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“Because everyone knows everyone and if the wrong person finds out, then the cops get called and your party place is no more.” His gaze flicks to me, a smile playing on his lips. “I don’t blame them, though. Sometimes the people who look like narcs aren’t and vice versa. So, it’s better just to keep things on the low down and only invite people you trust.”
I can’t help but smile at the memory of when I stood on this very porch less than a week ago and Benton accused me of being a narc. Clearly, he doesn’t think of me this way anymore. At least, I don’t think he does since he’s told me so many secrets about his and his friend’s lives.
“Oh, I totally get that.” The girl’s gaze strays in my direction for the first time. “Although, I think sometimes you can look at a person and tell that they’re a good little girl who doesn’t ever get into trouble. Those are the girls you need to look out for, you know.” Her eyes glitter with maliciousness, but when she fixes her focus back on Benton, her demeanor is sugary sweet. “But anyway, what time’s your party at? I thought I heard someone else in the building say it was around eight. But I want to make sure I don’t show up too early.”
I may be clueless in the guy department, but I’ve spent enough time with Taylor to understand when a girl is hitting on a guy. And when a girl is annoyed with another girl who’s hanging around a guy she’s trying to flirt with. Normally, Taylor tries to squash those girls like bugs, especially when they fight back. I don’t want to be squashed by Neighbor Girl, but I also don’t want to stand here and allow her to give me dirty looks simply for breathing next to a guy she thinks is hot. The problem is I’ve never been that good at sticking up for myself. Well, except for that one time Benton wouldn’t let me into his party. I’m not a fan of drama either and I have a feeling Neighbor Girl will cause drama if I open my mouth.
I rack my brain for a way to handle the situation while Benton remains quiet, his gaze wandering to me again. He studies me for a drum beat of a moment and for the life of me, I can’t read his expression.
“Actually, I was thinking I might cancel my party.” He returns his gaze back to Neighbor Girl.
If looks could kill, I’d be a dead girl standing. I don’t know why she’s blaming me for what Benton said. It’ s not like I’m some sort of great puppet master, forcing him to tell her things she doesn’t want to hear. I probably couldn’t force a guy to say anything if I tried.
The girl hastily erases the off-with-Zhara’s-head look on her face and smiles sweetly at Benton. “Really? Why?” She pouts out her lip. “I was so looking forward to it. I heard you throw awesome parties.”
“Sorry, but too many people know about it,” he says with a nonchalant shrug. “Too many people I don’t know. And like I said, having a bunch of strangers knowing your party location isn’t good when you live in a small, gossipy town.”
“Are you just going to move the location?” She steps forward, batting her eyelashes at him. “You can totally tell me if you are. I’m completely trustworthy, I swear. And if you’ll let me, I can prove it to you.” She shifts her arms closer to her sides, while leaning forward. The move practically causes her cleavage to pop out of her tiny bikini top.
I may not be a bad girl, but my mind conjures up all sorts of ideas of how she wants to prove her trustworthiness to Benton. And none of the ideas sit very well with me. But I won’t allow myself to get upset. Benton isn’t my boyfriend. Just my fake boyfriend. He doesn’t belong to me and I don’t belong to him. In fact, no one besides a drug lord and his workers think we’re together.
“Hmm….” Benton rubs his jawline.
My stomach churns. Is he considering her offer?
“What’s your name again?” he asks Neighbor Girl.
Her flirty smile briefly falters. “Brook. Remember? We met while I was headed out to the pool last week. You told me about the party you were having that night, and I said I couldn’t come because I was headed out of town later.”
“Oh yeah. I completely forgot about that. Although, I don’t remember actually inviting you to the party. I think you just saw me and my friend hauling a keg into my house and invited yourself.” He reaches over and laces his fingers through mine, something Brook more than notices. “And, from what I can remember, I planned on not letting you in if you showed up.”
Her eyes narrow at him. “Well, that’s just fucking rude.”
“Well, I’m sort of a fucking rude guy, Brook. And all the people I trust know that about me,” he tells her unapologetically then lightly tugs on my arm as he turns for the stairs.
He doesn’t say goodbye. Just starts down the stairs.
“You know that girl you’re with is a little tattle tell, right?” she shouts out after us. “You should hear the stuff people say about her. So, you should probably ditch her if you don’t want untrustworthy people around you.”
Benton pauses, his body going ridged. “How do you even know who she is?”
“I heard your friends mention her name a few times while they were going in and out of your place.” Brook shrugs, her lips curling into a malicious smirk. “If I were you, I’d start being careful about what you say around here. The walls are really thin and people can hear almost everything. Even secrets you don’t want other people to hear.” Her gaze lands on me before she pushes past us, purposefully shoving my shoulder hard. I stumble to the side as she stomps down the stairs, but manage to regain my balance before I crash into the wall.
As I watch her go, I question if she was directing her last statement at me. Could that be possible? Are Benton and the guys keeping stuff from me?
Benton makes no move to unglue his feet from the step, remaining still while eyeballing Brook as she storms further down the stairway. When she nears the second floor, about to disappear out of our sight, her towel falls off her shoulder. Cursing, she bends over to pick it up. Her swimsuit bottom slips down a little, so she’s sporting a nice little plumber’s crack, and the tattoo on her upper butt cheek is on full display. A tattoo that looks like my creepy new neighbor’s.
What the heck?
My gaze is yanked back to Benton as a gradual breath eases from his lips.
“I think we might
have another problem on our hands,” he mumbles, shaking his head.
“Another one?” I ask, unsure whether to be shocked at this point or used to it.
He nods slowly, his gaze skating to me. Worry fills his eyes as his fingers thread through mine.
I open my mouth to ask him what’s wrong and to tell him about the tattoo, but he gives a firm shake of his head.
Not here, he mouths. Just act natural.
I don’t know what’s going on, but I trust him enough to keep my lips zipped and pretend like nothing happened. I hope trusting him is the right thing to do. That he isn’t keeping secrets from me like everyone else seems to be.
Acting Natural is Complicated
Zhara
Benton stays quiet as we start down the stairwell, holding hands, and heading toward the apartment parking lot where his car is parked.
So many questions ping pong around in my brain, nearly driving me insane. I want to ask him who Brook is, why she seemed to be threatening Benton when she said the walls were thin, why he suddenly seems so uneasy, and why on earth Brook has the same tattoo as my new neighbor, Creepy Charles. Benton has told me to stay away from him, which makes me wonder if Charles isn’t a normal guy.
I can’t ask any questions now though, so I decide to busy myself with a normal conversation topic that will hopefully distract me from all the weirdness that just occurred.
“Have you heard anything about Alexis?” I ask, hoping he doesn’t notice that my palm is starting to sweat in his hand.
The sun is up in the crystal blue sky and blaring heat down on Honeyton, making me wish I had my sunglasses and a tank top on.
Benton blinks, as if coming out of a daze, then checks his phone and shakes his head. “Not yet. But it’s only been a few hours since everything went down. She’s probably still trying to process everything.”
I tuck a few strands of my tangled, wavy brown hair behind my ears. “But we’re still going to see her after we go to the training pit, right?”
