Rhythm of Us: Book 2 Of The Fated Hearts Series (17 page)

“As I’ll ever be. What’s in the bag?” I nodded to the reusable cloth grocery bag in his hands.

“Very important stakeout thingies, Xavier.” Ben pushed the unlock button on his key fob and we both climbed inside his shiny sedan. “So, here’s the plan,” Ben said as he fired up the engine and backed out of his driveway. “Van gave me the description of Drake Anderson’s car and his license plate number, along with several of his favorite haunts.”

“Who’s Van?”

“Sorry it’s the nickname I use for my brother, Bevan, unless I want to get under his skin and then I call him Bev.” The smile in Ben’s voice demonstrated how much he loved his brother. It made me nostalgic over the lost connection with my own siblings, but all the more grateful for the bond I had with Chase.

“So, the loser’s name is Drake Anderson? It will be great to have his name and face to visualize at my next kickboxing class.”

“Oh, when might that be?” Ben didn’t bother to disguise his eagerness and wishful thinking that I might end up back at his house again after class ready to fuck my aggression out of my system.

I hated to break it to him, but I’d already started to research healthier ways to come down off that adrenaline and testosterone high that didn’t involve sex with him. One of the most common bad habits people fell into while recovering from addiction was picking up another. Kevin referred to it as transference and warned me about it during our email conversations. I also read a lot about it in several articles during my online research. The most natural transference is to latch onto a person in place of the alcohol or drugs. I knew I wasn’t going to avoid relationships forever, but I would evade them until I felt strong enough to handle all the ups and downs that went with them. Besides, I still didn’t trust my judgment after the last fiasco.

“Xavier.” Ben’s warm voice broke into my inner musings.

“Hmm? Oh, um, my next class is tomorrow night.” I sat there wondering how I could tell him that last night would not be repeated without hurting his feelings or coming off like a dick.

“A massage or a soak in a hot tub or bath will help bring you down if you experience another spike like the one you had last night. Masturbation works wonders for most things that ail us.” Ben intuitively addressed my unspoken concern. A small voice in my brain reminded me that I’d been a little presumptuous to assume that he wanted more than sex with me anyway.
Arrogant much?
“You might not get that spike after each and every class, Xavier. Last night could have been an anomaly because you were taking steps to take back control of your life and your safety, so you were bound to feel excitement on a whole different level.”

“How do you know so much about it?” My curiosity overrode my caution. I would have been lying if I said I wasn’t interested in learning more about Ben.

“I was obese during my late childhood and early teen years,” he replied. I looked over at him and let my eyes roam over his lean, yet well-defined body. “It’s true,” he said as if he could hear the doubt in my mind. “My home was a miserable, cold place for a kid and Van was the only good thing I had in my life. He left for college when I was eight years old and I became an emotional eater.” Ben looked over at me and caught my stare. “Addictions come in many varieties and one is not better or worse than the others, because they are all mentally and physically destructive, Xavier. I was on a fast track to diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Yeah, it might have taken longer to kill me, but the quality of those years would have greatly diminished.”

I turned to look back out the windshield and let his words reverberate through my skull. I never quite considered the points he was making, but then again I hadn’t really talked to anyone about addictions, except for Kevin. No wonder Ben didn’t judge me for anything I confessed last night, because he’d been down this road and won.

“How’d you overcome your bad eating habits?”

“Daniel and Beverly tried just about everything to get me to lose the weight, because I was an embarrassment to our family, which only made me eat more just to piss them off. They sent me away to ‘fitness summer camps’ for a few years, but that didn’t work. They tried counseling, but didn’t like being told that they were part of my problem. Their solution was to find a counselor who told them what they wanted to hear – that I was a fat and lazy kid who didn’t have a drop of ambition inside me, when that was the furthest thing from the truth. Luckily for me they never found that counselor.” His voice was laced with dry humor, which confused me, because there was nothing funny about the story he was telling me.

