Page 107 of Stay With Me

I jump and let out a yelp of surprise when he delivers a light smack to my ass.

“Now finish showering and get that cute ass moving.” The lightheartedness of his tone brings a smile to my lips.

I turn around to face him again. “Yes, sir.” I tease. A low growl escapes him and, by the look he gives me, I know he’s a little turned on. “Oh, someone likes that, does he?” My tone is clearly flirty, and I give him a saucy wink.

He leans in, kisses me and steps out of the shower. “Someone likes a lot of things about you.”

An hour later, Charlie and I have picked up takeout from Trina’s favorite Chinese restaurant and parked a few houses down from Ben’s, so we can surprise her when they get home. We let ourselves in with the key code Ben gave us and are waiting in his living room for them to arrive.

About fifteen minutes later, we hear the keypad beep and then Trina walks in, not seeing us right away because she’s looking over her shoulder at Ben.

“Seriously, I had surgery ten days ago. I’m not an invalid. If I say I want to go out to lunch, then I’ll go to lunch. You’re not the boss of—” Trina, now looking forward, stops dead in her tracks. “Em,” is all she gets out before she starts crying as I make my way over to her and hug her. She grips me so tight. “I’m so sorry you got hurt. It was all my fault. I’m supposed to protect you and I didn’t.”

Ben closes the door and I look up at him over her shoulder. He, unsurprisingly, looks stunned. Trina doesn’t cry—at least not in front of anyone. Not for years now. Ben looks acutely uncomfortable, shifting his weight, hands in his pockets, looking around like he wants to escape.

I imagine Charlie looks much the same.

“Tri, we talked about this when I visited you in the hospital, none of that was your fault. You had a stalker. If anything, it’s my fault because you took me to the cemetery. And, gosh, you probably saved us both. Let’s be honest, if I was driving, we’d have probably crashed into the guardrail and gone over the drop-off. At least you got us through that section.”

Trina chuckles through her tears.

“Too soon, Emily,” Charlie says, his voice rough.

“It wasn’t either of your faults. And at least the asshole is in jail now. Bail’s been denied until his arraignment. With everything we have on him, he’s not seeing the light of day anytime soon.” Ben sounds sure, so that makes me feel better.

“I still can’t believe it washim,”Trina whispers.

“Well, I fucking can,” Ben hisses from behind her.

Trina finally releases me from her hold but grips my hand like she’s afraid I’ll disappear.

I look over at Ben and say, “I’m with Trina. There’s no way I would have thought the guy she danced with at the Valentine’s fundraiser would have been such a creep. Charlie and I were dancing right by them and, of course, I eavesdropped.” Trina and Charlie both chuckle at that. “He seemed charming and respectful.”

“Yeah. Well, let’s not talk about him any more today. He’s where he belongs and today is about celebrating Trina coming home,” Charlie says.

Trina drops my hand and she walks over and wraps her arms around Charlie, resting her head on his chest. He returns the hug and looks at me and Ben—we’re all pretty wide-eyed since I’m usually the only person Trina hugs.

After Trina releases Charlie, Ben lightens the mood by walking over to Trina, smiling broadly, and asks, “My turn?”

Instead of one of her usual and expected sarcastic replies, Trina rolls her eyes at him and gives him a hug—albeit a quick one but, still, it’s a hug. Ben grins like a fool.

“So, I’m guessing all this hugging means they drugged you up before you left the hospital?” Charlie’s teasing gets everyone laughing.

“C’mon, let’s eat. We brought your favorite Chinese takeout. We can eat on the patio. Get you a little vitamin D.”

Trina’s paleness is almost alarming.

We sit outside, eating our fill and making light conversation for another half hour before voices float on the air coming from around the corner of Ben’s house. Seconds later, Annie and Shayna appear, followed by Finn carrying a cooler and Jack carrying what appears to be a large cake.

“Welcome home!” Annie and Shayna shout in unison.

I’m momentarily worried this might be too much for Trina, but when I look at her, she’s smiling and looks pleased. Maybe she just needs some normalcy in her life.

Shayna and Annie go inside to cut the cake and Finn passes out cold drinks, leaving the cooler by the table, then takes a seat.

“Finn.” Trina’s seriousness gets all of our attention and everyone else stops talking. Finn looks up at Trina, a questioning look in his eyes. “Thank you. I’m told your quick thinking and assessment skills likely saved my life.”

“Thank you, Captain. I appreciate your words. But I just did my job like you all taught me. And any of the crew would have done the same.” Finn’s cheeks are pink, and he looks down at the table.

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