Page 67 of His White Moonlight
“Charity case,” I said, tossing my phone to the side.
I got off the floor and started getting ready for bed well before it was time to.Once I was in my pajamas, I tiptoed to Karter’s room.However, the bed was missing.
Silently cursing out Bennett, I checked Aiden’s room and wasn’t surprised to find that bed missing as well.
“I don’t hate you,” Bennett said.
Turning, I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.
“You have a funny way of showing not-hate,” I said.
He tucked his hands into his pockets and looked down at the floor for a moment.
“You can sleep in my bed.”
“I think I’d rather sleep face down in a puddle.”
His pupils dilated as our gazes met and held for several seconds.
“Well, this has been fun.”I pushed away from the wall and started down the hall.“I look forward to whatever new hell this family drops on me tomorrow.”
“Wrenly, that’s not?—”
“Save it, Bennett, or you’ll need to explain an ER visit and my broken hand to Mom and Dad.”
He didn’t say anything else as I walked away.
After closing myself in my room and locking the door, I pulled the winter comforter from my closet and settled in on the floor.I’d slept in worse places and survived.I would survive this, too.
* * *
The soft soundof pacing tickled my awareness.
“She doesn’t understand, Bennett,” I heard Mom say.“I think you should tell her.”
“Now?She hates me.What do you think she’ll do?She already threatened to punch me and put herself in the hospital.”
“Because she doesn’t understand.Talk to her.”
The pacing stopped.“I’m trying.Everything I say makes her mad.”
“You’ve been making her angry since she came here, and it’s never upset you this much.”
“It’s different this time.This time, she’s home for good.”
My heart thumped heavily in my chest.
“Shh,” Mom said.“We’re disturbing her sleep.”
I listened to their footsteps fade as I lay not on the floor but in a bed.Bennett’s bed.He’d moved me.
How had I not woken?
Fear overwhelmed me, and not just because I’d been uncharacteristically vulnerable.BennettknewI wanted to go to university.So did Mom.Why did they say I was home for good as if it were a sure thing?
What didn’t I understand?
It took me a long time to fall back asleep.
