CHAPTER FIVE
“What are you doing here?” Bethany croaked, her throat all of a sudden becoming very dry.
It had been exactly one week since she’d run out of her wedding, and her life had been flipped completely upside down.
As expected, there were consequences to ending her relationship with Doug.
As well as being the new social pariah of Woodvalley Pines, she’d also pissed her parents off with, to quote her mom, “her dramatic behavior,” that they were avoiding her.
But that was just the start, to add to the crap pile that was her life—she also no longer had a place to live as their apartment was in Doug’s name.
It was too late to transfer her residency back to Denver.
And to top it all off, she had the total of one friend in town, Lucy, whose couch she was currently crashing on.
“B?”
Oh yeah. Then there’s Benny. Your stupidly attractive ex-boyfriend who you almost kissed last week and who is now on your doorstep, looking like a rugged Greek God and expecting you to communicate by using actual words.
“Um.” Water, she needed water. “What?”
“I said...” Benny eyed her suspiciously. Thank God he couldn’t read minds. “I came to see how you were doing. Can I come in...I brought coffee, your favorite?” He offered her one of the steaming takeaway cups he was holding. “Caramel macchiato with whipped cream.”
Well, there was a beverage on offer. A delicious one. And she was desperately close to dehydration.
Nope! Get his ass out of there, you’ve got enough problems.
Her Judas hand shot out to accept the drink before her brain could do something sensible for once and turn him away.
Damnit.
Resigned to her fate, she turned, her body shifting to grant him entry into Lucy’s apartment. Before she followed him inside, however, she took a sip of caramel courage.
You’ve got this. Just don’t kiss him.
History had proven that was easier said than done.
“So, you’re staying with Lucy, huh? I didn’t even know you guys were friends.” Benny scanned the small living room. Bethany’s current bedroom.
Of course, he didn’t know. They weren’t dumb teenagers anymore; she had a whole life he knew nothing about.
“Yeah, well, we are. And she’s been kind enough to take me in until I...” get my shit together? Sort out my life? “Until I...find a place.”
“That means you’re staying?” A panty-melting smile began to tilt his lips.
Why did that smile give her such a rush? He was happy she was staying. Why was he happy?
Strategically ignoring the many questions now forming an orderly queue in her head, she went on to explain about her residency. To her surprise, Benny listened intently. Genuinely excited to hear she wanted to use her medical degree to go into family practice.
“You can set up shop in Woodvalley.”
“What?”
“Woodvalley Pines. Folks here have to drive on out to Goldacre to see the doctor, but when you’re done with your residency you could set up your own practice, here in town. It’d be life changing, NeNe, for everyone.”
Bethany had had enough life-changing moments this week. She didn’t even know if she wanted to stay in Woodvalley. Not anymore. Granted she hadn’t been back long, only moving into their apartment one week before the wedding, but the reason why she returned no longer seemed valid.
Doug wanted to start a family, eventually. She’d not been especially keen but if she were ever to have kids, she always envisioned doing it in her hometown. Hence the move. But now here she was—minus one husband, homeless, and stuck.
“I don’t...I’m not sure.” Bethany stumbled over to the L-shaped couch and dropped down. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.” Actually, she had, a local practice would be exactly what she wanted for her future. But plans change. Weddings get ditched and ex-boyfriends resurface.
Luckily, there was still some caramel coffee left to comfort her, which she went on to down.
Benny joined her on the cream cushions, taking a sip of his own coffee as he studied her a bit too hard.
“There must have been a reason you moved back here in the first place, right?”
Not about to discuss her biological clock with him, she swiftly changed the subject. “How’s your mom?”
“My mom’s fine. So’s my dad. Now, are you gonna change the subject again or you gonna tell me why you came back?”
Urgh.
“Because there has to be a reason?” she snarked. “What about it being my home, y’know, the place I was born, the place I grew up, where my parents live—that’s not enough?”
Benny’s head shook as he let out a humorless laugh. “Right, B. Although, I don’t seem to recall that being enough to keep you here in the first place, was it? In fact, I remember you not being able to get out of here quick enough.”
Ow. She felt that swipe right in the gut. And she didn’t miss the bitter edge he’d coated each word with.
