I drove around for what felt like hours, lost in every way imaginable. The street signs blurred together as I drove and drove. I was barely aware of where I was until I looked up and saw the neon hot sign at Krispy Kreme.
Chapter 35
Liv
Iawoke to a knocking sound.The room had darkened, and night had fallen while I was asleep.
My eyes adjusted to the darkness, squinting in the soft glow of the television. I heard the knocking again coming from the front door. It wasn’t Ella or Grace because they would have used their keys. I grabbed my phone off the table, and it lit up to show that it was a few minutes after five. Maybe Katie was dropping by, though normally she would send me a text first, and I didn’t have any messages.
“One second.” I scrambled to the light switch and flicked it on as whoever was on the other side of the door knocked once more. I swung open the door, bringing me face to face with Benton Wyatt. “What the hell happened to you?” He had the beginnings of a black eye and bloodstains beneath his nose, on his shirt collar, and along one sleeve.
“Jaxon Slade happened,” he said flatly.
“I’m sorry,what?”I asked.Jaxdid that? I was both shocked and slightly… amused? Proud?
“Do you mind if I come in?” He gestured toward the door with his head. “It’s kind of cold out here.”
“Oh,” I said, taken aback. “Um, okay.” I stepped aside, allowing him to walk over the threshold, closing the door behind him. “How did you find out where I live?”
“I have my ways.” Benton walked past me and into the living room. “Nice place you have here.”
“Thanks.” I narrowed my eyes at him as Mama hissed in his direction and darted down the hall.
“You got a cat? I thought you hated cats.”
“I never hated cats. You were allergic.”
“You still have your Christmas decorations up,” he continued. “You always had ours down before the first of the year.”
“That’s becauseyouhated them,” I reminded him. “You said Christmas was nothing more than a Hallmark marketing ploy.”
He nodded. “I guess I did say that, didn’t I?”
“Why are you here, Ben?” I asked, crossing my arms protectively over my chest. “If you came here to settle a score with Jax, he’s—”
“I didn’t.” He cut me off. “I came to talk to you.”
“About how you sabotaged me?”
“Can we sit?” He held his hand out toward the sofa that Mama had vacated. I eyed him suspiciously a moment, finally nodding as I sat beside him. “Liv, I didn’t talk to the press. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Right,” I scoffed. “There’s no one else who would do something like that.”
“It was Shelby,” he said quietly.
Jessica Rabbit had talked to the press? She and I had never even met. “But why? I saw the two of you in Las Vegas, but—”
“Wait, you saw me too? You didn’t say anything. You barely even looked at me.”
“I know.” I shrugged. “Why should I? You’d long since moved on, and I’d moved on too. Sorry if I didn’t want to have small talk with my ex-husband and the girl he left me for.”
“Well, seeing you that night… withhim… it got to me. I realized I missed you, Liv.” I gave him a blank stare as he continued on. “Shelby was the one who identified Jaxon because she’s a fan of his band. Anyway, I started trying to figure out why you were hanging around this guy when I started hearing rumors about Jax & Liv and—”
“You called that bogus meeting with Midnight in Dallas to get to me,” I finished for him.
“Kind of,” he admitted. “Mostly, I wanted to check this guy out and figure out what he was doing with you.”
“You are unbelievable, Ben.” I threw my hands up. “What? Is it that hard to believe someone would actually care about me?”
