Guilty Pleasure

13. Guilty Pleasure

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS.

THE LAST CHAPTER OF GUILTY PLEASURE.

OH MY GOD.  

***

“So, wait. I did win the bet in the end, right?”

“Nope.”

“No? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Oh, come on.”

“See? That right there is one of the reasons why you didn’t win.”

“What? Because I’m right?”

“Because you’re arrogant.” I smirked. Ben had driven me from school and we’d ended up in our little patch of grass at the park as usual. We were lying on the grass side by side, his hand lightly tracing patterns up and down my arm.

Ben’s mouth flew open. “Me? Arrogant? Come on, Elle – I’m handsome, funny, sweet, and practically perfect, but not arrogant.”

I laughed. “You’ll have to keep working harder, I guess.”

He propped himself up on one shoulder, ducking down quickly to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Will I?”

I breathed in sharply, my cheek tingling and undoubtedly turning crimson. “Yeah. You will.”

He leaned forward again to kiss my other cheek, his lips lingering on my skin for a mere second more. “You sure?”

I hated the fact that I already felt slightly breathless. “Uh-huh.”

“Completely sure?” This time, his lips landed on mine, pressing against them for a brief second before he pulled up again, smirking at my clearly flustered expression.

Before I managed to respond, his lips were on mine again, but this time for more than a second. I closed my eyes and melted against him, smiling at the feeling. He pulled back slightly to adjust his position before kissing me again.

Not long after, I pulled back suddenly, gasping. Ben flinched back as well, furrowing his eyebrows. “Elle? Is everything okay?”

I sat up, my thoughts still slightly muddled. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry about that.”

“Then what happened?”

I blushed. “It’s just…we’re in public. There are kids here.”

He chuckled. “And you’re embarrassed? That didn’t stop you last time.”

Ben winked, making me blush even more. “I didn’t think of it last time, or I wouldn’t have done it either.”

“You were too distracted with how amazing I am – further proving that I did win the bet.”

I sighed, chuckling. “You already got to ask me to do something, why are you so insistent on me telling you that you won?”

He shrugged. “I could say it’s just because of pride, but it’s mostly because I don’t want to think I read all those romance novels in vain.”

I laughed. “Oh, come on, Ben. We both know that you enjoyed those books a lot more than you like to admit. I wouldn’t be surprised if you start reading romances for fun in your spare time now.”

He shook his head, grinning. “I’ll admit that they were a lot better than I thought they would be – if not, I wouldn’t have read anything after the first one – but I still wouldn’t pick up romance novels to read for fun. Besides, feeling depressed thanks to fictional characters isn’t one of my favorite pastimes.”