Page 70 of Love Story

Get over it.

I sat in the corner of Conor’s living room, nursing a beer I wasn’t drinking.The guys were in their usual spots—Conor stretched out on the chair, Haider perched on the armrest, and Ryan sprawled across the couch.Their voices bounced around the room, but I wasn’t listening.My thoughts were stuck on Ben.

“I don’t even know where he is,” I finally muttered, breaking into their conversation.I stared at my untouched beer, tracing the label with my thumb.

Silence and I glanced up—all of them staring at me.

Conor raised an eyebrow.“Ben?”

“Sam’s pining,” Haider added.

I sent Haider my best glare, but he smirked at me.“Harriet says he’s working.In the city,” I said with a sigh.“Working.As if everything is okay.But he told me there was trouble in the city.”

“What kind of trouble?”Ryan asked, bristling.

“Something he signed NDAs for.”

“Has he messaged you?”Haider asked.

“No.”

“Did you message him?”Ryan asked, and I nodded.

“A couple of times.”

“Did you tell him you love him?”Haider asked.

I did my best impression of a goldfish, all the words to deny that trapped in my head.Hell, who was I kidding?

“No, I haven’t told him that I love him or want him to be my boyfriend, and I didn’t push him to tell me what was worrying him, and fuck, who even uses the word boyfriend anymore!I’m an idiot!”

“I’d kind of like a boyfriend,” Ryan said.

“And me,” Haider added.

“All of us want what you and Ben have,” Conor finished.“Now you’re telling us you love the guy, you miss him like hell, but you’re just sitting here staring at your beer?”

“He left.All I got was a lousy note with one single word.Sorry!He doesn’t want me like I wanted him,” I shot back, my voice low.“Yet again, I fall for someone who’s just screwing me around!”

“He loves you,” Haider said in the softest voice.“We can all see that, right?”

“Yeah,” Conor agreed.

“Yep,” Ryan said, then sighed.“He always looked as though he had all this weight pushing him down, but when he was with you, hell, Sam, he was smiling and relaxed.”

“This,” Haider agreed.

Conor tapped his knee.“Come on, Sammy.You’re not the type to give up that easily.If you want Ben, you’ve got to tell him how you feel and love him.Then let him decide what to say back to you.”

“I love Ben,” I said, my voice cracking.“I miss him.I want to know why he left me.I need to know that he’s okay… I want him here—or I’ll go there.”The words spilled out before I could stop them, and the room fell silent.

Conor’s jaw dropped.“You’d go to Boston?You?”

“I would,” I admitted, my heart pounding.“I don’t know where he is.I know Harriet said he’s staying in some hotel near MIT.”

Haider pulled out his phone, already scrolling.“That doesn’t exactly narrow it down, buddy.You know how many hotels are near MIT?”

I stared at Conor, my brain working overtime.Something was missing—something right in front of me.Then my eyes landed on the logo on Conor’s sweatshirt: CCFD.A memory clicked.“A converted firehouse.”

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