Page 121 of Grenade
I could run after him or shout for Micky or Nate, Ivy’s fiancée, and we’d go after him, force the truth out of him like the infection from a wound, but I don’t.
I turn around, my back to the window and look at Blair, sleeping in Ben’s bed, her nose buried into his pillow, her breathing quieted by sleep. I want to stop the heartbreak she’ll feel when she finds out he’s gone.
I want to protect both of them from any hurt, to take the world away and live in a beach house next to the ocean where we can be us.
Blair. Ben. Isaac. No titles. No restrictions.
She stirs, moving in the big bed as if she’s searching for the man who’s been her anchor. In a moment I’ll join her, pull the covers back over us and inhale the scent of Ben, pretending for a few minutes longer that he’s still here. That I can still whisper words in both their ears, words that contain a promise no one has the authority to keep.
You can give your heart away but you can’t make them keep it safe.
Next to the window is the place where he’d keep his belongings before bed. Wallet, watch and since Christmas, the pocket knife I had made. Everything someone might need to look after themselves.
Everything someone might need to be found or forgotten.
We’ll find out what Ben choses.
And how many emeralds we need for the crown.
