“Damn it. That guy, I swear. What happened exactly?”
“Two cops showed up at his door and arrested him.”
“I mean, did he do it?”
“I’m not going to answer that.”
“Great. He is guilty. Fuck. Okay. I’ll call my lawyer, but chances are nothing can be done until Monday.”
“Oh God,” I whisper.
“Listen, I don’t know you, or what is going on, but if Ben is willing to do everything I’ve heard about for you, you matter to him. That means you have to trust me. I’ve known him longer, I care about him more, and I know him best. Let me handle this, and take care of yourself, got it?”
“If you care about him so much, why haven’t you been around?” I snap.
“If you care about him at all, you’ll let me handle this,” he counters. “Trust me, Prue, I’m going to take care of him. He’s like my brother.”
“Fine,” I mumble. “Call me if there are any updates.”
“I will. If he wants me to, that is.”
“He will,” I counter. “Bye.”
I fight back a scream when I hang up on Wes. He has no reason to trust me, and I have no reason to tell him what happened. Unfortunately, I do need to let him handle this, because Ben told me to. I’m not happy about it, but for Ben’s sake, I will let him get the lawyer.
And I’ll stay put. At least until Cameron is home.
After washing the bloody pocketknife and tossing it in a random drawer, I pace Ben’s apartment, over and over. I turn the picture of him, his parents and the lady I’m sure hurt him around. I rearrange his little trinkets. Moving the snow globe from one shelf to the other. I organize the books he has a few times over before I accept that I’m not hearing from Wes or him tonight.
Giving up, I head to his bedroom. The walls are a dark gray. His furniture is basic and dark. His bed is huge, and the blankets are thrown about. Guitars hang on his walls. Six of them. All different colors and makes. An acoustic guitar sits on a stand next to a chair. He has a few awards on the walls as well. Clearly music does mean a lot to him.
I use his on-suite bathroom, eyeing his shower and smiling at his tea tree shampoo and citrus body wash. He also has facial moisturizer on his counter. Sexy rock star comes at a cost, apparently. I plan to tease him to no end about this.
I wash my face in his sink before stealing some of his mouthwash. It’s odd being in here without him. His absence hurts and I don’t know how to deal with that. We haven’t been together that long, but he has become a permanent fixture in my life already.
There is no way of knowing what is going to happen next, but all I know is I can’t lose him. I’ll take just being his friend, I’ll take whatever he is willing to offer me, because as much as I hate to admit it, I need him.
I strip down to my panties before grabbing a shirt lying across his bed. I don’t care if it’s dirty at this point, I just want to feel his presence somehow.
As I tug it over my head, I soak in the way it smells like him. Clean, smokey, and like the earth after rain. My heart aches knowing where he is right now, and I know it’s all my fault.
I don’t know how I’m supposed to get any sleep tonight, but once I curl up under his blanket, wrapped in fabric that seeps his scent, my eyes feel heavy, and sleep overtakes me.
When I wake up, the first thing I do is call Wes. He tells me his lawyer is going to call Ben today but won’t be able to see him until tomorrow. It’s concerning that Ben hasn’t called Wes or me yet, but I highly doubt he knows my number. And if he did call Wes, I doubt Wes would tell me.
Cameron calls me around noon, asking where I am at and that’s when I decide I can’t take another second being trapped in Ben’s condo without him.
When I walk into Cameron’s apartment, he is sitting on the couch, watching tv. He glances up when he sees me.
“How was your weekend?” He smiles. “I see you did some drinking.” He nods to the bottle of whiskey on his coffee table.
“No. Ben did that. He says he will replace it.”
“Ben? Like Ben Parker?” he asks, and I just nod. “He was here? Are you sleeping with him, sis?” Cameron studies me, surprise written all over his face.
“I took him to meet Mom and Dad,” I say instead of answering that question.
Cameron burst out laughing. “No way. Without me? God, I would’ve loved to witness that. How did it go?”
