Chapter Nineteen #2
“Here you go,” Bennett interrupts, placing a mug full of coffee and a bowl of creamers in front of Marissa and a glass of water in front of me. “Sugar is on the condiment rack. Y’all know what you want to eat?”
Marissa orders her breakfast smoothly, smiling generously at my mortal enemy the entire time. And when she’s done, she sends me a small smirk that tells me she has every intention of making me suffer under the awkwardness this situation brings.
“I’ll take the breakfast sampler with sausage and over medium eggs,” I say, placing the menu back in its place behind the condiments.
“Sure,” Bennett says emotionlessly. “I’ll have that right out.” Then he disappears again without ever sparing me a glance.
“I’m sorry, but this is hilarious,” Marissa grins, and I give her a blank stare.
“Can you find it hilarious on your own time? This topic is boring me.”
She puts her hands up in surrender, sliding out of her booth. “Fine! But when I return from the bathroom, we’re making a game plan for how you’ll grovel to your man when he returns.”
“Whatever,” I grunt, staring out the window as she scurries away.
As much as I complain, I’m happy Marissa forced me out of the house. I would have sat on my bed, staring at pictures of Elijah and secretly crying all morning if she hadn’t.
Plus, I enjoy spending time with her. I’d rather be here for the first time bickering by her side than here for the first time alone.
“Hey.”
My head snaps to the right at the sound of Bennett’s annoyed tone, and I stare at him where he stands before me. His arms are crossed over his chest, giving the illusion that he is bigger than he actually is.
The glare he’s leveling me with would probably scare a more timid man. But instead, I find it kind of funny.
“Can I help you?” I ask him, and those big blue eyes narrow in on me.
“You can, actually.”
“Did you forget my order?”
Bennett snarls at the question, his hip popping with the new wave of attitude overcoming him.
This alone is a perfect example as to why he and Elijah could never work out: there would be far too much sass between the two of them.
“No, I did not forget your order. I wanted to say something to you.”
When he doesn’t continue, I raise a brow.
“So say it,” I deadpan, taking a drink of my water.
He glares even harder as he says, “Stay away from Eli.”
I choke on the cool liquid that’s traveling down my throat, my eyes widening as I cough. Bennett smiles smugly, as if he’s won something.
“Sorry?” I question, staring up at him incredulously.
“You heard me. He’s new to this town and doesn’t know you the way everyone else does. He sees the best in people. Even the worst of people.”
At this, I can’t help but laugh. “The worst of people? Are you talking about me?”
Bennett shrugs. “I am. I know who you are, Rowan, and I refuse to watch you hurt that boy.”
“He’s not a boy, Bennett. He’s a man,” I snap, returning his glare with an anger to rival his own. “And I have no intention of hurting him. You should mind your business.”
Bennett is quiet for a moment, and after he studies me and my reaction for a ridiculous amount of time, he speaks again.
“Why now? You’ve kept to yourself perfectly fine. Why come out of your little hole now?”
I scoff, turning my attention back to the window as I watch the leaves fall from their branches. They’re almost bare.
“You don’t know anything about me. I don’t owe you an explanation. Go bother someone else, you don’t own Elijah or his time.”
I do.
“But I do know you, Rowan," he says. "I know that you’re weird and stuck up. I know that you think you’re better than everyone else and always have. And I know that you’re a fucking stalker.”
My eyes shoot back to his, and I find myself clenching my fists on the table. Bennett sees it, smiling widely at the reaction.
“Excuse me?” My voice is quiet, deadly.
“Oh yeah. I see you out there, hiding in your truck. Taking photos of him like a creep. Does he know? Is he aware that the guy he thinks is so nice and misunderstood is following him around, snapping unsolicited pictures of him?” Bennett seethes.
I can’t help the panicked, angry expression that overcomes my features.
“You don’t know anything—”
“But I do. And he will too, if you don’t leave him alone. I met him first, you know. From the moment I saw him, and he gave me those big, flirty eyes, I knew I’d have him. So you can either back off and let me have him, or I can tell him what a freak you are.”
I’m standing before I register my own movements. My face is inches from his as I sneer, my breath leaving in pants.
“Don’t fucking push me, Bennett. Elijah is not meant for you. Keep your hands off—”
“Row,” Marissa’s voice cuts in, her hand wrapping around my bicep gently. I blink, pulling my attention from Bennett as I look to my best friend. “You’re making a scene.”
She’s right. Mr. Grames and the younger couple in the corner are staring at me with wide, concerned eyes.
In this town, it doesn’t matter what has really happened. Bennett is the golden boy, and I’m the outsider. He’s successfully baited me, and I’ve lost.
“Have a great breakfast, you two,” Bennett smirks, backing away slowly. “And remember what I said, Rowan. No amount of money or skill with a camera can distract a man from what you really are.”
Then, he turns and heads back toward the kitchen, and Marissa pushes me back into the booth. Once she’s sat across from me, she glares in the direction in which Bennett fled.
“I don’t know what just happened, but I take it back. He is not hot. Are you okay?” she asks gently.
I shake my head, my eyes once again focusing out the window to my left.
I’m not okay. Not okay at all—because I will not be heeding his warning. In fact, I intend on shoving how happy I make Elijah right up his ass. So deep he chokes on it.
“About that groveling plan,” I say, and Marissa grins.
“Let’s start with another apology.”
We dive into how I’ll work out an explanation and an apology to give Elijah without having to break the news of our previous involvement to him, and I try my best to stay focused on the conversation.
But as a different waitress drops off our food, I can’t help but replay every word Bennett said to me.
Freak. Creep. Stalker.
Will he actually tell Elijah? A major part of me knows that he will. That if he sees us together, he won’t hesitate to out me. But if the alternative is Bennett getting his dirty hands on him, I’d rather tell Elijah myself.
Anything is better than losing Elijah—anything at all.
Night has fallen, and I can hear Marissa’s gentle snores bleeding into my bedroom from the living room.
I’m staring at the corkboard on the wall across from the foot of my bed. The various shots of Elijah are looking back at me, and he’s still so incredibly beautiful.
A desperate sadness, an intense longing—both crash over me at once as I stare at his soft, boyish features.
I will not let Bennett scare me away from him. I will do anything to keep him in reach.
I have spent my entire life waiting to love him—and one day I will tell him so—someday.
I fall asleep with that thought circling my brain, and soon I find myself sitting at a picnic table under a hot, demanding sun. The day is young and bright as I pick away at a snow cone that rests in my hand.
And several feet away, lying on a patch of vibrant green grass, is Benjamin. He’s shirtless, wearing only a pair of short swim trunks as he laughs alongside the boy next to him.
I can’t make out the features of his friend—only his black hair and his long, pale limbs. But they’re giggling and touching, and I can sense a thick comfort between the two of them that makes my heart ache.
A pleasant ache, the kind I want to soak in.
Benjamin finishes his snow cone and closes his eyes, bathing under the hot sun like a fat house cat. His fingers drag lazily over his toned, lean muscles, and every inch of my own body lights up at the sight of it.
I can feel a presence next to me—I can sense that they’re talking—but I take no notice of the words or the person. I only see Benjamin. I can feel only his formidable aura and my own desire to dominate and claim him.
And I know, right at this moment, I know—I want him.
It is here that I want him so fiercely for the first time.
Those big hazel eyes find mine, and I want to with everything in me to hide him away from every other person alive.
I will make him mine, even as I know I shouldn’t. One day, he will be under my control, and I will protect and guard him.
Benjamin… sweet Button.