Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Lexi
My heart races as I focus on everything but him. I can feel him observing me. Feel the way he is watching my every move.
I’ve noticed it for days, weeks even. The way they all watch me. It’s almost like everyone thinks I’m going to break and crumble and they always need to be ready to catch the pieces.
I adore them all, but their hovering, it needs to stop. I feel like a carnival attraction, it makes me uncomfortable.
I’m not going to fall apart, I’m not going to give in and let the hate in my life win. Things happened, I hit bottom, but I’m not that girl, I refuse to be. I deserve more.
Stepping up alongside the girls, I turn my body and make the mistake of looking toward the men. I find Bennett still staring. Our eyes lock, his rake over me from head to toe before meeting my gaze once again. My body shivers, he notices and it makes me angry that I can’t control it.
He didn’t want me.
I was there. I’ve always been right in front of him. But when it came down to it, I wasn’t enough. Call it petty, but that still hangs over me like a dark cloud.
Quickly I look away, doing my best to regain my composure.
When Sutton starts down the aisle I am lost in how breathtakingly beautiful she is.
I couldn’t be happier for my best friend, she found a great guy.
More like he stumbled into her lap after returning home from the Marines, but pretty much the same thing.
When you hear Brantley explain it, all it took was one look and he knew he wanted her.
Brantley is Bennett’s brother.
Sutton is also the girl Bennett had a thing for.
It was a chaotic mess that got extremely hairy for a bit. There were punches thrown, tears shed. Now here we are at Brantley and Sutton’s wedding where Bennett and I are standing at their sides.
Like I said, chaotic.
I’ll admit the first night I met Bennett, when we were out celebrating Sutton’s twenty-first birthday, I was instantly attracted to him.
He’s tall, much taller than my five foot four frame.
He’s broad, has a strong jawline, dark hair, and those damn eyes.
His eyes are the prettiest shade of blue.
But even with all of that what drew me in was his mouth.
His cocky smirk, tipped up at the side, shatters me every single time.
The kind of smile that whenever you are gifted it, it rolls through you like a warm soothing wave.
But it didn’t take me long to realize he had a thing for Sutton. That was a hard kick to endure. Though nothing ever happened between them, it was still a difficult pill to swallow.
But again Bennett, he flirts with everyone. He also never once held back whenever he needed the company of a lady.
I settled for scraps of his attention. I was the cute Lexi girl, tagging along. Whenever we did cross the line, just that once, the look on his face said it all.
He didn’t feel the same as I did. It was a mistake. His words not mine, and it was one I knew I couldn’t ever let happen again.
“You may now kiss your bride.” I’d daydreamed through the entire ceremony but was so happy to catch this part. To see Brantley waste no time before stepping in close and cupping Sutton’s face in his hands.
“I love you so damn much,” he whispers. I know it was meant for her but we all heard. It’s a beautiful moment, one I look away from, feeling as though I am intruding.
I want to be loved like that. To have a man look at me like I am his everything and always would be. I wanted a partner, someone who would stand beside me through anything holding my hand for support.
Lifting my gaze once more I see Sutton and Brantley turn to face the guests, holding up their joined hands in unison and I can’t help but smile. For the first time in months I feel pure joy coarse through me.
They step forward and Bennett takes their place holding out his hand. I freeze looking down at it, and it’s like my feet won’t move.
“Girl.” Adley nudges me from behind leaning in to whisper near my ear. “Get going, Bennett is looking mighty fine in that suit. Who knows, there could be some dirty wedding sex in your future.”
My eyes grow wide and I look back at her. “Seriously?” She wags her brows and I roll my eyes.
Then I reface Bennett only to find he is trying to hide his grin and I know he’s heard her too.
“There will be no dirty wedding sex.” It’s the first real time I’ve talked to him since he found me outside of the bar in a heated altercation with my ex. A fight he broke up and ended with me lying in a hospital bed.
A night that no matter how hard I try to forget, keeps playing over and over again in my head, haunting my dreams and robbing me of my smile.