CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“You’re moving in with him?” Lucy looked just as confused as Bethany felt.
“I don’t know what happened.” Bethany shook her head. “One minute I was showing him the apartment and the next I was agreeing to move in with him.”
That was a lie. She knew exactly what happened. Benny had not only dropped the L word, he’d also worked his voodoo sex magic on her with his stupid mouth. His clever fingers. And his giant...
Okay, stop!
The point was, she’d been put in a compromising situation where she would have basically agreed to anything. And did.
“Anyway.” Bethany shook her head, she was getting distracted. “Tell me more about this Mark guy?”
Lucy turned back to the vanity to continue doing her make up. Bethany had helped curl giant waves into her hair already, and was now sitting on the bathtub edge, watching her friend get ready for a date.
“Uh,” Lucy pulled a tube of mascara out of her shiny pink bag and started applying it to her long lashes. “He just moved back from the city, apparently, he grew up here. Well, he went to Goldacre High, so near here, anyway. And his parents live in Woodvalley now.”
“Does that mean he’s living with his parents?” Bethany frowned. “How old is he?”
Lucy shot her a ‘really’ look in the mirror. “People in glass houses, B!” she reprimanded. She supposed she deserved that. Who was she to judge when she was still crashing on her friend’s couch. “And he’s thirty.”
“And you met on one of those apps?”
“Yep.”
“You’re seriously not gonna give me any more details?”
Bethany was trying her hardest to not make tonight’s date a big deal.
But it was a big deal. A huge fucking deal.
Lucy, her shy friend, did not date. Ever.
And other than admiring the odd movie stars’ physique in passing while they watched a film, she never, ever, talked about guys.
And when Bethany asked about her romantic life, she was shut down. Quickly.
When Lucy remained quiet, Bethany tried again. “How come you didn’t tell me you were on the apps? I could’ve helped vet these guys for you! Which reminds me, I’m gonna need his full name and number and his parent’s address. Oh, and I’m totally adding your tracking details to my phone.”
No answer. It didn’t deter her.
“Do I at least get to see a picture of the dude? Make sure he doesn’t have crazy eyes?”
Lucy scoffed as she swapped her mascara for pressed powder and began padding her face. “You’re the only one with crazy eyes right now, B.”
Bethany threw her hands up in frustration. “Give me something, Luce. Come on! I’ve never once heard you talk about a guy, let alone go on a date. I’m dying here. Take pity on me. Tell me something. Anything.” She was not above begging.
“Fine.” Lucy spun around to face her. “He’s got kind eyes.”
“Kind eyes?” Is she freaking kidding? “Luce, you don’t break a twenty-nine-year non-dating streak for kind fricking eyes.
You break it ‘cause the dude is damn close to melting your panties off every time he’s in touching distance.
‘Cause you want to know what his chest will taste like when you run your tongue over it. ‘Cause you can’t stop thinking about his big—”
“Okay!” Lucy cried. “I get it. Stop. Please don’t finish that sentence. Jeez.”
“Let me see his profile.” Bethany sighed, her hand outstretched, waiting patiently for Lucy to pass over her phone.
Thankfully, her friend didn’t put up a fight. Probably because she was scared Bethany was going to start talking about big dicks. Which, incidentally, she was totally prepared to do.
Bethany scrolled while her brow furrowed. Dear God, this man was dull personified.
Apparently, Mark was ‘just your average guy’ who likes ‘eating food’ and ‘laughing’—as if the rest of the world population didn’t.
“Stop rolling your eyes!” Lucy scolded despite being back in front of the mirror, applying blush.
Bethany ignored her and continued to swipe through Mark’s pictures.
The man wasn’t ugly, she’d give him that, but he wasn’t overly attractive either.
I guess he’s right about the average thing, after all.
She was still struggling to get the appeal.
In her humble opinion, Lucy was way out of his league.
Maybe he has a good personality?
The lazy answers on his dating profile didn’t exactly back that theory up, but not everyone is good at talking about themselves she reminded herself.
“Other than his kind eyes, what else caught your attention?” she prodded. “What do you guys talk about?”
She watched as Lucy shrugged at her reflection. “Nothing special, the usual. Work. What we ate. What we’re watching. Things like that.”
“Okay,” Bethany said slowly. “But...like in a flirty way, right? Like, wait until you taste my cherry pie kinda thing?”
Lucy turned again, pure disgust curling her lips. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Bethany laughed so hard her stomach hurt.
She couldn’t help herself. Not because there were so many things wrong with her.
Too many to count. No. She laughed because her friend looked like the idea of flirting made her want to hurl.
And it made her want to tease her more. Give her some more lines she could use on her date.
“You don’t like that one?” she asked between giggles. “Okay, okay. How about...you wanna frost my cupcake, Big Boy?”
“You’re sick!” Lucy stomped, fighting a smile Bethany totally spotted before storming back into her bedroom.
She was up and chasing her a second later. “Too much? Okay. What about...Is that a baguette in your pocket or are—”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” Lucy snapped. The twinkle in her eyes betraying the scowl she was giving her. “If I let you track me, will you promise to stop talking?”
Bethany bit her lip. Preventing her from blurting out the glazed donut joke she’d just thought of. Safety first. She did want to track her. She’d watched enough documentaries to know most serial killers were average white guys. Like Mark. Some of them even lived with their parents.
