I heard crying, barely audible over the din of the bar. My heart dropped.
“Hold on.” I spun away from the counter and pushed through the crowd until I made it out the door, feeling Ben’s presence shadow me. Unfortunately, the patio was nearly as loud as inside.
Ben’s fingers gripped my elbow, tugging me into the only dark and quiet corner in the whole place.
“Lee,” my sister sobbed.
“Are you okay?” My heart was going a mile a minute. “Are you safe? Is Mom okay?”
“I’m safe. It’s just...Chris.”
Her boyfriend. What had the fucker done?
Ben had moved away to give me space, but I could see him pacing out of the corner of my eye.
“What happened?”
“He...” Alexis hiccuped. She’d always been a messy crier. “Hecheatedon me.”
Her serious boyfriend of four years—the one she thought was going to propose—hadcheated. Of course he had.
“Shit. I’m sorry, Alexis. What an asshole.”
“I don’t know what to do. I can’t go home. He’s there. I can’t see him.”
“Of course you can’t,” I said soothingly. “Go to my place. You can stay as long as you want.”
Alexis hiccuped again. “Thank you.”
“I’ll head home right now,” I said. “Get in an Uber. I’ll meet you there.”
Just as I hung up with Alexis, I felt another hand at my elbow. I turned, expecting to find Ben, but it was Kyle Sumner.
Oh, shit.Kyle.The hot, dirty hippie I called whenever I wanted to go home with someone but extend zero effort. My acquaintance-with-benefits. I’d totally forgotten I’d made plans to meet him at the end of the night.
“Found you.” Kyle tossed his blond hair out of his eyes. He was one of those trust-fund kids who looked like he hadn’t brushed his hair in years, but actually spent considerable money getting it that way. “You want to grab a drink?”
Ben walked up, but he kept a cautious distance, eyes darting from Kyle to me. “Stoner? Is Lex okay?”
I met his eyes. “Her boyfriend—” My throat went dry. For the life of me, I couldn’t bring myself to tell Ben that Alexis’s boyfriend had cheated and devastated her. Just like I’d done to him. “He dumped her.”
Ben’s eyes went soft. “Shit.”
Kyle looked between us. “Who’s Lex?”
Ben turned to him. “Who are you?”
“Ben, this is Kyle, my, er...friend. Kyle, this is Ben, my...old friend.”
Excellent. Handled with grace.
Kyle and Ben examined each other. Kyle was tall, but he kept lean enough to fit into ripped-up skinny jeans. Ben had a solid two inches and quite a bit of muscle on him.
“Hey.” Kyle tossed the greeting like it was a two-dollar tip to a valet. He wrapped an arm around me.
“Nice to meet you.” Ben’s eyes found mine again, and I could see the questions brewing. He finally settled on one. “Does Lex need anything?”
“She’s a wreck, so I’m going to meet her at my house. She’ll stay with me for a while.” I squeezed Kyle’s arm. “Sorry about that. Rain check?”
