Page 114 of Beni

“You mean me.”

“No, I mean he wanted to hurt me, and he used you to do it a couple of times.”

“He thinks I’m taking you away from him.”

Beni let out a slow exhale, letting her words have their impact. “At first, maybe.”

“I guess—maybe, in a fucked up way—I can understand why he hates me, then.”

“Absolutely not.”

August’s brow dipped as she peered up at him. “What?”

“He doesn’t hate you. Not at all.”

“He certainly acted like—”

“He can’t hate things I love, August. He can be a lot of things about them—jealous, usually—but he never hates them. Including you.”

She stilled under him.

Blinked up at him.

So, maybe he hadn’t meant to say it like that. To just blurt it out, and let it hang between them. Except there it was, and here they now were.

“Because I do,” he added quieter, “love you.”

“Do you?”

“Entirely too much.”

“Or just enough.”

Beni smirked. “I like the too much better.”

August’s tongue peeked out to wet her bottom lip. “Me, too. Because that’s how it feels for me—like I want to just love you crazy. Love you until you make me insane.”

“Because you do …”

“Hmm?”

“Love me,” he murmured, lowering until their lips grazed.

“Too much,” she echoed.

Beni’s phone dinged again as he and August headed down the hallway to his apartment. The flight to Chicago was mostly uneventful, thankfully. Except once they landed, he swore his phone hadn’t stopped ringing. Apparently, someone figured out he had left the city without letting anyone else know.

Too little, too late.

He was already back.

“Here,” he said, handing August the keys for the apartment, “I gotta take his.”

He lingered back a couple steps while she unlocked the apartment, and he focused on texting his boss back with a simple, Back at my place tonight—no worries, I’ll be back to work tomorrow.

Tommas was not pleased.

Beni figured, eh, it was done now.