AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Grayson nodded. “He said he’s fine, but I’m not sure I believe him. Even Julie agrees. She said it’s like someone dimmed his light. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I am guessing we’re on the same page. What about you? Have you noticed anything that might point to what’s wrong?”
My jaw tightened, and I dropped my gaze back to my paperwork. “No.”
We were quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “No? That’s it?”
I felt so tense that I was sure any sudden movement would pull a muscle. I avoided Grayson’s gaze, glaring at the paperwork in front of me. It wasn’t my job to take care of Bennett. I didn't have to check on him like a toddler.
Except… normally, I did. I knew he struggled. The PTSD was manageable as long as he took care of himself, but that didn’t stop me from checking in and making sure he was doing okay. Not until… I grimaced internally. Not until things got awkward and I couldn’t think straight around him anymore. It didn’t make any sense, and I hated myself a little more every day for ignoring him. He didn’t do anything I wasn’t begging for in the moment. I was the coward who couldn’t look him in the eye afterward.
“You two aren’t still fighting after that prank thing, are you?”
I shook my head, but Grayson sighed like he didn’t believe me. “Why do I get the feeling you’re directly involved in why he’s so depressed right now? What did you say to him?”
I shot him a dirty look. “I didn't say shit.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Then why do you look so pissed off?”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe I’m tired of taking the blame for everything. I didn't do anything to Bennett.” Sort of.
The phone on Grayson’s desk buzzed and when he pushed the button, Julie’s sweet voice spoke over the speaker. “Mr Andrews, your next meeting is downstairs in five minutes.”
“Thank you, Julie. I’ll go now.” He pressed the button again and stood, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair as he spoke to me. “Whatever it is that you two are fighting about, you need to handle it. He’s lost a friend in the worst possible way. He doesn’t deserve to lose another just because of some prank drama.”
Geez. Way to lay it on thick. I followed him out of his office, sparing a smile for Julie as she waved. She was the only reason I hadn’t lost my mind yet, overthinking about what happened between me and Bennett. I almost wanted to hide by her desk, just to have a few more minutes of peace. But because I cared about Bennett’s wellbeing, I marched my ass down to his office instead.
I hesitated outside the door, grimacing to myself. I wanted to avoid this conversation. Why the hell couldn’t we just pretend it didn’t happen?
Probably because I couldn’t stop thinking about it, which made things awkward every time I was in the same room as him. I knew I was the problem here. Knowing Bennett, if I’d asked him to, he would’ve swept it under the rug and forgot about it. I was the one being weird about it.
Resigned, I walked into his office without knocking. I didn’t expect him to look so pissed when I walked in the door, though. The minute he recognized who it was, he glowered at me.
“I’m busy.”
I ignored him, moving to sit in the chair on the opposite side of his desk. “We need to talk.”
He snorted, but it lacked any actual humor to it. “Oh, now you want to talk?”
He looked so pissed at me, and it tore at my insides. This was what set this whole thing off in the first place.
“Bennett, come on, man.”
“Tell me what happened the other night,” he demanded.
I grimaced. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“I want you to tell me what happened. I want to know what you’re thinking and why you’re avoiding me. I want to know what I did to piss you off so much that you’d throw a punch. I want to know why afterwards you stopped talking to me.”
My chest tightened almost painfully. He was really not giving me any room to argue with him. I sighed heavily, defeated.
“All I know is that everyone was putting all the blame on me and it was killing me. You looked like you hated me and it messed me up. I couldn’t handle it. Not from you. And then you kissed me and all the shit I’ve kept buried deep down my whole damn life came rushing to the surface and I reacted. I took it too far and I was terrified I ruined our friendship even more, so I avoided you so I wouldn’t have to face it.”
He still looked wary, and the pain was still etched into his face. I messed up big time, and I hated myself for it.
“So you got off with me and you thought avoiding me was going to make it go away?” His tone was judgmental, which pushed the regret down a little and made me want to hit him again.
“Shut up. Look, I panicked, man. Cut me some slack. I never even considered–”
He shot me a dirty look and my jaw snapped closed. Bennett had always been good about reading people. He saw right through my lie.
