Page 75 of His White Moonlight
“I’m all right.I just lost track of time.”
“It’s been an hour.You didn’t answer any of our texts.What have you been doing?”
I understood he was worried, but the question grated on my nerves.
“Not breaking any rules.”I grabbed the bag and waved at Sophia, motioning that I needed to go.She nodded and waved goodbye.“Can we talk about this when I get back?”
“Who is she?”Bennett asked.
Panicking, I scanned the cafe and spotted Bennett outside the wall of windows near the cafe’s entrance.He didn’t look angry, just worried.But that didn’t make me feel any better.
A warning tingle started in my nose, and my chin trembled.To hide it, I looked down at my phone to hang up on him.Then, I swallowed hard and tried to relax everything as I started walking toward the door so Sophia wouldn’t know how fucking messed up my life was.
He opened the door when I reached it and took the takeout bags from me.
I couldn’t look at him.If I did, I’d lose what fragile hold on my control I had.I was good at keeping things in.I’d done so for years.But I’d started to trust Bennett.Trust that he’d been listening to me despite what I’d heard the night before.All because of his dumb offer to listen.
“You’re not okay,” he said.“Did she do something to you?I can smell her scent on you.”
His voice carried a warning growl, and he turned toward the door.
I grabbed his arm, ignoring the pain, and started towing him away from the cafe.
“She’snot the problem, Bennett.Why are you here?Why can’t I have an hour to myself?Why does it feel like I did something so wrong that I can’t even breathe without someone monitoring me?”I stopped walking and spun around to face him.
“You asked me to come to you when I’m having a problem.This is a problem.I’m feeling very trapped and very angry right now because you were standing outside that cafe like some kind of stalker.”
He cupped my face and wouldn’t let go even when I tried knocking his hands away.
“This,” he said, rubbing over my cheek bruise with his thumb.“And these.”He gently touched the bruises on my throat.“And these.”He caught my hand and held it so we could both see the bandage.
“All of these within six days, Wrenly.When you didn’t answer any of our texts, I panicked.When I saw you inside, smiling and talking, I thought I was keeping my word and giving you space by calling instead of going in to make sure you were all right.Tell me what I should have done instead.”
His words and imploring gaze hit my guilt button hard.Everything he said was reasonable, and I knew that if Aiden or Karter had been hurt like I had, the rest of the family would have reacted the same way to an hour of no contact.
So I told the truth.I said what had really set me off.
“You shouldn’t have asked who she was.”
He searched my face.
“Why?”His confusion suddenly vanished behind a stoic mask.“Do you like women, Wrenly?”
People on the other side of the busy street probably heard my frustrated “gah” as I turned around and walked away from the most annoying man on the face of the planet.He followed me back to the office in silence.However, even knowing that I was upset with him, he insisted that I join him for lunch in his office again.
“Why?”I asked, sitting on the couch.“What do you get out of this?It certainly isn’t my cheerful presence.”
He set the food out on the sofa table in front of me and then went to his desk.I watched him pull a piece of that wrapped chocolate from the drawer.
Was I bribable?Not really.Yet, I didn’t get mad when he held the chocolate out to me.Actually, it kind of made me feel better.A little calmer.But only a little.
While I ate my piece of chocolate, he set out our lunches and sat next to me.
“I asked who she was because I was genuinely curious.We both know that I’m completely clueless about your life despite all the information your teachers sent.I know you left the school grounds.I don’t know why or what you did.So I was curious how you knew her well enough to look relaxed when you talked to her.Something you’ve never done with me once during the thirteen years we’ve known each other.
“And that’s not an accusation.I’m not trying to start a fight.I just want to fix this distance between us—the misunderstanding that I hated you because I went away to school.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
