Page 27 of Every Broken Thing

“Sure thing, booger-breath.”

I lost my composure, chortling as we buckled our seat belts. “I can tell you were great at schoolyard insults growing up.”

“Hey, now, I was a good kid. I didn’t go around insulting people.”

I backed out of the parking spot and maneuvered us to the street. “You were always this nauseatingly nice? Why is that not surprising?”

“You get friends when you’re nice.”

“I’m not nice, and I have friends.”

Okay, perhaps I was exaggerating. It was a little white lie, but I wasn’t telling. As I pulled into traffic, I peeked at Ben covertly to find his dimple on full display, and my heart flip-flopped.

“Maybe you’re just the exception.”

Again, he didn’t speak mockingly. He was entirely sincere. I blushed. Again.

When we pulled into the school parking lot, only a few cars were left. I parked Mabel next to Ben’s car, idling the engine. He crawled out of the passenger seat, the door hanging open as he tossed his backpack into his backseat.

“Well, uh, thanks for the ice cream.” He bent into the open door, his arm propped on the top of the cab. The sleeve of his zip-up hoodie stretched around his bicep, and I tightened my grip on my steering wheel.

Be cool, Silas, be cool.

“Yeah, well, the blue moon made up for your terrible company,” I quipped, and he rolled his eyes, slamming my door shut with a wave of his middle finger. I lowered the automatic window and leaned over the bench seat. “Aw, did I hurt Benji’s feelings?”

“Screw you.”

His arms crossed over his chest, and I couldn’t stop my gaze from flitting over his toned form. He had the classic swimmer’s body, and I wondered, for a moment, what it would feel like under my fingertips. The lean muscles shifted under his sweatshirt, tempting me to touch, but I tore my eyes away.He wasn’t aware of my reaction to him, and I prayed he never caught on.

I didn’t want to feel like this. Wanting Ben… it was too complicated. Apparently, the flutter in my stomach didn’t give a shit.

“You’re something else, Si.” Ben shook his head with a grin, and my chest warmed at the nickname. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

He said it more as a question, because things had been so hot and cold between us. He had to have been so confused.

You and me both, buddy!

“Yeah,” I assured him, swallowing down my own reservations, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good.” He smiled grandly, like I’d promised to buy him a puppy, before dropping into his car.

My thoughts scattered as he started his car, instantly lonely at the prospect of him leaving. Oh no, I couldn’t already be getting attached, right? Maybe being friends with Ben was a bad idea after all.

We were friends now, kind of, but it was different somehow. A strange undertow tugged me toward him, the sand beneath my feet slowly slipping away as I lost whatever stability I’d managed to attain. Powerless to stop the tug of the current, I drew closer to what I feared were dangerous waters. It was new and intriguing, but I was terrified to truly surrender.

As Ben waved a goodbye, I sat in my truck staring after his tail lights, questioning what exactly I’d gotten myself into and how long I would last before my foothold disappeared completely and I sank.

9

Pick-Up Lines

I woke the nextmorning before my alarm, practically giddy at the prospect of going to school. Which… gross. It wasn’t because of Ben. Itwasn’t. But a sneaky little voice in the back of my head said that it definitely was. I ignored the voice, telling my hormones to go fuck themselves.

Running late after spending too long styling my hair—something I refused to dwell on—I parked by the gym. Being late and parking here was a complete accident and not a subconscious plan to run into Ben after rehearsal. I told myself this, but that damn voice called me a liar.

I didn’t see Ben at my locker or in the hallways, and I arrived at lunch in a much more bitter mood than I’d woken with. I grabbed a bag of chips and a soda and flopped down into my chair. Kim sat across from me beside Harris, giggling at a joke I missed, and the brunet ran a hand through his perfectly parted hair, flustered by Kim’s attention. She placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling shyly, and Harris blushed.

The chair beside me scraped against the floor, and I waited for Caroline’s characteristic floral perfume to cloud my brain. Instead, it was spring soap. Kim’s eyes widened to saucer-like proportions, and her jaw dropped. I spun on the blond with a matching expression of shock, and Ben raised a questioning eyebrow as he sat gracefully beside me and set his tray on the table. I recovered quicker than my table mates and relaxed into my seat with a barely suppressed grin. Ben was sitting with me—us—for lunch now.

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