“I had a feeling you might have started working on the next one as soon as I convinced you to self-publish.”
I grinned. “I’m already finished with the third volume, actually.”
His eyes widened. “What the hell, Emily? You’ve been holding out on me. Send them to me tonight.”
Feeling pleased, I nodded with a smile I planned on keeping for the rest of the day.
_____
It was New Year’s, and I managed to convince Benjamin to come over and spend it with me so that I could spend some more time with him before he left in the morning. I hadn’t spent any more time with him since the day after Christmas. It sucked, but I had to work at Crash’s.
Tiffany had also sent me an email of the cover she designed, and Benjamin was right beside me when I opened the attachment. Needless to say, we gushed about it for an hour. NO, the entire day. It was perfect for my story. She did a cartoon illustration of a purple gorilla that was made slightly to resemble a man and a brunette girl that he had draped over his shoulder. The background was a jungle.
Roger was quiet most of the day. He hadn’t even said much about my cover when I showed him. I had a feeling he was uncomfortable with Benjamin in our apartment. Benjamin, on the other hand, tried being friendly but at the same time, it looked like his Freddy might come out at any time as he hovered. I had to glare at him a few times. Not that it helped.
He finally went home. Roger told me he liked Benjamin after he left. I couldn’t tell if he was being sincere or just saying it so that I wouldn’t get a little offended. Coming from his perspective, I knew it was hard to accept his girlfriend having a guy best friend, so I felt guilty most of the day while Benjamin kept my attention.
I didn’t understand why I felt guilty. I never did in high school when it came to my boyfriends complaining about him. Benjamin and I were always the same. We weren’t shooting romantic hearts at each other; we were just friends.
I’d never felt any sort of high emotions from any guy that warranted me to say I was in love with them both as a person and sexually. Back to my point about romance being just blahhhh. Although… I did know the feeling of loving a guy as a person and that guy was Benjamin. I still couldn’t say I love you to Roger. I couldn’t say something that wasn’t there for me yet. Sexually though, Benjamin and I…there hasn’t ever…maybe there were high emotions between us though. With the way my chest got so incredibly tight and warm when he gave me praise…
I pictured Benjamin’s facial features and thought of him the way another girl might when she saw him.
Dark messy hair. Perfect straight teeth. The deepest dark eyes that slanted so beautifully, and when he didn’t have his contacts in and wore those dark-framed glasses that I swore turned him into sexy professor material. And his chin, ugh, it was rugged and perfected in a way that made him so very male. And when he was worried or pissed—and while I envisioned all this, I thought back to all the times I had seen his Freddy face and how incredibly good-looking he was even when angry—maybe especially when it came to my well-being, and something in my chest felt like it was bursting. I grabbed my chest and took a deep breath. Benjamin was long gone now, but my body was strangely uncomfortable and warm.
“Are you okay?” Roger scooted up on the edge of his cushion and gave me a concerned look.
And then I felt terribly guilty in a very real way that time.
“I’m fine.” I dropped my hand and stood up from the couch.
I just made a mistake. I just did something I’d never done before. Even though it was just a thought, and it was only me that felt it, I feared it. The hair on my arms was standing on end and I ran my hand through my hair.
I was uncomfortable. Uncomfortably flushed.
With something I wouldn’t dare admit.
______
Benjamin came to Crash’s to tell me goodbye as he left town again. I tried not to be sad or disappointed, but I was. I was also ignoring the Pandora’s box I’d opened inside my head with Benjamin as the visual. I still smiled when he came to say goodbye. I was happy he stopped in to let me see him one last time.
“Are you sad?” he asked me.
“Yeah,” I answered truthfully. “Who knows when I’ll see you again.”
He tilted his head at me, his eyes searching mine. Something he always did, no longer felt the same. “There’s something I didn’t mention.”
“What?”
“I’m coming back home after this semester.” He grinned. “For good. I’m ready to help Dad with the dealerships now. I got my bachelor’s last semester, now I’m just going to be going.”
I jumped up and down. “Oh, my God! Why didn’t you tell me?” I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed tight. “This is great news.”
His arms came over my back. I was completely against him. My spot on his chest was right there for my nose… Only I was hesitating.
Everything felt strange.
He gazed down at me with something, something I thought I’d always seen before. “After this break, I know how much I want to be home now.”
I blinked. He stared. And stared. Then his lips connected with my forehead. And I thought he waited for me to kiss his cheek again.
But I didn’t.
I don’t know why I couldn’t.
The spirits that swam all through me kept me from doing so.
I was afraid of what they were, and what they might mean.
Chapter 13
________
Emily
7 months prior…
Release date
The Shenanigans of Gorilla Ben and a Hottie Named Rosie
Vol. 1
BY: E. LOVES
Closing Chapter…
With an endless night of searching, Ben found the human male’s hiding place.
No one stole Rosie. No one.
He’d skin the human alive and toss him off a cliff screaming for kidnapping her. He’d never understand the human men. This one had fallen victim to Rosie’s smile and thus thought he would kidnap her and claim her as his own.
