Night has fallen, and I can hear Marissa’s gentle snores bleeding into my bedroom from the living room.
I’m staring at the corkboard on the wall across from the foot of my bed. The various shots of Elijah are looking back at me, and he’s still so incredibly beautiful.
A desperate sadness, an intense longing—both crash over me at once as I stare at his soft, boyish features.
I will not let Bennett scare me away from him. I will do anything to keep him in reach.
I have spent my entire life waiting to love him—and one day I will tell him so—someday.
I fall asleep with that thought circling my brain, and soon I find myself sitting at a picnic table under a hot, demanding sun. The day is young and bright as I pick away at a snow cone that rests in my hand.
And several feet away, lying on a patch of vibrant green grass, is Benjamin. He’s shirtless, wearing only a pair of short swim trunks as he laughs alongside the boy next to him.
I can’t make out the features of his friend—only his black hair and his long, pale limbs. But they’re giggling and touching, and I can sense a thick comfort between the two of them that makes my heart ache.
A pleasant ache, the kind I want to soak in.
Benjamin finishes his snow cone and closes his eyes, bathing under the hot sun like a fat house cat. His fingers drag lazily over his toned, lean muscles, and every inch of my own body lights up at the sight of it.
I can feel a presence next to me—I can sense that they’re talking—but I take no notice of the words or the person. I only see Benjamin. I can feel only his formidable aura and my own desire to dominate and claim him.
And I know, right at this moment, I know—I want him.
It is here that I want him so fiercely for the first time.
Those big hazel eyes find mine, and I want to with everything in me to hide him away from every other person alive.
I will make him mine, even as I know I shouldn’t. One day, he will be under my control, and I will protect and guard him.
Benjamin… sweet Button.
Chapter Twenty
Elijah
When Mom picked me up at the airport yesterday, she was so excited that I could barely comprehend half of the words she started spewing at me.
The drive back to her house was spent catching me up on all of the drama I’d missed in the past few weeks.
Such as her best friend Andrea starting her divorce from her husband Jeremy, and my sister Jess getting a raise at the firm she works for.
The Camrys are also hosting a Halloween party for the family, which is just another excuse for everyone to gather around and drink and socialize while they hand out candy.
I took in all this new information and eventually began tuning her out when she started in on the info dump about the women from her yoga class.
I then spent most of the day watching Mom panic-clean the house, then the rest of the night in my old bedroom, my full-size bed just barely able to hold my adult body comfortably.
But my grey sheets and Transformer posters were comforting to stare at, and this morning I was awoken to pumpkin pancakes and apple cider—just as I always was on Halloween.
As I head downstairs to eat, I find Carrie and Jess at the dining room table and Mom at the stove.
“Where are Jeff and Kyle?” I ask. My sisters’ husbands never stray too far, so I look around wearily.
I like them both, but they tend to be as loud and lovey as my actual family members.
Mom lands a wet kiss onto my cheek and hands me a plate, watching joyfully as I take a seat next to Carrie.
“In the garage with Dad, probably,” Jess says. “They’ve been tinkering with that old car Dad bought on eBay.”
