Crossing the Line (Silver Valley University #2)

Chapter 1

Eight years ago

Bennett

“Hey, Bennett, you coming to hang out at the park tonight?” Easton asks, hiking his backpack up as he stops next to my locker.

Smiling, I turn to him, closing my locker door. “Yup. Just need to drop my stuff off at home and eat. I can be there around seven.”

“Cool.” He nods. “Gives me enough time to get my schoolwork done.”

“You can come over, and we can do it together, you know,” I chuckle.

He shifts on his feet uncomfortably. “Dad’s getting pissy that I’ve been hanging out at your place so much. I think it’s best if I just go home for a bit.”

“Oh, okay.” I nod. “Yeah, cool. I’ll see you tonight, then?”

“Yeah. See you later.”

I watch as Easton takes off down the hall toward the exit, my heart rate still elevated like it always is when he’s around.

Sighing heavily, I lean my head against the locker and close my eyes.

I thought this crush would go away by now, but it’s been three years. Three years and it’s only gotten worse.

I was ten when I realized I liked boys. Not just any boys, though. I liked Easton, my best friend.

At first, I thought it was just one of those silly crushes you get—or as my parents call it, puppy love.

I’ve grown up around a very gay positive family. My parents are in a poly relationship. My dads, Brody and Jax, are bisexual and are in a relationship with each other, as well as my mom.

So when I got my first crush, I didn’t see anything wrong with it being on a guy.

I didn’t think much of it. Maybe I just really enjoyed hanging out with him and being around him. He’s a good guy, the best guy I know. Of course, I’d have strong feelings for my best friend.

Now I’m a teenager, thirteen going on fourteen, and those feelings haven’t gone away. If anything, they’ve grown from a crush to me being in love with him.

Well, maybe not in love. I’m still young, so do I even know what love is?

All I do know, though, is when I’m around him, I get these happy, excited feelings inside me. Like, I can’t wait until the next time I get to see him, even if it’s just sitting beside him while sharing the same class.

I haven’t told him about my feelings, and I don’t plan on it. I have no idea if he feels the same way I do, and considering the way he talks about the girls in our class, I don’t think he likes boys.

“You okay, Benny?” Aria, my other best friend, asks.

Blinking my eyes open, I look down at her red hair and freckled face. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

“You got hockey tonight?” she asks as I push off the locker.

“Nope.” I walk beside her as we head toward the front door.

“Wanna hang out?” she asks.

“Uhhh, I can’t,” I say with a hint of guilt.

She sighs heavily. “Let me guess, you’re hanging out with Easton?” She raises a brow. She doesn’t give me a chance to answer. “Of course you are. You’re always with Easton. What about me?” She waves her hands in front of her face. “I’m your best friend, too.”

“I know you are.” I throw my arm around her with a chuckle. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a shitty friend.”

“It’s okay. I get it. You don’t wanna kiss me.”

“What?” I stop and gape down at her.

“You don’t wanna kiss me, like you want to kiss Easton. It’s why you’re always wanting to be around him. You like him.” She grins up at me with a way-too-excited smile.

I look around, stomach sinking. “Would you shut up?” I hiss.

“Oh relax, no one is around,” she says, just as people walk past. “Oops.”

I grab her arm and tug her to the side. “I do not like Easton. Not like that.”

“Mhhmm.” She crosses her arms and raises a brow. “You know it’s okay to like guys, right?”

“I know that.” I frown. “That’s not the issue.”

“Is it that the guy you like is your best friend?”

“Would you stop saying that? Please?” I beg her.

“Okay, okay,” she says. “I’m sorry. I won’t bug you about it again.”

“Thank you,” I sigh in relief.

“As long as you make time for me,” she continues.

“Tomorrow night. You and me. Hang out at my place. Yeah?”

Her face lights up. “Hell yeah.”

“You need a ride home?” I ask, looking out at the parking lot and spotting my mom, Rain.

“Nah. My dad should be here soon.”

“‘Kay. See you later.”

Waving goodbye, I jog to Rain’s car.

My mom has five partners, but Rain is the only girl she’s in a relationship with. And Rain is only with my mom. She sees my dads as her brothers. Plus, there’s the fact that she’s gay.

“Hey, kiddo,” she greets as I slide into the front seat.

“I’m not a kid.” I laugh, tossing my bag into the back.

“Well, you’re my kid, so therefore, you will always be a kid to me.” She winks, then starts up the car.

“Raiden and Isaiah are kids. I’m a teenager.”

“Oh, we know.” Rain grins. “Trust me, we know.”

“Please,” I huff. “You act like I’m a pain in the ass. Pretty sure that's Toby’s job.”

