Free Rhett in Love by J. S. Cooper Page A

but more like his best friend with benefits? I was scared to tell him. I was scared that he would respond badly. I didn’t know how he would respond because he’d never been in a real relationship before. I knew that he wasn’t emotionally equipped for conversations like this and I didn’t know how to approach the topic.
    “I booked us for a class.” He spoke up and grabbed my hands, his blue eyes light and unsure.
    “What?” I frowned. “What class?”
    “A relationship class.” He gave me a half-smile. “Don’t look so shocked.” He stroked my face. “I saw it in the newspaper the other day. I thought it could help us.”
    “So you’ve been worried about us as well?” I felt hurt, though I knew I was being irrational.
    “I’ve been worried that you’re going to leave me.” He looked away. “I know that I use sex to make things better and I know that at the end of the day, sex is not going to be enough. I know you need more from me than I’m currently giving. I don’t want you to leave me, Clementine.”
    “I’m not going to leave you, Rhett.” I reached out and grabbed his face. “Why would I leave you?”
    “That’s what happens in life.” He shrugged. “People leave when things get rough.” His eyes looked into mine and I could see the pain reflected in his expression. It was a pain I’d seen shining through from his soul for many, many years.
    “I’m not going to leave you, Rhett. I’m not your mom.” I said softly and my heart broke for the man sitting in front of me.
    “We don’t know what’s going to happen.” He shrugged. “I just don’t want to give you a reason to leave or stop loving me.” He muttered and as I looked into his face I was taken back to his thirteenth birthday party. And the empty look of sadness that had been on his face when he’d realized that his mother wasn’t going to be there to celebrate him becoming a teenager. We’d never spoken about it, but I’d seen his hurt. Rhett had carried the pain of his mother leaving all of his life and he’d never been able to speak about it. Not really. Yes, we’d talked about it on a superficial level, but he’d never opened up about her completely and I’d never pushed it.
    “There’s nothing you could do that would stop me from loving you, Rhett Madison.” I squeezed his hand. “When is this class?”
    “We can go tonight.” He smiled sweetly. “They have it every day. It’s a group setting.”
    “A group setting?” I knew my face reflected my horror. “What?”
    “Haha, I know.” He laughed. “That’s what I thought as well, but supposedly it’s meant to help to be around other couples with other issues and we all get to weigh in and discuss the issues.”
    “I see.” I made a face. I wasn’t sure how I felt about discussing our issues with other couples there. It seemed so impersonal.
    “We’ll see how it goes.” His eyes searched mine. “We’ll see if it helps.”
    “I’m willing to try.” I nodded. “I’m surprised you even found the class, you surprise me.”
    “I’m a man of surprises.”
    “In your pants?” I joked and he laughed.
    “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
     
    ***
    “Welcome, welcome everyone.” A tall lady with short, curly black hair grinned at everyone in the room. “I’m Tasha and I’m the group lead today. Thanks to everyone for coming.”
    “Thanks for having us.” Rhett answered and she beamed at him. I tried not to roll my eyes as I noticed some of the other girls in the class checking him out. No wonder their relationships were in trouble, if they were busy checking my man out.
    “So is everyone ready to get started?” Tasha smiled.
    “Yes,” We all chorused and she sat down.
    “Great.” She looked at each of us and then continued. “Today is going to be hard for some of you. We aren’t like most group meetings. We don’t introduce ourselves and talk about our love of basketball or golf. We jump right into the issues. We try