Bittersweet (Ocean View #3)

by Morgan Elizabeth

“I think I fell for you that first day.” My entire body goes still. “Banging pans and playing shitty music like your life depended on it. Singing like a dying cat, not fucking locking your door then yelling at me like it was my fault. Threatening to call the cops. I loved that you didn’t take my shit.” “Ben, that makes—” “Maybe it was when you spilled your coffee on me and looked like your entire day was falling apart.” “You spilled my coffee,” I say because I won’t let that one get past me. “Every muscle in my body needed to make your day better.” I stop breathing. “Or maybe when I saw you pinned, scared as fuck. Knew I needed you to be mine because I needed to take care of you. It was clear no one had been doing it until me.” “Ben, I—” My voice has gone soft, and I don’t think he can even hear me, so stuck in his story and my eyes. “But that first day. I knew it then. A part of me, at least.” “I—” I hear my own voice has gone soft with resignation. There’s no way. He’s sweet, saying it, but— “You don’t believe me, do you?”