"She's great."
"Great?" I echo, tone pissed. Like I actually asked forgreat. "That's it?"
The unspoken hangs on my face:
But does she rub your feet after your shift?
Do you love her?
Does she look anything like me?!
"Grounds me," he adds.
"Grounds you?" I pull a face. "What, like your mummy?"
He smirks, infuriatingly serene to let me know he's above my jabs. "She's steady. Knows what she wants and goes for it."
"Interesting. Seems like we both wanted the same thing." I press my back into the chair, cross my legs, and school my face into neutral. I'm over it—even with cheeks burning like hellfire.
He leans back too, mirroring me, but way more poised. "Then it's good we both got what we wanted."
"Yeah.Reallygood," I shoot.
"Good."
"Well, as long as you're happy," I add bitterly, the words both true and excruciating.
He nods once, licks his lips slowly—his way of sayingyes. "And you?"
"You already asked."
"You didn't answer."
"Richard's good. We're good. It's good," I say smoothly.
Ben lets out a huff, sardonic as ever. "That's a lot of 'good.' Is that a coded distress signal?"
Swear to God, I will throttle him.
"Hilarious," I deadpan, staring him down. "Feel better?"
"Not really," he says, sounding almost believable. Almost.
I make a face, and shoot another shot, meant to make him flinch. "And why the hell were you scrolling my socials anyway?"
Completely unabashed, he drags his tongue around the spoon—insufferably slow—and smirks. "Don't act shocked. I used to care about you."
Brilliant, really, how well he maneuvers. Gives me what I want, then stabs me with the past tense.
Manipulator.
"Well, just so you know," I say with my sweetest smile, "I never checked yours. Not even once."
There it is—a fracture. His brow ticks. Is that a self-soothing gesture? Sure is. His hand curls around his thigh,thumb pressing down to compose himself.
He digs into the cake, leaving the spoon stabbed upright like a middle finger, and turns to me. "By which you mean, you didn't think about me?"
I shoot him a look that says,you're not that special.Only it's a lie.
