Page 14 of Tight Ends & Tiaras
I let myself get distracted by the drive.
This early in the morning, Charming is as pretty as a postcard. Quiet, tree-lined streets spiral out of the quaint downtown quad. The Rise-N-Grind Coffee House already has a steady stream of customers making a trek for their weekend menu. Then there’s the Yellow Rose Bar & Grill and the Road Runner Cafe on one side of the street, which are complemented by the Wild West vibe of Whiskey Row along the other.
Ben pulls through the drive-thru of the Farmhouse, a huge restaurant that features wagon wheel chandeliers, corrugated metal siding, and exposed brick. If I didn’t look like a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit extra right now, I’d want to go inside.
We grab some breakfast sandwiches, and he pulls into a park. Under the shade of a massive oak tree, we roll down the windows and tuck into our food.
After a few bites, I decide it’s time to tell him what happened last night.
I turn,lifting my knee onto the seat so my back is to the window. “My flight was cancelled.”
“Christ, Sienna. I’m sorry. I should’ve checked that before I dropped you off. The drive home was treacherous, so I’m not surprised.”
His concern goes a long way to restoring my faith in humanity.
I explain how I couldn’t call anyone because my phone had died. One of the nurses charged it early this morning so we could track down someone to pick me up. By the time I get to discovering Cal in bed with three freaking women, the vein in Ben’s temple is throbbing.
“That motherfucker. I’m gonna beat his ass.” Ben closes his eyes for a long moment. “Did he hit you? Because if he did, I have a shovel.”
“No, he didn’t hit me. If he did, I’d help you dig the hole.” I smile at Ben, and some of the somberness in his eyes lifts. “One of the girls nailed me in the head with a bottle after I shoved all of his shit out of the window.”
I explain how I went off the deep end for a bit and took it out on Cal’s electronics, and Ben nods.
“He totally deserved that. Good for you.”
“But here’s the worst part.” I glance at the dash. “One of the girls was Destiny, my best friend. Former best friend, I should say. The one who moved in with me earlier this summer.”
“And I thought I was having a bad day.”
I take in the dark circles under his eyes. I know something was going on with him. “What happened? Not gonna judge because I just got mixed up in some tabloidy shit, but you look a little rough too.”
A long, aggravated sigh leaves him. “You’re never gonna guess.”
“Aliens abducted you and probed your ass?”
He gives me a horrified look and laughs. “No, weirdo. But thanks for that visual.”
“Made ya laugh.”
His eyes soften, and he winks. “You do have that effect on me for some reason.”
If I weren’t hopped up on pain medication, that wink would probably make my pulse race.
He shakes his head. “Last fall, when our house was dealing with that paternity scare, I was feeling pretty smug when I was let off the hook.”
A foreboding sensation steals over me. A million scenarios race through my mind. None of them are good.
He continues, his broody vibe increasing tenfold. “Caught up with my ex last night.”
“I didn’t know you even had an ex. No offense, but I always thought you were a one-and-done kind of guy.”
I’m sure Ben doesn’t remember this, but he and I lived in the same dorm freshman year, and he went through women faster than I could count. It’s why I never introduced myself to him. Plus, he never noticed me, and that was that.
Call me prideful, but I’d rather a man notice me for me than me fawn all over him like the girls in our dorm. At the time, it reminded me of how women throw themselves at my father, which... ew.
My old shrink would call that transference. Subconsciously, I transferred my disdain for my father—and the playboy reputation he developed after the divorce—to Ben. Which I know is wrong. Who am I to judge someone’s sexual history anyway? But that never stopped me from being really attracted to the guy. It just made me cautious.
It’s ironic given the fact I got cheated on by Cal, who’s rumored to be the biggest player on campus. But I didn’t believe that when we met or I would’ve taken greater pains to get to know him better before we got so involved. I’d never seen Cal in action, so to speak. Plus, he swore up and down that the gossip was baseless.