No one claimed Rosie. Rose couldn’t be claimed. Gorilla Ben wasn’t exactly sure what claiming meant exactly, but he knew it wasn’t right, nor was it fair.
She was a human. A female. She deserved her chance to be heard, but the human male hadn’t listened when she had said no. He had hit Ben over the head and pried her from his fur. Even disgruntled, he heard her screams, and it fueled his rage.
No one made Rosie mad or hurt. No one.
Rosie was his treasured human friend. Thinking of her defenseless and alone, Gorilla Ben became enraged and his body quadrupled in size so that when he came up to the house, he could no longer fit in the door. Just when he started smashing his fists against the roof, Rosie stepped out with a puffy eye and smiled. “I’m fine.”
Only she wasn’t. Her face was bruised. Ben scooped her up in one hand and started smashing his other fist into the house. It crumbled and gave way to his giant hand and it was only when he looked inside the giant hole his fist made, that he saw his friend Rosie was right, she was fine.
The human man lay naked and unconscious on the floor. His face looked worse than hers. He felt her weight move in his hand and turned his head to see her peeking over into the house. “Is he alive?”
“Should I finish him?” His voice was disgruntled.
She laughed at him. “Hopefully, he’s learned his lesson. Women are not to be stolen or messed with.” He reached in to grab the human male, anyway. “No, Ben, you can’t.” She tipped her chin forward. “You need to calm down. You’re scaring the town.”
He turned around and saw all the townspeople cowering or peeking out their windows to stare or point at him. He looked at his ginormous body. “I don’t like when people make you sad, Rosie.” And as he spoke, his body began to shrink back to his normal size. She no longer fit in his hand and hopped onto the ground. “I don’t like humans.”
“I’m human,” she told him.
> He shook his head. “You’re Rosie, you don’t count.”
“Let’s go back to our beach. This place is boring.”
He liked that idea. “Just Rosie and Ben are best.”
“You’re right, my friend. Always the best.”
Only when they arrived at their beach, it was overrun with monkeys. Rosie couldn’t understand these monkeys, but Ben could, and he had no idea what to do when they all started bending forward and calling him their lord.
“Rosie?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s a lord?”
Her eyes widened.
Things were about to get interesting.
To be continued…
______
“Just get online and look,” Benjamin demanded over the phone.
“I’m too nervous,” I muttered, sitting on the toilet at Crash’s during my break and letting my nerves get the best of me. “Just read the reviews that are good.”
He laughed. “Why are you even nervous? You’ve already heard back from some reviewers, and the feedback is positive.”
“Just get on Amazon and look for me. Only read me the reviews that are positive though.”
“I’ve been refreshing the page every hour.”
“You have?” I asked him.
“Yes. Want me to read you some right now?”
I groaned. “NO… Yes, please.”
“This one’s a five star, and it says, ‘King Kong meets hilarity! I really hope the author plans to publish the second one soon. I NEED to know what happens with Gorilla Ben being called a lord!’”
I found myself smiling. “That’s not bad.”
“Here’s a three-star review, ‘This was a decent read. I feel like it’s one of those that will get better as it goes.’”
“I can deal with that,” I told him at ease.
“Another five, ‘I loved it. I really hope something will develop between Gorilla Ben and Rosie, they are perfect as is but…’” He stopped reading the review. “I feel like you’ll be getting a lot of reviews like this one.”
“Why?”
“Just wait and see,” was all he said. “You ready for the two-star review?”
“There’s already a bad review?” I cried.
“Yeah, and it says, ‘This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever read.’”
I found myself nodding. “Well, I can’t disagree...”
He laughed in my ear. “It’s stupid good. People love this kind of shit.”
“Thanks for calling Gorilla Ben and Rosie shit.”
“You know what I mean.”
I sniggered. “I’ll call you tonight. My breaks almost over.”
______
My reviews from the first day were from bloggers, but I sold six copies the first day it was released and although it wasn’t anything amazing, I still felt good about it. I published something I wrote online, and a few people were choosing to read my words and the crazy world of Gorilla Ben and Rosie.
I was on cloud nine.
“The feedback’s been good,” I told Roger as I shoved the laptop in his lap. “Read the reviews.”
He smiled. “That’s good. So, you’re going to go ahead with the next one?”
“Yeah. Tiffany’s already at work on my next cover, and I’ve already started revising and editing the second volume.” I started laughing. “I had a feeling people would like Gorilla Ben.” He studied me with a smile. “What?” It made me self-conscious.
“I’m glad that it did good. You’re so happy.” He kissed my forehead, and I briefly thought of Benjamin when he did it. “Do you think you could add me into the story?” he suggested.
I was still thinking of Benjamin.
“You want to be in the story?”
“Benjamin’s in it. Why can’t I?”
“You can be.”
Only I couldn’t figure out how to place a Roger in Ben and Rosie’s world.
