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“I’ve been around.” I stick to vague answers, diverting my eyes.
I’m good at deflecting. But Benji is just as good at seeing through my thin veneer. He can always tell when I’m bleeding out. Sometimes before I notice the hemorrhaging myself. He and Wyatt were both there when I was struggling after my injury. They were there through my recovery. They never let me drown in my own misery, even when I probably deserved to.
“Willow left yesterday.”
When the first syllable of her name leaves his lips, my eyes shoot to his, betraying my indifference.
“Oh, yeah?” My voice comes out low and uncaring. Aloof. It’s the complete opposite of what I’ve been feeling lately. But part of me wishes it were true.
“Yeah,” he says, carefully watching me. He takes a drink from his mug. “Have you talked to her?”
“Nope,” I say, leaning back against the bench.
“Why not?”
I shrug stubbornly. “There’s nothing left to say.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” he murmurs, taking another drink. He sets the mug on the table and rests both elbows on either side of it. “You ready to tell me what that bullshit was about the other night?”
“What?” I ask. “Jess?”
He nods. “Jess … Willow … you.”
I glance out the window and watch the people walking outside. It’s sunny out today, the glare bright outside of the glass and currently at odds with my head.
Both Benji and Wyatt knew something was up the moment I pulled Jessica into our sphere at the bar. I flirted with her. I encouraged the attention she was always giving me. I used her.
“Jess and I have always had something on the back burner.”
“Maybe …” he says. “But something changed over the past few weeks. Lo showed up.”
I try not to flinch when he calls her by her nickname. The one I gave to her.
“I guess things changed again.”
The silence becomes weighted as it extends. I tip my mug, but the beans taste especially bitter on my tongue right now.
“Cut the shit, Zane,” Benji finally says. “I know you too well for you to give me vague, bullshit answers. What happened?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You do know,” he insists. “What happened between you and Lo?”
I sigh, but the tension in my spine remains.
The front door opens, and a familiar voice infiltrates my senses. It’s a welcome distraction from the current conversation.
“Zane!” Alice says, walking closer with my mom.
I rise to my feet.
“Hey, honey,” my mom says, giving me a hug.
Benji stands, too, and throws his arms around my mom’s slight frame next.
“What are you two doing?” Mom asks.
“Just having some coffee.”
