All of You by Christina Lee Read Free Book Online

with benefits.” The look of shock on his face was evident before it crossed over to something else that looked a
     
little like jealousy. Or maybe it was just curiosity.
     
“C’mon, you can’t tell me you haven’t had your share of those kinds of nights.”
     
He cleared his throat while I waited for him to say something. Anything. But he didn’t.
     
“You’re a hot guy, Bennett.” I tossed up my hands. “I’m sure plenty of girls throw themselves at
     
you.”
     
His face quirked into a lopsided grin. “You think I’m hot?”
     
“You’re avoiding the question.”
     
“The answer to your question is no, I haven’t.”
     
I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. I had expected him to say something like Sure, but that was
in the past. Now I want a commitment , or . . . something.
     
“Don’t get me wrong,” he said in a low voice. “I’ve made out with my share of girls. I’m only
     
human. And sure, girls have come on to me . . .”
     
I cringed inwardly. Is that how he saw me? I’d never thrown myself at anyone—I’d never had to.
     
Guys came on to me . Except for that one time at that party, when I saw Bennett for the first time.
     
I needed to change the subject, pronto.
     
Noticing he had unpacked some pictures and placed a couple on his desk in the corner of the room,
     
I stood up and made my way over. “Are these your mom and sisters?”
     
His mom was a pretty lady with blond hair cut to her shoulders. And she was next to a pair of twins
     
and a very striking teen girl who was bound to have guys falling all over her as well.
     
“Yeah,” he said. “The twins are twelve and my sister Taylor just turned seventeen.”
     
“Wow, you’ve lived around a lot of estrogen your whole life.” I looked back at him. “Where’s the
     
testosterone?”
     
“Nonexistent.” Anger flashed hot as an iron and Bennett’s features turned into a scowl. “Let’s just
     
say I’ve been the only decent male role model in their lives.” That might explain a lot. I noticed they all looked different from one another. Did their father leave
     
or die, or did they come from different men, like my brother and I? I’d save those questions for another
     
day.
     
“So, do they live around here?”
     
“About twenty minutes south, in West View. I see them every week for Sunday dinner. I lived at
     
home until about a year ago, when my mother met her current husband.” I saw his jaw tick. “Then it was
     
time for me to go.”
     
“Oh, I know that feeling too well,” I said, not offering any more information. I checked out of my
     
house when I was sixteen and slept at Ella’s most of the time. And then checked out emotionally after
     
that. “Did you have a beef with your new stepdad?”
     
“Not really. It’s just that I helped Mom pay the bills and raise my sisters for as long as I could, but
     
now he can be responsible for all of that. As long as he sticks around.” There was quite a story there, I
     
could tell, but I didn’t want to push the topic.
     
Maybe he was one of these super responsible kids who could never let loose.
     
“Sounds like our moms could have been BFFs in another life.”
     
He turned his head sideways, studying me, wondering about me. “Where does your family live?”
     
“About an hour from here. I don’t visit very often, but I talk to my brother, Adam, almost every
     
single day. He’s a senior in high school, and I try to keep tabs on him. He’s a good kid, though.”
     
“What about your mother?”
     
I grew silent. He had shared stuff with me so I really wasn’t being fair.
     
“You don’t have to tell me anymore if you don’t want to.”
     
I shrugged. “What can I say—she’s my mother. The biggest pain in my ass.” And the biggest
     
betrayer in my life. “So I keep my distance.”
     
“Your dad?”
     
“Let’s not even go there.” There was nowhere to go, anyway. I wasn’t sure if even Mom knew