“You’re not wrong there.” She nods.

Raiden and Isaiah are my seven-year-old twin brothers, while Toby is my older brother. He’s in college. I also have a sister, Lilly, who just started at Silver Valley University this year.

It’s weird not having her home. I miss her. She’s my best friend in the whole world.

I guess being only five years apart helps. I love my brothers, but Lilly is my favorite sibling.

When we get home, I head right for my room, avoiding my little brothers. I know they're going to drive me crazy like always, and I’d rather stay in my good mood before meeting up with Easton.

I hang out there, doing my homework until it’s supper time.

“Slow down there,” my dad, Brody, says with a chuckle. “You’re going to choke,” he comments as I shovel food from my plate into my mouth.

“Leave him alone,” my mom, Ellie, tells him. “He’s a growing boy.”

“Yeah, what Mom said,” I mumble around a mouthful of food, while reaching over to grab a few more pieces of chicken. “You okay if I bring this for Easton?” I ask.

All the adults give each other a look, and I pause. There it is. The pitying looks any time I bring him up.

My parents love my best friend. He pretty much lives here, and there's a reason for that.

Easton’s home life isn’t the best. His dad is... well, he’s a raging asshole. Easton’s never admitted it, but I’m almost positive he’s hit Easton in the past. I hate the man, and so do my parents.

His mom isn’t a horrible person, but she’s too nice. Or like my mom, Rain says, she’s a pushover. She doesn’t stick up for herself or her son.

My parents have seen him yelling at her a few times while they were out in town.

My dad, Chase, owns a car dealership and often goes to the auto body shop where Easton’s dad works to get repairs done on the used cars he acquires.

I went with him once and saw Easton’s dad yelling at his mom in the parking lot. All the woman did was bring him a sandwich. Guess it wasn’t the kind he wanted.

Seeing Mrs. Wright walk away in tears had me so upset. I never wanted to punch someone so badly as I did Mr. Wright.

“Of course.” Mom gives me a soft smile. “Why don’t we put some in a container for him?”

“Thanks.” I nod.

Mom makes him a plate, and I finish mine. The second I’m done, I’m racing down the street on my bike.

The park where we’re meeting at isn’t a well-known one.

It’s meant for kids in our neighborhood, but the only kids right now are my siblings and me.

It has a lake that we like to skip rocks on and a playground that's more of an obstacle course.

The best part is the treehouse my dads had installed when I was eight.

I turn the corner and smile when I see Easton’s bike.

Throwing mine on the ground next to his, I climb my way up the ladder toward the dim glow of the light coming from the treehouse.

“Bennett, that you?” Easton calls out.

“Yup,” I chuckle, popping my head through the hole in the treehouse floor.

His lips curve into a smile, making my heart do that stupid thing it does. “Good. I thought you were a serial killer.”

“Really?” I chuckle, climbing in. I toss my backpack to the side. “What would you have done if I were?”

“I’d have kicked you in the head and made you fall to your death.” He shrugs.

“Someone’s feeling violent tonight.” I shake my head.

“Fitting with what we’re watching.” He grins.

The best thing about having a dad who has money isn’t the money itself. Sure, it’s nice, but I couldn’t care less about big fancy things.

It’s that he has connections. And one of those connections can get new movie releases before they’re even in theaters. Not sure if it’s legal or not, but as long as I don’t share them with anyone but Easton, I think we should be okay.

“You got the projector?” Easton asks.

“You know it.” Reaching into my bag, I pull it out and place it on the plastic crate.

“Nice. I’ll get it set up.”

Mom hung a white sheet in here and got us this projector so we could hang out and watch movies. We do it every weekend.

“Aaaaand I brought this.” I pull out the container of food Mom made up for Easton and hand it to him.

“Oh my god, is this your mom’s fried chicken?” His eyes light up, making me laugh.

“Yup.”

“God, I love her chicken.” He opens it and groans. “Thanks,” he mumbles around a mouthful as he chews on his first bite.

Smiling, I shake my head and get the movie set up while he’s busy eating.

Once we’re ready, we shuffle closer. It’s a small space, and the older we get, the less room we seem to have.

“I brought popcorn, too,” I say, pulling the bag out.

We start the movie, a horror flick—Easton’s favorite—and settle in.

At first, I pay attention to the movie. But as time goes by, I notice Easton shifting closer and closer until... his head is on my shoulder.

The air in my lungs gets stuck, and my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest. He smells good, the scent of his deodorant tickling my nose.

Relax, Bennett. This is just two friends hanging out. Nothing more.

