight” thing before. The universe was probably pretty smug, proving me wrong like this. I wasn’t sure if it was all some kind of chemical reaction, or if it was really as fanciful as two people who were destined to meet, destined to be together… but I couldn’t deny that Benji in my arms, Benji curling so he was half across my chest…

Benji beneath me last night, laying soft and silent and trying to hold in his moans…

Fuck, I couldn’t deny that he’d been perfect. That everything about spending time with him had been perfect, and I still didn’t know his last name. Shit, I didn’t know what he was running from, or why he’d been so desperate to get into my truck.

I didn’t know anything important about him. But I knew what he looked like when his brows drew together and his lips parted in a silent oh of pleasure.

Priorities, I guess.

“Well, since we’ve established that we’re both up, maybe we could get out of bed long enough to get breakfast.” His eyes slid to the window and the light that was already starting to slant across the sky. “Uh, dinner? I don’t care what it is, I’m starving. I swear, I slept like a log last night, but I feel like I ran a marathon. I wonder why that is?” He lifted his head and peeked at me through his bangs, and the way he bit his lower lip nearly tempted me to roll him beneath me again.

“There’s probably a diner close by. We can grab something before we head out.”

That was something else appealing about him. I kept weird hours, and I knew it. There probably weren’t that many people who would be content to wake up with less than two hours of sunlight left… but Benji just rolled over in the bed, stealing all the covers as he did so, and stretched like a contented kitten.

“Fuck, you’re pretty.” The words came out before I could stop them, but he preened under the compliment.

I had no reason to think that any of this could work, no reason to feel like he was mine already… but that didn’t stop me from leaning over and pressing a quick kiss to the top of his head before I got up and went to the bathroom.

He was up and dressed by the time I came back out, and I noticed he’d neatly packed both of our bags and sat them at the end of the bed.

God, I could get used to this. I hadn’t realized exactly how lonely it was on the road until I suddenly wasn’t alone anymore.

Benji was in real danger of me keeping him…

“You about ready to go?” The smile on his face seemed genuine enough, and the way he bumped his shoulder into mine when I stepped up to take my bag made warmth zing through my body.

“Yeah, we just need to stop at the front office and turn in the key.”

Benji looked back at the bed when we stepped to the door. “You never settle in one place long enough to enjoy a bed twice?”

Enjoy a bed twice . The implication was clear, but I managed to clear my throat and ignore it.

“Honestly, once I finish this route, I’m going to get the bed in my truck fixed. Then I can enjoy it as much as I want.”

We were both quiet after that, and I wondered if he was trying to figure out the logistics of whether or not there was enough space for two people. He’d been so busy trying to hide beneath the blanket I’d left back there that I didn’t know if he’d gotten a good look at the actual bed frame.

There was enough room, even if it would be a little cramped.

He was quiet until we got to the truck, and I caught the way his eyes lingered in the back space for a second before finally flicking back to me.

“Benji…” I didn’t know why I said his name like that as I started the ignition, and I saw it the second he drew in on himself. He could tell that I was about to ask questions, and he’d been so keen on avoiding them yesterday when we’d been talking.

I wasn’t sure why I suddenly needed answers today, but I did.

“My ex’s brother is after me,” he almost whispered. I could barely hear him over the sound of the truck roaring to life.

“You told me that…” I was careful to keep my eyes on the road as I pulled out. “Do you want to tell me why?”

He hesitated, worrying his lower lip until I was half afraid he was going to make it bleed. I was almost ready to tell him he didn’t have to say anything when he finally dropped his hands into his lap and sighed.

“Neither of them were very nice men. His brother was an abusive asshole, and Mitchy’s probably worse. I hurt Aaron when I left,” he hesitated, like he was waiting to see if I was going to ask him to elaborate. When I kept my lips firmly pressed together, he continued on. “Mitchy didn’t take very kindly to me leaving his brother like that, so he stole my car and threatened to kill me.” Benji finally looked up from his hands, and I could see it in his eyes again.

The pleading.

The need that he had to be here with me, to keep heading in the same direction I was.

“Okay.” I didn’t know if that was enough.

“Okay?”

“I’m not going to throw you out on your ass, Benji. If you need help, I’ll help you.”

He paused, but only for a second. “You don’t even know me, Warren. You don’t have to help me.” The genuine confusion and curiosity in his voice made me want to ask even more questions. What kind of people had he known before me?

“I don’t have to, but I want to.”

“You didn’t even ask me how I hurt Aaron.” He paused at that, his dark eyes fixated on me, almost daring me to pry.

I wanted to. There was a part of me that wanted to stop the truck and absolutely flay him open so I could see every answer along his ribs, every little part of him that I was suddenly so curious about that it was eating me alive.

But I shrugged instead.

“It sounds to me like he deserved whatever you did to him. And it sounds to me like his brother will deserve whatever he gets if he doesn’t stop bothering you.” I didn’t know if the last bit was as reassuring as I wanted it to be, but he needed to know that I wasn’t going to let some asshat named Mitchy hurt him. I couldn’t spell it out in so many words, because I didn’t know how well he’d take to me making open threats, but I hoped he could see it on my face, hear it in my tone.

I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him.

Benji sat back in his seat and looked at me—really looked at me—and then the softest smile blossomed across his features. It was sweeter than anything I’d seen from him, and for some reason, it felt more genuine than any expression he’d shown me before.

“You’re strange, Warren.”

I turned my attention back to the road with a small laugh. “Yeah, I know.”

“It isn’t a bad thing,” he added.

“A lot of people think it is.” There was a reason I drove alone, why I was most comfortable in the company of the stars and the empty road instead of other people. I didn’t belong with other people. I never had.

“Well… lucky for you, I’m not most people.”

Maybe I didn’t belong with other people, but Benji was starting to make me think that maybe there was really a person out there for everyone.

One person it was okay to break your own rules for, because they belonged to you.

And Benji… Well, Benji felt like mine.