Page 51 of Fighting for the Forbidden
Chapter Fourteen
Lauren
Ben’s eyeshave been glued to me since the moment I stepped down the stairs. His stare had goosebumps covering my skin and tingles shooting around my body. Every time I’m away from him, I tell myself that the next time I see him will be different, that the crazy connection between us is just in my head. But then I step into the same room as him and all my good intentions go to shit, because just like when I was eighteen, he has this power over me.
Liam walks beside me as we head towards the beach, leaving Ben and Liv trailing behind. Their hushed voices just about carry to us, and I can only imagine that Ben’s getting quizzed about me. Seeing Ben with his friends settles something inside me. Although I hated him when he left, and I still do a little now, it makes me happy to know that he had people looking out for him when he was without family. My thoughts turn back to Joe, and my shoulders sag. I’m having a hard time believing that our friendship is based on nothing but lies and deceit, but that seems to be the level my dad functioned on so I’m not sure why I’m surprised.
“So, what was he like as a kid?” Liam asks, dragging me from my thoughts.
“I uh…didn’t know him as a kid. Our parents married when I was fifteen, and we never really spent any time together until I moved in at eighteen.”
“I hear you spent quite a bit of time together then,” he says, giving my arm a nudge.
“Yeah,” I sigh.
“Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” It’s really not, but I don’t want to bring a downer on what should be a fun night. “He hasn’t changed all that much since back then. He’s just a little more focused, I guess. He was always a bit of a joker, but he’s more determined now. It’s like he knows what he wants and he’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.”
“You’re talking about yourself, right?” My cheeks heat under his stare. “You know he won’t stop.” I can see that Liam wants to say more, probably to ask me how long I’m going to string his mate along for, but thankfully, he keeps his mouth shut. “Here we are.”
“This place is incredible.” I look around, taking in the perfect sandy beach with the sun setting in the distance, casting everything in an orange glow.
“Lauren?” Ben’s deep voice rolls through me. I turn to look at him, and concern covers his face—that is until I smile at him and it lights up. I’m reminded of everything he’s done for me in the last few days, and it chips away a little more of my restraint.
Stepping into his side, he wraps his arm around my shoulder and drops a kiss to my head. Heat fills me and I snuggle in deeper.
“Is this okay?”
“It’s perfect.”
Together we walk into Dec’s beach shack. It looks exactly as I would have imagined, if not better.
Dec and Nic get up from the sofa to greet us. Dec pulls Ben into a very gentle man hug while Nic comes over to me.
“It’s so good to see you again.”
Her wide smile makes guilt twist my stomach as I think back to the last time I saw them. It wasn’t exactly an enjoyable experience as Ben and I squared up to each other in the club.
“I promise to cause less drama this time.”
“We live in a sleepy little town; we love a bit of drama here.”
I’m ushered over to the bar with Liv and Nic while the guys make themselves comfortable on the sofas, looking out at the beach beyond.
The three of us watch them catching up and laughing together.
“How’s he really doing?” Liv asks.
“What, aside from the fact that he fell from the roof of a building?”
“Yeah, we can see how he’s doing with that,” she says with a laugh.
“He’s okay, I think.” I hate that I can’t really answer with confidence. I’ve been so lost in my own head that I don’t really know where his head is at. “He’s got a lot of work on his hands with the business. My dad did a really good job screwing everything up.”
“If anyone can do it, BJ can.”
Pride swells within me at their words. “Yeah, he can.” Looking over at him laughing and joking with his friends, friends who have been his family for the past six years, makes my heart ache. There’s so much of his life and who he is that’s a mystery to me, and I hate it. I want to know him like I did back in the beginning, not have this huge void between us.