Chapter 14
_______
Emily
5 months…
The Shenanigans of Gorilla Ben and A Hottie named Rosie
Vol. 2
By E. Loves
Closing Chapter…
Rosie was the one that taught Gorilla Ben words when they first encountered each other all those years ago, but it was Ben who kept Rosie safe.
The monkeys had tried to tear them apart but couldn’t. They tried to drive a wedge between their friendship, but the only thing they unleashed was Ben’s fury.
He was no lord. No king. Just a gorilla man that grew when his emotions were heightened. And oh, how they made him grow. They begged for a lord, but he had enough of the sneaky varmints, and how they tried to drive Rosie off the beach.
He kicked them all to the curb, crushing the ones that refused to go away, seeing or feeling no remorse as blood coated his rough fur.
And when he was done, he walked back to Rosie. She guided him to the ocean and wiped the blood from his body. He was still seething, still angry, but she was quiet and patient. She knew her gorilla. He’d never hurt her… Anyone that messed with her or them? Now that was a different story.
Her mama wished for her to come back to town and leave the creature on its own, but she refused. For she was home the moment she stumbled upon him all those years ago…
Rosie didn’t need romance. She just needed her Gorilla Ben.
That would always be enough.
Only while they stood in the water, a shadow hovered in the distance. A new someone witnessed the way Gorilla Ben’s body changed and the way it grew.
Seemed trouble was here to stay.
To be continued…
_______
Reviews:
*****
Need more Gorilla Ben and Rosie!!!
_______
****
I just want them to make furry babies already. Please Loves?
_______
***
I feel like the authors going to tease us forever before we see any development between them. If ever. : (
_______
*****
Am I the only one that wants these two to f*** already?
_______
**
Lame.
_______
*
Goes off to cry somewhere because of horrible writing.
_____
Yikes.
That last one was going to haunt my dreams for a while.
It had been a week since the release of volume two, and the reviews were still coming in. My exposure was a lot greater this time around. I had more readers that meant Gorilla Ben and Rosie had fans.
Somehow, I was selling eBooks online. I was doing this.
Yes. Nothing huge but I stepped out of my comfort zone and did something I’d never thought I’d do.
My phone dinged.
Benjamin: The readers have spoken. Gorilla Ben needs some human ass.
I would normally laugh when he talked like this, but I couldn’t when he was referring to Gorilla Ben and Rosie. It was us, us, US. Instead, my reaction was more like: was it feeling a little hot in here or was it just me?
What the hell’s wrong with me?
Me: Don’t direct your sexual frustrations on Gorilla Ben. Go get laid.
Even making jokes about his sex life was strangely unappealing.
Benjamin: I’m just saying… The readers want them together. They are strangely intimate in ways already. So why not?
I kept telling myself he didn’t know that I thought of myself as Rosie. This entire conversation was giving me heart palpitations and a heat stroke. I didn’t know what was going on with me lately, but I was determined not to think about it.
Me: Because I’ve already written the third volume.
Benjamin: I know. I’ve read it, remember? The fourth one will be the one. : )
Me: I don’t do romance.
Benjamin: They have CHEMISTRY going already that you made for them. Believe me, you can write romance. You just need to
loosen up. I would tell you to get Roger to help with that, but apparently, he doesn’t do ya any good.
Me: Sex is overrated. You know that. Guys can just stick it in anything and get off and a girl can be turned on and still not reach an orgasm. Sometimes I wish I had a peter, probably know how to use it better too. : (
Benjamin: It’s all about finding what works for her and hitting that right spot… It also helps if there’s love involved. A guy has to genuinely want to make her feel good even if he has to spend the entire night mapping out her body to figure her out.
That sounded…nice. No, that sounded perfect. I think that I’d learn to love it if someone would take the time to worship my body until I came unglued. Until my body learned to feel good for itself and the partner that wanted me pleasured.
Me: Was that how it was for you and Tammy?
I didn’t know why I asked because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
Benjamin: We had a lot of chemistry, and I cared about her a lot… I just didn’t have the ability to love her.
Before I could ask why, he sent another one:
Anyway, want me to write a scene of them? I’ll make it real good.
Me: They’re my creations, leave them alone. -_-
Me: Did you get my present in the mail?
Benjamin: Yes. I got the Elmo socks and the Reese’s.
Me: Did you love it? You loved it.
Benjamin: Yes, Elmo makes my feet look BIGGER.
Me: Ugh. You used to be so innocent.
Benjamin: You’ve just been delusional.
Me: Can’t believe we’ll be turning twenty-two next month.
Benjamin: Have you been going to your Dad’s and checking the mail like I asked you to?
Me: Yes. I don’t know why you didn’t just send it to my address.
Benjamin: Roger can’t see this.
Benjamin: Hopefully, your dad doesn’t open it either.
Me: Good lord, just what did you get me?
Benjamin: Just wait and see.
Benjamin: What other two people buy each other birthday gifts a month early?
Me: Shut up.
____
A couple of days later…
My present came in the mail. I sat at the table with Dad as he sipped on his coffee—caffeine was his new friend. “What’s in the box?” he asked me.
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