Oh God, please tell me he doesn’t live in the basement?
***
The next day, Bethany woke up feeling off.
Restless. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what was bothering her, she just had this weird twinge in her stomach that kept making itself known.
It’s how she found herself at Molly’s, despite there being a pile of notes and textbooks back at the apartment that she was supposed to be buried under.
She needed a distraction. Her best friend. And quite possibly a milkshake.
“Don’t you have better things to do?” Lucy frowned as she continued to wipe down the counter.
“Nope.” Bethany gave her a toothy grin.
It was obviously a lie. One she hoped her friend wasn’t going to call her on.
Even if she didn’t feel like studying, she should probably be packing.
Benny might be busy at work today, but they still planned on moving her things into his place this weekend.
Yes, she only had three measly suitcases, but they weren’t going to pack themselves.
“You never told me how your date went?” she smoothly changed the subject.
Judging by her friend’s grimace she was taking it that Mark wasn’t going to be getting a second date.
Lucy sighed, blowing out an extra-long breath. “Apparently he was close to making it big as a professional juggler.”
“What?” Bethany almost choked on air. “A professional juggler?”
Lucy rolled her eyes as she braced her hands on the steel surface. “Yep. Even decided to give me a little demonstration of his skills.”
Just from the way Lucy elongated the word “skills”, Bethany had a pretty good idea of where this conversation was heading, and she couldn’t help but smile.
“What even constitutes a professional juggler,” she air quoted the word for emphasis. “The circus?”
Her bestie scoffed. “He wishes.”
She stifled a giggle and pasted on her most serious expression. “Poor Mark. You don’t believe he’s got what it takes?”
“He gave me a demonstration.” Lucy’s brow lifted as she fought like a trooper to suppress her grin.
“And? I’m on the edge of my seat here, Luce.”
“Well, let’s just say there were only two balls, and he kept dropping them both. Did I also happen to mention that this demonstration went on for an hour. In a public place. With witnesses.”
Oh dear. Her poor, poor friend.
Just as she was about to give in to temptation and let her laugh break free, her phone went off. Which was odd enough to have her answering. No one actually rang her anymore. She was more of a ‘I’ll text you back five hours later’ kind of girl.
“Hello?” she swiped, not recognizing the caller ID.
“Bethany?” A panicked female voice asked. “Uh, it’s Libby. Zach’s wife.”
Libby? Why was Libby calling her?
“Hey, what’s up?” She sat up a bit straighter, more than aware of the frantic energy crackling down the phone line. And there was that sinking feeling again.
“It’s, uh, have you seen the news?” Bethany’s stomach twisted. “The guys, they’ve been fighting a wildfire over by Splitrock all day.” Another twist. Libby’s voice was quiet for a second before she tore her world apart. “Zach and Benny...they’re still out there.”
Bethany stopped listening after that. But she kept her phone to her ear as she slipped off the diner stool and started heading for the exit. Ignoring her best friend’s calls from behind her.
“I’m on my way over there now,” Bethany announced, pushing open the glass door.
“I’m coming, too.” Libby’s voice trembled. “I’ll meet you there.”
***
The place was carnage.
The scent of burnt earth filling Bethany’s throat as her grip on Libby’s hand tightened.
Ever since they’d arrived, they’d been clinging onto each other.
Both desperate to hear good news. It was Cody who had led them to where they both stood next to his cruiser.
Away from the red tape cordoning off the hot zone.
Their eyes remained fixed on the fire line.
Looking for something. Anything. They’d still not seen the other men on Benny’s team.
Bethany hoped like hell that was a good thing.
That they were out there, looking for them.
Cody had disappeared not long after they arrived.
He said he’d gone in search of answers, but the worry on his face made her think he just couldn’t handle the total fear and devastation vibrating off the two of them.
He’s going to be okay. This is his job. He’s trained for this exact situation.
She clung desperately to those thoughts. Repeating them over and over again in her head.
All they knew, all they’d been told was that during the battle to put out the fire, the wind shifted before Benny and Zach had a chance to retreat with the rest of the team, which meant they couldn’t escape the way they came.
They had to find another way. When she’d gone to Google what that meant, Cody had taken her phone.
Literally taken it. Like she was a child.
He was lucky she was using all her current strength to keep breathing or his balls and her knee would be getting acquainted.
It's for the best. Google will scare the shit out of you.
It would. And she was already scared shitless.
“I’m pregnant.” Libby choked on a sob. “I took your advice, and I guess it worked ‘cause I’m finally pregnant. We found out today.”
No. No. No.
Fuck.
Twisting to face Libby, Bethany’s hand went to the woman’s shoulders. Holding her in place as her body vibrated with more sobs.
“Listen to me, Libby. They’re okay. They’re going to be okay. The guys are gonna get them. We have to trust them. They’re good at what they do. Okay?”
She didn’t feel nearly as strong as the words she spoke, but that didn’t matter. Libby needed her to be strong. And so did Benny.
They both nodded at each other, a silent understanding to try their hardest not to think the worst. Not yet.
“They’re going to be okay,” Libby repeated Bethany’s words.
Please God, let them be okay.