Page 109 of Slay Ride

What do you want me to do? What do you need? How can I fix this?And the reality is . . . he can’t. No one can fix this.

No one except me.

“I’m fucking Bennett,” I say, my voice so low that not even Bennett hears me.

Eve continues struggling against Maverick, and now his full attention is on her. She drives backward with her foot and catches him in the shin, and he goes down. He keeps his grip on her, but when she lands a shot to his jaw, he’s out cold.

“Holy shit,” Bennett says through a laugh. “I’ve never seen Maverick get coldcocked like that. Ezra will never believe this shit.”

But now Eve’s focus has shifted, and she’s coming right for Bennett. I don’t even recognize her as she stalks toward him. Her usually brown eyes have gone black, the pupils devouring every ounce of her irises, and the firm set of her jaw looks so far removed from her femininity.

She’s terrifying.

Even so, I step in front of Bennett. Everything that’s happening right now is my fault. If I’d had the courage to be honest with everyone, Bennett wouldn’t be the target of so many hate-filled glares, and he certainly wouldn’t have this psychotic siren barreling toward him.

“Cat, honey, I need you to move,” she says as she stands in front of me.

I shake my head. “I can’t do that, Eve. You can’t hurt him.”

“Oh, I can, and I will. When I finish with him, he won’t have the balls to fuck with you ever again. Literally.”

“That would be terrible,” I say, “because I enjoy it when he fucks with me. And...” I take a deep breath. “And when he fucks me.”

Eve pulls back her hood and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right. You’refuckinghim? Willingly?”

She’s too shocked to assault him now, so I take a risk and pull Bennett beside me. “Yes. We’ve been having sex since the nightwe were stranded in the cabin.” Then, for good measure, I add, “Consensual sex.”

Bennett raises his hand, and his fingers give her a little wave.

“Were you under duress?” she asks.

I shake my head.

“Play for pay?”

“No. I’ve been fucking him because . . . I want to. Because I like him.”

Maverick groans on the ground, and only then do we remember that he’s there.

“Shit.” Eve hurries to his side, then glances up at me and mouths,Does he know?

“He was the first to find out,” Bennett says. “That night when you hens were watching the surveillance cameras, you were watching me fuck her, not Maverick. He let me borrow his clothes so that no one would know.”

Eve drops onto her ass. “I’m gonna need a minute to wrap my head around this.” She looks up at me. “I thought you hated him. Hell, I thoughthehatedyou.”

“The hate was misplaced sexual tension,” I say as I go to her side. I sit beside her and take her gloved hand in mine. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Eve, and I don’t have a good reason for doing it. Despite how everyone views Bennett, he’s not the scum of the earth. He’s actually very?—”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Bennett says. “I won’t have you sullying my bad reputation with tales of my chivalry.”

Eve looks at him, then back at me. “Willingly? Really?”

I smile at Bennett. “Yes, willingly.”

“So when he was talking about the chick he’s banging and how amazing she is, he was talking about you . . .” She shakes her head, and her braids brush against her coat. “What about Kindra? Does she know?”

“No, and she can’t. Not yet.” Bennett steps closer and helps Maverick to his feet. “Cat needs to tell her when it’s right for her, and I don’t want anyone to pressure her into it. Not even you.”

“I feel like I’m in an alternate universe or something. He’s actually being protective of you. Holy shit,” Eve says.

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