How fricking rude. She was the dumpee, not him. Her words should be the ones coated in bitter. Not his.
“Are you really going to go there?” Bethany’s spine snapped straight as she slammed her empty cup onto the coffee table.
Gone were all traces of humor on Benny’s face as he also sat up a little bit straighter. “And where exactly am I going, B?”
He totally knew where.
“If you think for one second, I’m gonna let you spin our break-up into something it most definitely wasn’t, you’re sorely fucking mistaken.” Pushing up off the cushions, she began to pace. Anger hit her hard. And really frigging fast.
Talk about triggering.
“Oh really.” Benny followed suit and rose, too.
“So, you’re telling me you didn’t leave town.
..without saying goodbye?” He didn’t wait for her to answer before he continued.
“Or change your number? And you certainly didn’t ask your parents to make sure I didn’t get your new address?
Oh, and let’s not forget how you didn’t step foot in this town again for ten fucking years.
..not for birthdays or holidays or your parent’s goddamn anniversary! Nothing.”
Benny’s voice might have been rising but Bethany could barely hear it over the pounding in her ears. It propelled her forward, into his space, where she could poke his shoulder, sharply. And then prod it again.
“Don’t you dare! You’re not the injured party here, I am. I was. I get to be mad, not you. I get to change my number and avoid you. Me. That’s mine. That’s what happens when you break a girl’s heart. She gets to move on, and you don’t get a say on where or how she does it.”
Benny’s eyes narrowed as her finger assaulted his shoulder once more.
“Are you trying to tell me my heart didn’t break too, B?
Because I’m damn fucking sure it did. And I get to feel it, too.
I get to be mad that you left. That you refused to speak to me.
That you broke my goddamn heart and left me to bleed out. ”
It was getting hard to breathe. Every word felt like a blow. She tried desperately to think back. To remember how everything went down. She’d spent so long trying not to think about it, she struggled. But when the memories resurfaced, the pain was still as raw as it was then.
“No!” she shouted, her voice shaking. “You broke up with me! You changed your mind! You chose to stay here! And—” she let out a bitter laugh. “I believe your exact words were, I have to let you go.”
Benny took a step forward, his head dipping until his breath was close enough to hit her lips. “Even if it breaks me,” he ground out, making her chest squeeze. “That’s what I said, NeNe. I have to let you go, even if it breaks me. And make no mistake...it did break me.”
Why is it so damn hard to breathe?
Oxygen not making it to her brain was the only excuse she had for leaning into him. Or perhaps she was bleeding out, too. The old and badly stitched wound he’d left her with was starting to split. Leaving her raw and exposed.
A slight lift of her chin left her gazing into deep green.
She didn’t know what she expected to see, but it wasn’t the unguarded pain she found.
As uneven breaths sunk into her skin, neither of them moved.
The air charged with every unsaid word. Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, callused fingertips grazed her jaw. Seeking permission.
Fuck.
Yes. Fuck. That was the last thought she had before she traced the tip of her nose against his. With the slightest tilt of her head, she closed what little distance was left between them, her lips parting as her mouth met his.
His hand pushed into her hair, as the soft brush of their lips skipped hesitant and went straight to frantic.
Benny kissed her like he owned her. There was no teasing, no testing.
He knew what he wanted, and he was taking it.
Every tongue swipe took him deeper, his grip on her hair only growing tighter as he feasted on her whimpers.
His big body moved her backward until she found herself up against the wall.
The last of her control snapping as he pressed his full weight against her.
Forget whimpering, she was moaning. Begging.
Her hands gripping his shirt, tugging him closer, pulling him harder as if she couldn’t breathe without him.
It was when his thigh slipped between her legs that the real desperation took hold.
The familiar burn making her body ache and her pulse pound.
With a soft gasp, she surrendered, rolling her hips against him, chasing the friction like her life depended on it.
Every slow grind sent her spiraling higher, the pressure building with each deliberate movement.
Benny’s guttural groan vibrated against her lips.
He was urging her to take more, reminding her just how easy it was to become lost in him.
Releasing her lips, Benny’s heavy breaths followed the line of her jaw, leaving a trail of fire all the way to her ear. “That’s it, NeNe, take it. Take what you need.” His thigh pressed into her again, harder, the pressure enough to steal air from her lungs.