But then, when his hand inches closer, and his pinky brushes mine, I feel the whole world come to a stop.

The person in the movie is screaming as the killer is chasing her down, but I slowly turn my head to Easton.

He looks up at me, and our eyes lock together.

He doesn’t say a word, just stares at me.

I’ve noticed he’s been doing that a lot lately—lingering looks, extra smiles, and touching me more than normal. They’re just casual touches like a bump of the shoulder, a brush of a hand, or his arm around me longer than what is considered normal for friends.

I thought for a moment he might feel the same way about me, but I convinced myself it was just him feeling comfortable around me. I like that my family and I can be his safe place.

But as I look down at him, my heart in my throat and my body breaking out in a sweat, I’m not sure if it’s all in my head anymore.

My eyes flick between his. He doesn't look away, but instead licks his lips.

Oh fuck. Does he want me?

I want to kiss him so bad right now. But I can’t, can I?

“Bennett.” His voice is gruff and god, I like it more than I should.

My head is cloudy, my heart a mess. I inch closer towards him, giving him time to move. When he doesn’t, I take that as my sign to go for it. I’m going to kiss him.

And I do. My lips land on his, and my whole world explodes in technicolor. His lips are soft against mine, warm.

Everything inside me melts. I feel like I’m going to pass out.

He doesn’t move away, but kisses me back. That is, until he lets out a little groan, the sound seeming to snap him out of it.

He shoots up into a seated position, and I only get a second to see the pure fury on his face before his fist comes flying at me.

I grunt as my head snaps back, pain splintering through my eye and head as his fist makes contact.

I’m in shock, unable to react as my hand shoots up to cover my eye.

Easton says nothing as he scrambles out of the treehouse and down the ladder.

It takes a moment for me to react. I crawl over to the window, watching Easton ride away on his bike.

As soon as he’s out of view, I sit back, my ass hitting the ground hard.

I fucked up. I fucked up big time.

Panic begins to consume me, overriding the pain in my eye and head.

Tears sting the back of my eyes as I wrap my arms around my legs. I bury my face in my knees and cry.

I should have known not to do that. Of course, he doesn’t like me like that. I let a little bit of hope fuck everything up. Almost ten years of friendship, gone down the drain just like that.

Once every last teardrop has leaked out of my eyes, a numbness takes over me, while I shove everything in my bag and leave the treehouse behind.

The bike ride home is a blur, I don’t even remember getting there or going up to my room.

I lock my bedroom door and throw myself onto my bed. I cry myself to sleep with thoughts swimming around my head.

I need to make this right. He knows I find guys attractive, so I’ll tell him I just wanted to know what it felt like to kiss a guy, not that I have feelings for him. We can laugh it off. It doesn’t have to be a big deal, right?

I can’t lose him. I’d rather have this stupid, one-sided crush, and it never goes anywhere, than lose him as a friend.

Sleep is rough, and I only manage to get a few hours, putting me in a shitty mood the next morning. I had to wake up early and sneak into my sister's room, in the pool house, to grab some makeup to cover the new black eye I’m sporting.

“Everything okay?” Mom asks.

“Yeah,” I grunt, pulling my hood over my head, trying to make myself small, so mom doesn’t try to get a good look at my face.

“Did Easton like his food?”

At the mention of his name, my heart clenches. I nod, not able to speak.

“Come on, kid!” my dad, Jax, shouts. “I’ll take you to school today.”

Grabbing my school bag, I say goodbye to my mom and head to Jax’s car.

“You okay?” he asks as we pull out of the driveway.

“Why is everyone asking me that?” I snap, not looking at him, eyes focused out my window.

“Okay then,” he whispers. “Not in the mood to talk. Got it.”

When we pull up to school, my nerves set in.

I need to go up to him, tell him I’m sorry, and that it’s not a big deal if we don’t make it one.

A wave of nausea hits me as I step into the school. Kids around me are loud, laughing, and joking around. I make my way down the hall to the lockers. Easton is there, and my stomach drops.

Now or never, Bennett. Deal with this now before it fucks everything up.

“Hey.” I stop next to him, my heart hammering in my chest. “Can we talk about last night?”

Easton slams his locker door. The look of anger and disgust in his eyes makes my heart sink. “There’s nothing to talk about,” Easton spits. “I’m not sure what the fuck you thought would happen last night, but I’m not a fucking faggot.”

My eyes widen, lips parting. “I–I’m...”

“Stay away from me, Bennett. We’re not friends anymore.” He shoves past me, forcing me to bang into the lockers.

I watch him rush down the hall, away from me, as everything inside me shatters.

I fucked up. And now I’ve lost my best friend.