Page 18 of If Only In Our Dreams

Like it’d been hacked up and thrown together in Microsoft Word.

Red brick, white trim. The place looked friendly as hell despite being a doctor’s office. I avoided doctors like the plague usually. I’d been to enough over the last year that I’d started to associate them with stark white and bad news. But this place was…nice-looking.

Friendly.

Way less intimidating than any of the places I’d visited back in L.A.

“That’s Ben’s place,” Trent hummed, eyes twinkling as he glanced between the two of us. “God forbid—if you ever find yourself in need of medical care.” He winked—and I flushed. “He lives right above it. Pax, Becca, and I built the place last year.”

“You built the building?” I stared at him, flabbergasted.

“They renovated the upstairs apartment.” Ben leveled Trent with a glare, then his eyes softened as he turned to look at me. “He’s notthatcool.”

“I wasn’ttryingto be cool,” Trent huffed—the first sign of true annoyance. “I’m justsaying, it wasn’t livable until we got in there.Therefore,we built it.”

“Yourenovatedit,” Ben doubled down.

I cracked a grin, leaning back in my seat and letting them continue to fight good-naturedly as I watched dappled orange and red trees blur alongside the jolly buildings that made up downtown Belleville. Those buildings and businesses quickly melted into houses, and with a happy hum, Trent stopped arguing with his brother for long enough to pull into the driveway of an adorable little home right in front of the Belleville Elementary School.

I knew it was Miles’s house immediately.

There was chalk on the sidewalk, Halloween-themed—like he and Bubba had spent hours out here decorating. Some of it wassmudged, but most of it remained intact. A few carved pumpkins—five to be exact—sat on the front stoop, half-sagging, though the chill in the air kept them from outright rotting too soon.

I’ve never carved a pumpkin before.

It looks fun.

I jolted the second the chill bit into my skin, turning toward my now-open door with surprise. Ben waited there, cheeks bright red. He looked…fucking cute, I’m not gonna lie. Embarrassed and traditional, awkward, in his tall frame like he didn’t know quite what to do with himself as he held my door open for me.

Beneath that, however, there was a confidence to him that I couldn’t help but admire.

Like he knew exactly who and what he was, and had never questioned that for a minute.

He wasn’t thick like his brother, all brawny and stocky.

He had a leaner frame, though no less impressive. Ben Montgomery was the kind of man that looked incredible dressed to the nines in a tux. Sculpted thighs, thick enough the muscle only accentuated their length. And broad shoulders, simply because he’d been born that way. A waist that was trim and tight, and made it clear that he was probably very conscious of what he put in his body.

When I could get myself to eat, I was a human garbage disposal, so I could not relate.

The second I stepped onto the driveway—avoiding squashing one of the ghosts that had been painstakingly drawn there—my nerves came rushing back.

Because this visit was different than any of the others.

I was here for longer than I’d ever stayed.

I washerebecause Nancy had banished me—and told me in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to speak to her until I was boarding my flight to L.A. for the dress rehearsal.

Things were different because Miles wasn’t staying in the house I’d bought him anymore. He had a whole-ass family of his own now. A life. A husband.Twodogs.

I wasn’t sure how there could possibly be room for me too.

And maybe…he knew that? Maybethatwas why he hadn’t come out to greet me yet. Maybethatwas why he’d sent Trent to go pick me up.

Because he knew as well as I did that I didn’t belong here.

“You okay?” Ben asked, because he was observant as hell. I had no idea how he’d realized I was freaking out when my face hadn’t changed a bit, but he had.

“I’m fine, biceps.” I patted said bicep, to emphasize just how fine I—and it—was.

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