“Their last resort was to hire a personal trainer to come to our house and whip me into shape and teach me a healthier way to eat. We already had a chef on staff, but they insisted that this personal trainer be the one to prepare my meal plans.” Ben laughed and I looked over to see him grinning like a fool. “Good god, Xavier, I learned so much about myself that summer.” His humor was contagious and I found myself smiling with him, even though I was still confused as to why we were smiling. “I took one look at Sven and knew my life would be irrevocably changed. My eyes took in all those tan, sculpted muscles, his beautiful face and I realized that I was gay as fuck.” Ah, then I understood what all the smiling was about.

Laughter burst from my chest like a shotgun blast, loud and widespread. “How old were you?” I asked when I regained my composure.

“Thirteen. It’s a miracle I didn’t go blind from jerking off so much.” Ben’s wide grin let me know he was enjoying this particular trip down memory lane. “To make a long story short, I was smitten and I knew if I ever wanted to attract a guy like Sven then I’d need to lose weight and get into shape. He introduced me to all types of healthy foods, exercises, and activities, but the game change occurred when he took me to my first swim lesson. I took to swimming like a duck to water. We had a pool at our house, but it was more for looks than exercise. Sure, I splashed around and had fun, but that was nothing compared to the exhilaration of swimming competitively.”

“I bet you were really good at it once you put your mind to it, weren’t you?”

“I was,” he agreed, nodding. “It took me close to two years to lose the weight and learn the techniques I needed to become a competitive swimmer, but there was no turning back once I reached that pinnacle.” There was so much pride in Ben’s voice. “Thanks to Sven and his never-wavering support, I earned a swimming scholarship and a ticket out of misery.”

“Wow,” was all I could think to say. Ben was just so full of surprises and it worried me how much I liked unwrapping him to find each one. I almost did a full body shiver at the image of how I unwrapped and unraveled him last night. My dick stirred beneath the tight confines of my black jeans. There’d be no hiding my arousal in those jeans so I forced my mind to think about something non-sexual. “Are things better with your parents now?”

“Nope,” he said casually, but his stiffening posture belied his calm, neutral words. “Okay, this is our first stop.” Ben pulled into a parking lot of a dive bar I’d never been to. He competently backed his car into a secluded parking spot in a far corner where we could have eyes on both the front and side exits. “Will you hand me the bag?” It appeared that the conversation regarding his parents was over. I wanted to learn more, but I didn’t push him.

I reached behind his seat and lifted the bag he placed there when he got in the car. It was surprisingly heavy and I admit I was curious about the things he deemed necessary for tonight. I handed the bag over to him and studied his smiling face as he sorted through the items.

“Every stakeout needs a disguise.” Ben pulled a black ball cap with the words Task Force emblazoned on the front in large white print and handed it to me. He slid a matching hat on his head and went back to riffling through the bag. I slid the ridiculous hat on my head and waited for the next piece of our costume, which turned out to be oversized aviator sunglasses. We slid the glasses on while looking at each other and I was sure my goofy grin matched the one he was sporting. “I couldn’t resist these when I saw them in a tourist souvenir shop.”

I pulled the visor down and checked my appearance in the mirror. “I look like that bombing suspect from years ago. I’m just missing a hoodie,” I told him, a hint of whining had entered my voice.

“You look adorable,” Ben countered, which I chose to ignore.

“What else is in the bag?”

“I brought us food,” Ben answered then rushed to explain. “I know you said this wasn’t a date and I’ve accepted that, but I worked later that I anticipated and I’m very hungry. It would have been really rude to eat in front of you.”

“I could eat.” My casual reply set him at ease, but I wasn’t letting him off that easy. “There better not be anything in that bag that indicates you lured me here so you could seduce me. How’d you even know about this place?” Ben pulled out a file folder and handed it to me. I opened it immediately and read a shocking amount of information about Drake Anderson, including his home address, phone numbers, a photo of his driver license, and a list of establishments that he frequently visited. “Was this information obtained legally?” A chorus of raucous laughter broke out several rows in front of us in the parking lot, pulling my attention away from the file and the legality of the information it contained. “Please – for the love of God – tell me that my sister wasn’t hanging out in dive bars like this place?”

