“Safe or not, he’s more than a coward who plays people like a fucking piano.”
He shakes his head slightly, still holding my shoulders, chest heaving. I can see the words piling up on his tongue. The pulse in his throat is thrumming. He is so close to me that I can see the flecks of green in his blue eyes and I dare him to try to explain himself. To come up with an excuse for the damage he caused me. For how he broke me when I still believed in good things.
Stupidly, I glance down to his lips and I’m left wondering what would have happened just a moment ago if Tate hadn’t interrupted us. An inexplicable, irrational part of me wants to trace the bottom curve of his lip.
However, the miracle of common sense forces me to look back up into his eyes and see the absolute torment there. I am so angry at him for daring to be the wounded one in this scenario.
Bennett remains silent as I push past him and out the front door. I don’t bother to apologize when my shoulder collides with his arm.
Tate is waiting for me. “Everything okay with you guys?”
“Just an old family friend,” I tell him. “Proving over and over again that he hasn’t changed.”
“Yeah, I know Bennett. We’ve run in the same circles before. Thinks he’s the center of the universe and that every other person is basically an NPC.”
“That’s exactly it.”
He walks me to his car with an arm around my shoulder.
“You want to grab a late dinner?” he asks once he’s behind the wheel of his Range Rover.
“Is it okay if you just take me back to the dorm?” I wait for the moment when he will do something to prove Bennett right, but it never comes. And I’m not surprised.
“Of course,” he tells me, and then flicks my seat heater on for me. “Let’s get you back to campus.”
We drive back and he pulls up as close to the dorms as he can get. “I can walk you up,” he says as he reaches for his seat belt.
“Oh, I’m fine, but thank you. Here.” I start to take off his fleece.
“Keep it,” Tate says. “I don’t want you to get cold walking inside.”
“Thanks,” I tell him. “For the fleece and for a nice time.”
“Of course. See you on Monday, Clo.”
When I go inside, Briar’s door is open and she has a line of at least nine people and a tip jar full of singles. I let her know that Daisy is safe and with her hockey player and she gives me a nod while accepting a digital payment on her phone.
Our room is dark and empty as I change into my sleep shorts and T-shirt.
I curl up under the blankets with the fleece on. Despite my absolute exhaustion, sleep is impossible. Old memories that suddenly feel as fresh as yesterday play on a loop in my head.
When the door finally opens, I stay as still as possible while Bennett undresses and gets into bed.
It’s only when the room goes quiet that my growling stomach gives me away. Normally, I would apologize, but not tonight.
He gets up and leaves the room, and I sit up, wondering if I should follow him. Was my stomach that offensive? Is he going to sleep on a couch in the common room? God, that’s not really going to send the message of happily married, is it?
As I’m still debating what the hell I should do, the door swings open again. Lit in moonlight, Bennett is shirtless, wearing only a pair of joggers and carrying two paper plates.
He turns on the small reading lamp next to his bed and hands me a grilled cheese with an iron imprinted on the bread.
“They’re not bad,” he says. “I bought one from her last week. I think she uses a garlic mayonnaise.”
As I glance down at my plate, I decide that I’m not too proud to call a temporary truce in the name of grilled cheese.
He’s right about them being good. Or maybe I’m that hungry. The cheese is the perfect degree of molten and the bread is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
After we’re both finished, Bennett turns off his light and I slide back down in bed, curled up on my side with my back to him.
