Chapter 18 #2
“Talk,” I growl, my voice low. “What’s going on? Just spit it out, Ben.”
He hesitates, glancing at Tanner, then back at me, and finally lets out a long sigh. “Fine,” he mutters, jaw clenched. “I had sex with her.”
For a second, none of us react. The words hang in the air, suspended like a grenade that hasn’t gone off yet. Then it clicks, and my fists tighten at my sides.
“You what?” I growl, the sound low and dangerous. I should’ve seen it, should’ve known from the way he was acting all cagey around her.
Tanner’s eyebrows shoot up. “You slept with Emily?” He blinks, looking genuinely surprised.
Tanner whistles low, leaning back and crossing his arms. “Damn, I had no idea you were interested in her, too.”
My gaze snaps to Tanner, and I see the flicker of something dark in his eyes, something unspoken. “Interested?” I repeat, voice strained. “You don’t just sleep with someone you’re interested in, Tanner.”
Ben finally looks up, meeting my eyes. “It wasn’t like that,” he says quietly, his expression serious. “She was upset. She needed someone, and…I didn’t plan for it to happen, okay?”
I open my mouth to snap something back, but then I catch the look in his eyes. He’s not lying. It’s not that I believe him completely, but…he looks as torn up as I feel. Like this whole thing blindsided him as much as it did me.
“Great,” Tanner mutters, running a hand through his hair. “So now it’s four of us.”
I swing around to glare at him. “What are you talking about?”
Tanner shrugs, not missing a beat. “You, me, Ben, Jace—we’re all into her, man. Don’t pretend like you didn’t know.”
I open my mouth to argue, but…hell, he’s right. The thought hits me like a punch to the gut. It’s not like I didn’t know I had a thing for Emily, but all of us?
“Four of us,” Ben echoes, sounding almost resigned. “Wonder how Jace is going to take the news.”
“Where the hell is Jace, anyway?” I ask.
Tanner rolls his eyes. “Probably brooding somewhere in a corner, working up the courage to tell Emily he loves her or some crap.”
Ben shoots him a look. “It’s not like that.”
“Uh, it is like that,” Tanner says, raising an eyebrow. “Come on, man. We’ve all been walking around pretending we’re just ‘looking out’ for her, but let’s be real here—each one of us has our own damn agenda.” He pauses, shooting a glance at me. “You’re just the worst at hiding it.”
I scowl, opening my mouth to snap back, but Ben cuts in.
“Okay, look,” he says, raising a hand. “It’s out in the open now. We’re all…whatever, interested in Emily. But we need to figure this out before we tear each other apart.”
“Figure what out?” I growl, my temper flaring again. “What, you think we’re just gonna sit down and share her?”
Tanner snorts, his grin a little too cheeky given the seriousness of the situation. “Don’t tempt me.”
“Shut up,” I mutter, glaring at him. But the thought lingers, unsettling and twisted. Four guys. One woman. This…whatever it is…can’t end well.
“Emily’s been through enough already. What happened between me and her—it wasn’t planned, it wasn’t some…strategy to stake my claim, okay?”
“Claim?” I snap. “She’s not some territory, Ben.”
“I know that,” he bites back.
“But we need to be careful. Because if we start turning this into a competition, she’s the one who’s gonna get hurt.”
There’s a heavy silence as his words sink in. I know he’s right, but it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. We can’t all have her. Hell, we probably shouldn’t even be thinking about this right now. But the thought of stepping back, of giving up on her…it’s like a punch to the gut.
“So what?” I ask slowly, trying to rein in the anger simmering just beneath the surface. “What’s your big plan, then?”
“There is no plan,” Ben says quietly. “All I know is…I care about her. And I’m not going to pretend I don’t.”
“Same here,” Tanner says, surprisingly serious for once. “But hey, if this ends with me kicked out on my ass, then I guess I’ll bow out. Probably.”
I shoot him a look. “You’re not helping.”
He just grins. “Not trying to.”
“Okay, okay,” Ben cuts in, raising his hands again. “No more jokes. This is serious. We have to figure out how to handle this…because I guarantee you, Jace is going to lose his shit.”
I scoff. “No shit.”
“But it’s not like we have much time with her,” Tanner says. “The wedding is tomorrow and after that, everything ends and we part ways with her.”
“I need time to figure stuff out,” I say, grabbing the handkerchief from Ben before walking towards the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Tanner asks.
“Not sure yet.”
I push through the bar doors, needing some space and to clear my head before I end up punching another wall. The cold air of the hallway hits me, but it does nothing to cool down the fire burning inside.
Hell, we must sound like a goddamn joke. But there’s nothing funny about the way it’s tearing us apart. And Jace—when he finds out, it’s going to get a hell of a lot worse.
I glance up as I reach the reception area and spot Collie standing there, flipping through some papers with a deep frown etched on her face.
“Are you sure you don’t need help getting that cleaned up?”
“Been through worse,” I tell her.
“You boys having a brawl I should know about?”
“Just a disagreement,” I mutter, touching my jaw absently. “Nothing to worry about.”
She doesn’t look convinced, but she doesn’t press. Instead, she sighs, tossing the papers back onto the desk. “Well, if that’s the case, I’ve got more bad news for you.”
“Great,” I mutter, crossing my arms. “What is it now?”
Collie leans back, propping her hands on her hips. “Looks like all of you are stuck here for a week.”
Her words take a second to sink in, and then I straighten, staring at her. “What do you mean, a week?”
“The storm isn’t letting off,” she says, her tone resigned. “We’ve already had an avalanche on the lower roads. Unless there’s some kind of miracle, there’s no way in or out of this place for at least seven days. No deliveries, no transportation, nada.”
“Seven days?” I repeat, my voice tight. “You serious?”
“Dead serious.”
“Perfect,” I mutter, dragging a hand through my hair. “Just perfect.”
“Hey, could be worse,” she says with a dry smile. “At least you’re stuck in a luxury resort with a fully stocked kitchen and decent booze.”
“Yeah, great.” I glance around, the weight of what she’s saying settling in. A week. A full goddamn week of being stuck here, with Ben, Tanner, Jace—and Emily.
A week to make things even more complicated.