Feeling like an ass that he’d sounded nearly panicked, he backpedaled, trying to make up for it now. “I don’t want you think that I wouldn’t want to this soon if we could afford to, okay? It’s just that…well I thought that maybe…”

“I’m planning our wedding already?”

Vince couldn’t make out if she was teasing or upset. “No, that’s not what I was gonna say. And if you were that wouldn’t be a bad thing, but right now…”

She finally laughed softly, making Vince exhale in relief. “Relax, Vincent. Maybe I should’ve mentioned I was looking for my mom. I can see why you’d get the idea that I was apartment shopping for us.”

Not wanting to stick his foot in his mouth again, he thought about what to say next. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment. Moments like this were unusual for them, and he didn’t like it.

She cleared her throat and spoke before he did. “Listen there was something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

Grateful for the change in subject, he didn’t care what the subject was until he heard what it was. “It’s about Ben.”

Rose’s prom date had only come up one other time after that day at the park. She’d told Vince that he texted her. Her friend Candace had given him Rose’s new number, and the guy had texted her a few times before she mentioned it to Vincent. She explained that the only reason she hadn’t mentioned it sooner was because she thought it might be one or two casual texts, but he’d sent her a longer one asking more personal stuff about Rose and her new boyfriend. She finally responded that she didn’t feel comfortable talking about it, nor did she think Vince would like the jackass texting her. Damn straight he didn’t like it. She stopped responding to his texts, and they’d since lessened, until they stopped all together.

Feeling the immediate annoyance, he slowed his pace. “What about him?”

“I ran into him last night.”

This was exactly what Vince had been worried about when he’d gone back home after summer was over. He knew he could trust Rose, but even something like this was enough to have him reacting in a way that might make him say or do something he shouldn’t.

Rose had gone to a party with her friends the night before, and afterwards there’d been a bonfire at the beach. Vince hadn’t been able to make it out at the last minute because he’d worked late, and even though he wasn’t thrilled about it, he said he was okay with her going without him. He was actually a little surprised that she’d still want to, but he bit his tongue when she said she’d go so her friend Candace wouldn’t feel like a third wheel there with just Alison and her boyfriend.

“Candace didn’t even mention that she’d told Ben about the party and bonfire until we were at the beach.” Rose’s tone was forewarning. “I wasn’t even aware she and Ben were still talking. She hadn’t brought him up in a while.”

That alone was enough to get Vince hot. “So you hung out with him?”

“No. Candace did, but she was around us, so—”

“So you hung out with him.” This was no longer a question but a statement that came out more like an accusation.

“No, Vincent. Are you listening to me? He was there but not for me. We barely talked.”

This was bullshit. She’d spent time with this dickhead last night: the very ass**le that had looked at her and groaned like he wanted to eat Rose up. But because her friends were there, she was trying make is sound like she hadn’t.

“The only reason I’m even telling you is because I think he and Candace are going to be hanging out more from here on. He may be around again. Ben doesn’t do relationships, but he’ll hang out with her as long as she’s okay with just having a good time and nothing more. I don’t want this to come up later and have you think I was keeping anything from you. I know how you feel about him.”

“Is that right? He told you he doesn’t do relationships? When did this conversation happen?”

She exhaled loudly pushing Vince’s annoyance level that much higher. “It’s a well-known fact about him. This goes back to high school. It’s why he asked me to the prom in the first place. Everyone knew we were just friends, and he wanted it that way. He didn’t want any of his many girls to think he was playing favorites, so he went with a friend—someone he’d never been with that way and never would.” She paused then repeated. “Never would, Vincent. He knows even if I didn’t have a boyfriend, that my relationship with him would never be anything more than a friendship. Even before I met you, I could never be with someone like him.”

Vincent took that last statement and let it simmer. He knew Rose wasn’t that kind of girl, and she’d never given him reason to question her. But remembering the way Ben had so blatantly ogled her and then how he’d tried to sneak in a hug still pissed him off.

“Did he try to hug you again?” There was a moment of silence, and Vince could feel the hair on the back of neck begin to rise. “Did he, Rose?”

“Hmm.”

“Is that a yes?” The hair on his neck was at full attention now.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Vince squeezed the phone, already knowing the answer just from the way her voice dropped to a whisper, but he still had to ask, “And you let him?”

“Vincent, he hugged everyone.”