Page 274 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

I don’t know what to feel first⁠—

shock, humiliation, anger.

Everything crashes into each other.

And I still can’t move,

can’t step out of it.

Andrew turns fast in my arms,

reaching over me,

slamming both palms into Ben,

shoving him so hard he bounces off the opposite counter. “What the fuck was that?” he spits through clenched teeth. He glances back at me, seeing if I’m okay.

“What’s the matter, Baby?” Ben says amused, palms up, like he didn’t just invade every boundary. “Thought that’s what we were doin’ here, gropin’ all over each other.”

Andrew’s eyes go dark when they swing back to him, and his fist catches Ben’s face fast, a wet, bone-crunching sound.

Ben’s head snaps back, his toes lifting off the floor as he hits the counter, hands twitching up on instinct.

But Andrew’s already on him, driving his shoulder into Ben’s chest, pinning him there. “Don’t ever,” he grits out, voice terrifying. “Don’t you ever fuckin’ touch her like that.”

Honor tries jumping between them.

Ben scrambles for a grip, his arm flailing and catching the edge of the plant.

Time slows as it tips.

The pot crashes to the floor,

ceramic shatters.

Dirt sprays the white marble.

The leaves rip under their sneakers.

I’m paralyzed, tears welling in my eyes.

I try to suck in a breath,

but all the air has left my lungs.

I knew the second I was seen as soft,

Ben would take the window.

Now here I am, frozen,

stomach twisted with disgust,

powerless,

with no control of my own house.

Andrew’s jaw flexes, the vein in his neck straining, as he shoves Ben off and chases after me.