“Ellie told me she met Drake at the gym,” came his simple reply. “I’ve never know Ellie to go to bars unless we all went out for a drink after work. We normally go to Bottoms Up where Chase used to work, because the food is great, the beer is ice cold, and it has a great vibe.”

“Yeah, I know the place,” I answered. “I went a few times with Chase and Gray before I returned to LA last year.” I looked back at the file in my hands and waved it slightly to get Ben’s attention. “How does Bevan find out this information?”

“I don’t know all of his tricks, but I’m grateful for them. I need to learn all I can about this douche so that I can help Ellie make sure he stays out of her and the baby’s life permanently.” Ben’s devotion was another admirable trait and it was becoming harder and harder to keep my guard up around him. Luckily, he started pulling food out of the bag and passing it out between us. “It’s my specialty sandwich,” he told me. “Thick slices of turkey breast, hickory smoked bacon, avocados, and herb infused mayo.”

“Wow.”

“Wait until you taste it,” Ben said smugly. “I also brought Saratoga chips and bottles of peach tea and water, because I wasn’t sure what you like to drink.”

“Wow.” I sounded like a parrot. “Thank you, Ben.”

“Thank me after you devour your sandwich.” Ben unwrapped his sandwich and took a hearty bite then moaned in pleasure. The sounds were similar to those he made when I had my dick inside him just the night before. I looked away from him and focused on my own sandwich. I took a bite and gave an appreciative moan of my own when the flavor combination burst onto my tongue. “Right?” Ben asked around a mouthful of food. I couldn’t answer so I just nodded.

We made quick work of our food as the sun began to set on the horizon. I looked over at him and the content smile that lit up his face made me feel warm and gooey inside. I noticed a little smidge of mayo at the corner of his mouth, which almost resembled a little something I had left on his mouth a few days ago. Just that quickly, my mind derailed off the track and was heading for my crotch.

“You have a little something on your mouth.” My voice sounded a whole lot huskier than a friend simply telling another friend about a little mayo on their face. Ben swiped the wrong side of his mouth and I automatically leaned closer. “Here,” I said, wiping the smudge away with my thumb. I licked the mayo off my finger without thinking and Ben sucked in a shallow breath.

I felt his hot eyes on me, even though they were hidden behind his dark frames, as sexual tension started to build between us. I should have apologized for my little stunt since I was the one who jokingly accused him of parking back here so he could seduce me, yet I was the one acting inappropriately. I couldn’t get my mouth to form the words needed to apologize.

“What was that on your tongue? Is that another piercing?” Ben whipped off his sunglasses and ball cap and tossed them on his dashboard, never taking those intense eyes off of my mouth.

I had questioned my sanity when I stuck the piercing through my tongue before he picked me up. Was I deliberately trying to torment both of us? When had I become a shallow narcissist who needed constant attention? Worse yet, could I have possibly sent more conflicting signals to Ben? Try as I might, I couldn’t tell him that I was sorry when he looked at me with such heat in his eyes. I felt like I would combust at any moment.

“Yes.” I finally found my voice, but was only capable of a monosyllable response. My mouth was dry and my throat felt scratchy. I should’ve reached for my drink, but I couldn’t look away from him.

“Did you also get that piercing to drive a man out of his mind with pleasure?” I could tell by his half-lidded eyes that he was thinking about the feel of that metal ball rolling up and down his hard shaft.

“Yes,” I answered honestly and a bit hoarsely, I cleared my throat before I could continue. “Is that a pleasure you’ve experienced for yourself?” A war raged inside my brain while I waited for him to answer my question. I didn’t want to think about another man pleasuring his dick with a pierced tongue and I wanted to be his first, I had no right to think those things, but right or not, I couldn’t stop myself from picturing doing that and more with Ben.