“How do I look?” Ben asks for the umpteenth time.  We are standing in front of my house and he is convinced my parents hate him. They might give him a tough time but they will be nice, I think. I am not sure. It’s my first time inviting a boy over. Ben smoothens the invisible wrinkles in his suit. If he wasn’t so worried, I would have had time to admire him. He is sexier in a tux. I want to kiss him.  “Babe?”  “Like a coconut.” He breaks into a smile and I grab his shoulders. “Don’t worry,” I tell him but he is stiff. “They will love you.” Like I love him. No. Not again with these thoughts. They have been haunting me. Do I love him? I don’t know. I cast him one last reassuring glance and push the door open. “Ready?” The parlour is empty. Soft music plays from the speakers under the TV and I roll my eyes. It’s dinner not a wedding reception but trust Mum to go wild and crazy. Ben’s gaze darts to every corner, he barely has time to take i

Seconds after his statement, we are still staring at each other. “What do you mean you are not broke?”We have been on an unofficial date. I loved our movie date but if he’s not broke, why did he lie? Doesn’t he want to go on a real date? Ben rakes his hair, I roll away from him when he tries to kiss me and start searching for my gown. His kisses are addictive, they mess with my brain. He is trying to distract me. “Gracie, wait,” Ben says. My hands close around my gown, he extracts it from my grip and hugs me from behind. I suck in a rush of air. He’s bare chested. “I’m not broke,” he mutters, “I just don’t have money.”He makes no sense and I am glad the lights are off because the look on my face will hurt his feelings. I let him carry me back to the bed but I place a pillow between us to reduce the temptations of touching him. Legs crossed, eyes cast down, he says

“Daniel thinks next Saturday will be great,” Maria tells me. We are headed to the library to get her another set of textbooks. She went during lunch but forgot to pick some texts. Maria links our hands and guides me through the thin path leading to the back of the library. She grins with an excitement I don’t feel. “What do you think?” Ben has a fight this Saturday, I am not sure about next week. “Is that okay?” “I’ll have to ask Ben,” I say and scratch the base of my neck. It’s almost laughable that I can’t make plans without consulting my boyfriend. Maria spares me a glance, a sound between a snicker and sigh escapes her but she says nothing. I push ahead of her and stop at the foot of the short stairs leading to the door of our destination. “Soo...” She glances up and I look away to the tall fence. “You and Daniel are dating?”Colour rises to her neck, she covers he

Ben groans. He does that a lot when I ask a question about his family. My fingers run over his jaw, he nibbles on my fingertips and a shudder skitters down my spine. A moment or two later, he sighs again. “I need to be home with them.” With an eye roll, he says, “I don’t want to but I have to.” Ben is eighteen years and old enough to make decisions for himself but I guess his age doesn’t matter in the agreement with his mother. His head falls back on the couch. I trail a line on his chest. “Christmas is compulsory.”  My hands slide under his shirt, I trace the space between his abs. “At least you get to see Asher.”  “Yeah.” He looks down at me with a half-smile. “I guess so.” His voice lacks excitement, he tightens his hold on me and my cheek presses to his chest. I look out the window across us and pry Ben’s hands from my waist. The sky is fast turning grey. A gentle breeze rustles the curtain and Ben sits up. The clock on the wall above th

Ben and I are still holding hands as we walk down the stairs. A thin sheet of snow covers the pavement and the street. The height of the snow is nothing to worry about. As kids, we loved to play in the snow. My favourite part was smashing Hayden’s face into the snowman. I always cried when he did the same. We stroll to a car parked in front of our garage, Ben brings out a fob. A beep sounds, the front and back lights blink. Ben drags me to the passenger side and opens the door. I place a hand on the car’s hood. “What’s going on?” I ask, a note of doubt creeping into my voice. “Where’s your bike?” We are the only two out in the snow which is slowly nipping at my skin. Ben scratches the back of his head. “At home?” He pushes me gently into the car but I refuse to budge. “Gracie, go in. I’ll explain.” With that disapproving frown etched on my lips, I slide i