Page 75 of Chasing Lynda

I return his smile. “I’m ok. I just needed the bathroom. It’s getting hot outside and I realized that I must’ve drunk three bottles since we had lunch.”

Bennett takes a step closer, his ice blue eyes running up and down my body. “Yeah well, better to over hydrate than to overdo it with the shots. Can you hear them?” he asks tilting his chin toward the pool house door. “They’re getting louder by the second.”

I shrug, not telling him that Skip was making me feel uncomfortable but he immediately guesses.

“I know that Skip seems like a real weirdo. In reality, I think he’s pretty harmless. Arya is the one that’s more dangerous out of the two.”

I stifle a shudder at the thought of both siblings. “I don’t know. They just seem ...” I don’t finish the sentence, unsure on how to put the way he makes my hackles rise into words.

There’s understanding in Bennett’s eyes. “Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that they aren’t weird, because they are. That thing Arya said about blowing her own brother? There are rumors that it’s true. Even though I wouldn’t put it past Arya to make something like that up to get attention. I just don’t like her because I think she’s a terrible influence on Callie.”

I can’t help but ask the question that’s on the tip of my tongue. “Why do you guys hang out with them, if this is how you feel? Unless Dodge disagrees?”

He sighs. “No, the four of us are in agreement about the Hayworth siblings. But their parents and Dodge and Callie’s parents are very close. It’s the same way with the family of Dodge’s ex. They’ve always been around, since I can remember. Arya is one of Callie’s best friends, so there’s no way she wouldn’t get invited to hang out. Skip goes wherever his sister is. We’ve tried to tell Callie to watch her back because when she was bullied in middle school, the guys and I suspected that Arya was behind it; but you’ve seen how she reacts when we try to tell her not to do something.”

“Bennett.” I hesitate but then I speak my mind, unable to keep my feelings to myself. “I know this isn’t any of my business and that we just met, but ... is there anything going on between you and Callie? Because if there is, I—”

He shakes his head, but his voice is calm; he doesn’t look upset by my question. “No, Lynda. There is absolutely nothing between me and Callie. I mean, I love her but it’s the same type of love I have for Dodge and the others. She’s been in my life since we were born and I can guarantee you that she’s the sweetest, most generous person I’ve ever met. She’s a part of me and I’d kill anyone who tried to hurt even one hair on Callie’s head. But that’s all there is to it. I know she’s gorgeous, but I can’t even think about her that way. I don’t have a biological sister, I’m an only child, and Callie fulfills that role one hundred percent.”

I have no doubt that he’s telling the truth, I can see it in his eyes. “Are you aware that her feelings toward you are more than brotherly?”

Bennett’s eyes are veiled by sadness. “I do. She told me for the first time when we were sixteen. I was horrified and reacted like a complete jackass. My first real crush the summer before, completely screwed with me and I had confided in Callie. I felt insecure and I took Callie with me to all the parties, so I didn’t even have to talk to other girls. I guess she misunderstood my behavior or something. I really saw nothing of it, because I didn’t even think it was possible for her to see me any different way than she saw Dodge. When she told me how she felt during a party, I panicked. So after I made sure that she had a ride home with Carter, I hooked up with a random girl and made sure that Callie saw.”

His normal cocky attitude is completely gone and it’s clear that nothing I can say can make him feel any worse about how stupid his actions were. “Ah, yeah.” I sigh, lowering my gaze. “I know that kind of behavior. My best friend did the same with me when he realized that I wanted more than a friendship and he didn’t feel the same.”

Bennett takes a step closer, cupping my jaw with a gentle hand to make me look at him. “All I can say is that I’m not sorry that your friend didn’t want to date you. You’re stunning, Lynda. But hopefully his loss will be my gain.”

I know he’s trying to flirt with me and the butterflies in my stomach flutter their wings in unison when I see the heat in his mesmerizing ice blue eyes. “I just—Callie told me that she told you again how she feels recently. I just wanted to be sure that things haven’t changed for you. I’d never want to get between you if there’s a chance of something more between the two of you.”

Bennett’s eyes harden. “Are you telling me this because you already know that you like the others more than me?”

I cover his hand with mine, lacing our fingers over my jaw. “No. It’s not that. It was just because I know how much it hurt when Kelley got a girlfriend. I didn’t want to do that to Callie, if there was a chance you could reciprocate her feelings.”

He’s just wearing his swimming trunks and I can feel that our closeness is affecting him just as much as me.

“Bennett,” I plead again.

“What do you want, GT? Ask and it’s yours.”

I gasp, taking his lips in a deep, almost violent kiss, trying to convey everything in the movements of lips against his, in every lash of my tongue.

He bites me softly, tormenting my lips between his teeth, causing an onslaught of sensation straight between my thighs. I’m throbbing with need and I know he is too because he’s rock hard against my hip.

“Bennett,” I beg again and he breaks the kiss, teasing the strings of my bikini over my hips with light fingers.

“What do you want, Lynda? You need to tell me.”

I feel a violent rush of heat rise to my cheeks as my heart is beating so loudly that I’m sure he can hear it too.

I want ... I want ...

I swallow, hesitant to utter the words.

I’ve always fought my parents’ rules tooth and nail, pushing back as much as I could and sneaking around when they wouldn’t budge. But I guess years of hearing that my urges and my desires are wrong and dirty, that I have no right to any pleasure, that my body is an object of sin and damnation conditioned me more than I thought.

The words are stuck to the top of my mouth and I feel so ashamed of what I want.

His gaze softens as he kisses a light trail from the arch of my eyebrows down my cheekbones and jaw. “Tell me, Lynda. I want to give you anything you want.”

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