Page 71 of Every Broken Thing

“Trust me,” Ben said as he poured the coffee into two mugs. “It’s magic.”

Spearing myself a bite, I slipped it into my mouth and sighed as the greasy cheese and fluffy eggs converged on my tongue. “Oh my God, the cheese and the eggs are making babies in my mouth, and I’m not even mad about it.”

Ben burst into laughter, and I shushed him.

“How do you take your coffee?”

“Enough milk and sugar to trick my taste buds into believing it’s not coffee,” I said around another bite of cheesy eggs, and he obliged.

When I was halfway done with my eggs, I finally glanced up from my plate, finding Ben watching me intently. He jerked his gaze away, focusing on his coffee as he leaned against the counter. I eyed him suspiciously, but he didn’t look my way again.

“What happened last night?” I asked as I took a sip of coffee.

Ben stiffened. “You don’t remember?”

I scrunched up my face and tried to think back. There was the sexually frustrating body shot. Then Ben and Alice hooked up. I thought there was dancing, but… I shook my head.

“Not really.”

His expression fell in disappointment before he managed to cover it. “Oh.”

“Why?” I set down my mug. “Did I do something? Was it embarrassing?”

“No,” he said much too quickly.

“Oh my God, what did I do?” Ben feigned innocence, and I glared at him. “Ben, what did I do?”

Hiding his face in his mug, he mumbled, “You threw up on me.”

“What?” I screeched, making my head ache in retaliation. “Ow! Did you just say I threw up on you?”

“Just my shoes,” he admitted, and I wanted to die.

I buried my face in my hands and moaned pathetically. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. I just cleaned them.”

I wallowed in my humiliation until Ben reminded me to keep eating.

“I don’t deserve these,” I lamented as I took another bite of eggs. “Wait, how did I get home last night?”

“I drove you,” he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well, yeah, but why? We were all gonna crash at Kim’s.”

The tips of ears colored as he stirred his coffee. “You asked me to take you home, and you were kind of… upset. I thought you wanted to come here.”

Upset? Probably because I’d puked all over him.

“Right. Yeah, thanks. We should just get out of here before my dad gets back.” I shoveled the last of the cheesy eggs into my mouth before guzzling the coffee. “He’ll ground me forever if he finds out.”

“Okay.” Ben took my dishes and pointed in the direction of the stairs. “Get dressed. I’ll clean up.”

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I did as he said. My clothes from yesterday smelled like booze and puke, so I shoved them to the bottom of my hamper. Since I didn’t have time for a shower, I gave myself a quick wash with a wet cloth and sprayed extra deodorant under my arms. After I brushed my teeth, I felt somewhat human again and got dressed.

I pocketed my phone and the keys lying on my bedside table, then hurriedly straightened my bedding. As the blanket billowed, I caught a whiff of spring soap. Confused, I bent downand sniffed my pillow. It smelled like Ben. My sheets did too. Why did my bed smell like Ben?

The ghost of a memory filtered through my mind, Ben’s fingers in mine, his lips grazing my cheek. Except that wasn’t right. Because he’d been with Alice at the party.

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