“It’s Friday afternoon.”
That was not Eric.
Wait… where was Eric?
I shifted until my back was resting against the couch cushions and had a look around the room. Bennie was sitting on the far side of the couch, his phone in hand, an easy smile on his lips, but there was no sign of Eric.
“He’s in the shower,” Bennie told me. “He hasn’t left your side at all, you know? I don’t think he even slept a wink. Whenever I came in here, he was looking at you and glaring at me, as if I might attack you.”
I nodded, hating the pang in my chest.
Because really? I didn’t want to feel bad for Eric. He’d fucking stalked me for months. He’d left all those creepy-as-shit notes on my door. He’d… he’d fucking betrayed me.
I shouldn’t feel bad because my having been abducted worried him. It didn’t make anything that happened before okay.
But he’d come for me. He’d saved me. Even though I’d screamed at him, accused him of following me, when he’dactually respected my wishes, he’d dropped everything and found me, and that counted for something, right?
“Are you still mad?” Bennie asked, putting his phone aside. “I’m getting very conflicting signals.”
“Hell if I know,” I muttered, pulling the blanket over my legs.
“I told him that stalking you wasn’t okay,” Bennie said quietly. “And for what it’s worth, part of him knew it was wrong. He just didn’t know how to handle his feelings.”
I barked out a laugh, but it was too loud and fucking hurt.
Concussions sucked.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? He didn’t know how to handle his attraction to me, so he stalked me?”
Bennie grimaced, casting a long glance at the stairwell.
“It’s not his attraction to you that he didn’t know how to handle. It’s… ugh. I should let him explain everything.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “You started the conversation. So out with it. Explain what you meant.”
Maybe it was best if Bennie was the one telling me. Hell, before I’d been taken, I’d contemplated talking to Aries to get a neutral explanation. Bennie definitely wasn’t as neutral as Aries, but still less involved than Eric.
Someone came running down the stairs, the footsteps quickly getting louder until Eric came into view, dressed in nothing but sweatpants, droplets of water still clinging to his body.
“No,” he said, giving Bennie a long look before turning his attention to me. “Please. Please let me be the one to explain. I want to.”
Fuck.
His eyes were killing me.
He looked so… sad. Hopeless. Pained.
I averted my eyes.
This was such a bad idea.
I already wanted to forgive him.
My stupid fucking brain was basically waiting for any kind of explanation it could turn into something reasonable that’d make it okay for me to stay with him.
I needed therapy.
Desperately.
