A wave of anger pumped through me. I couldn’t begin to imagine having to hide who I truly was around my friends from fear of judgement. Jake never deserved Ben’s friendship if he couldn’t accept him for who he was.“He was an asshole. Idon’t wish to speak ill of the dead, but I’m glad he isn’t around anymore.”
His head bobbed as if he were nodding his agreement before he drained the rest of his beer. Once it was empty, he put the bottle on the table, and the two of us fell silent for several beats before he shifted to look at me again.“Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“The night you broke in here, you weren’t alone, were you?”
I almost choked on the mouthful of beer I’djusttaken. Of all questions, I wasn’t expectingthat.“What…uh…what makes you saythat?”
“Remember my neighbor, Gary? He was the one who called the cops. He reported seeing a woman spray-painting my driveway before he saw her and a guy break into the house. Who was she?”I pursed my lips, but Ben continued with a laugh.“It’s okay, Bug. I think it’s safe to saythatI won’t be going to the police about any of this.”
My brain raced. I didn’t want to throw Bella under the bus, but he’d been so honest about his past, and something in my gut told me I could trust him.“I was with my friend, Bella.”
His brow lifted.“Bella Matthews?”
I nodded.“We were drunk, and she was furious with you ‘cos you’d evicted her. She had this stupid idea about teaching you a lesson. I didn’t think she would do anything like what she did, but when we got here…”I waved my hand around, indicating the mess she’d made.
“Was it Bella who branded me a murderer?”I dropped my gaze as a rush of guilt pounded through me. My deafening silence gave him his answer.“Do you thinkthat?ThatI’m a murderer?”
At hearing the devastation in his voice, my head whipped up.“No, God, no. Of course I don’t. And I don’t think Bellareallybelieved it; she wasjustso damn mad.”
Ben released a heavy breath, and tensionseemedto ooze from his frame. Several beats passed before he finally spoke.“She caused all the damage, didn’t she? Not you?”I didn’t answer, but he must have read my reply from the look on my face because he muttered a curse with a glint of anger in his eyes.“Christ, Bug. You’re doing all this work for free, paying to fix the damage when it isn’t your mess to fix. Why the hell would you dothat?”
I shrugged, the answer obvious to me.“Bella’s my friend.”
He leaned back as if I’d slapped him, the idea of helping someone out a foreign concept to him. Shaking his head, he turned his face away from me.“You should hate me. I evicted your friend ‘cos I got greedy, and now I’m making you pay for it.”
I grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at me.“I don’t hate you, Ben. Far from it. I’ll admit I was pissed at you to start with, but I’m not any more. Not nowthatI’m getting to know the real you. The man who hides behind a cold exterior because of all the shit you’ve had to face in this life.”I released his chin but held his gaze.“You’re not a bad man, Ben. I get why you push people away, but if they got to see the side of youthatI get to see, I think they’d also realizethatyou’re not a bad man.”
His mouth opened and closed several times as if he couldn’t find the words to say. Needing a drink to cool the thrum of blood racing through my veins, I chugged the rest of my drink, putting it on the table next to his once I’d finished.
Not expecting his hand to rest on my thigh, I almost flinched at his touch. He inhaled a shaky breath before he spoke.“Bella’s lucky to have a friend like you, Bug. I’d give anything to havethatin my life,”he said softly, almost remorsefully.
I grinned, wanting to break the heavy atmospherethathad sealed around us.“Well, I’m kinda enjoying hanging out with you, so you’ve got a friend right here.”
And maybe one day, we can be more.
Of course, I keptthatthought to myself.
The smile Ben gave me sent a fire through my already overheated body, which traveled straight to my heart. If I didn’t already know it,thatwould have been the moment I realizedthatin the short space of time of knowing Ben, I was falling for him.
“You want another beer?”he asked, changing the subject as he stood.
“Nah, I only ever allow myself one beer if I’m driving.”
“You can stay here for the night,”he replied nonchalantly. At seeing my eyes almost bug out of my head, he quickly added,“I mean, I’ve got space. There are spare bedrooms.”
I bit my lip in a bid to not let my disappointment showthathe didn’t want me in the same bed as his. But I wasn’t ready for the night to be over. My van was already parked outside with all the equipment I needed for the next day, and I had a spare set of overalls. I would have been driving home tonight,justto drive back in the morning.
Grabbing the empty bottles, I stood too.“Go onthen, I’ll have another.”
Ben
We talked for the next few hours, mainly about how the business with Jake got started and about Tristan’s sisters.
I didn’t voice it, but I was envious of the affection he spoke with as he talked about his family. I’d never permitted myself to want that, but hearing him, I couldn’t help but wonder howdifferent my life would have been if I’d grown up surrounded by a loving family.
When the clock chimed 11 pm, Tristan stretched, his shirt riding up to show a flash of his toned abs. “Dude, I hate to be a party pooper, but I’m wiped. I need to get some sleep.” A devious smirk pulled across his lips. “This guy I’m doing work for is relentless. He’s got me working all hours.”
