Page 111 of My Undead Heart
“Good. Me, too.” His smile drops with a deep exhale and without asking for permission he takes a seat against the wall right next to me.
“People just exhaust me sometimes. Nothing personal,” I say, hoping he’ll take the hint that I’m not in the mood for company.
“I get it. I’d rather spend my night with my dog.” He grins and rustles in his coat pocket for what I assume is a cigarette, but instead he produces a flask. He holds it up to offer me some, but I hold up my wine bottle. He laughs before taking a swig. “Cheers.”
“Dog, huh? I’m more of a cat lady.” I tip my bottle up to drink. I’m not even using a cup and have no shame in the matter. “I’m the crazy cat lady your mother always warned you about,” I say more to myself than him.
“I’m Ben.” He turns to meet my gaze with those wickedly gorgeous eyes again.
I reach my hand out and we shake. He leans back against the brick wall and stares out into the night. I like that he’s not hitting on me. There’s something in him that I find comfortable and easy. As if somehow I already know we’re destined to be friends. It’s that or the copious amount of wine I’ve already consumed that propels me to strike up a conversation. “How did you get dragged, I mean, invited to this lovely party?”
“My brother, actually. He thought it would be good for me to get out.” He huffs out a breath.
I nod. “People over pets.”
He grins and nods. “Precisely. He’s pretty serious with the guy who lives here.”
“Wait! Your brother is dating Jared?” Surprise and a little laughter escape my lips.How fucking great is that? The man I’ve been trying to avoid all night has also been avoiding me!
“Yep.” He quirks his brow and I laugh again. “I’m sorry, what’s so funny?”
“Nothing. No, something. It’s that Jared is my best friend. I’m Mia.”
Understanding dawns on his features. “Mia who is recently single and available?”
“The one and only. You’d be Ben, recently divorced and single?”
He nods his confirmation, gives a rue chuckle and shakes his hair so that the longer strands fall forward over his forehead. “That is funny. I guess we’re quite the pair.” He turns to me with those wide baby blues. “Not that I want to pair up or anything!”
“I get it. It’s all good. Maybe we can be friends? Even if it’s just to avoid the obnoxiously happy couples at the party tonight?”
“I’d like that.”
We spend the next hour chatting and I have to say, I’m having a good time. The best I’ve had since Matt Haywood destroyed my faith in good men. In another time and space, I might even ask Ben to spend the night, but given that my heart still belongs to a certain someone, I’m not at liberty to offer any of it to someone else.
My stomach rumbles because I haven’t had anything more than wine. “Do you want to head inside and get something to eat? I’m starving,” I ask.
“Yeah, let’s do it.” Ben pushes off the ground first and reaches a hand out to help me stand. His lips tick up with the trace of a smirk but it only reminds me how Matt’s smile filled his face. How his laughter practically exploded from the pit of his stomach.
“Everything okay?”
“Fine. Why do you ask?” I brush the wrinkles from my dress and tug down my coat.
Ben waits until I lift my gaze. “You just looked really sad. If you need space ...”
“No. That’s not it,” I lie.
His lips pull into a tight smile and he nods. “Hey, I get it. I do. Every little thing reminds you of him. The good. The bad. It’s okay to be sad.”
I take a gulp of air and blink to keep my eyes from watering. “I’m tired of being sad.”
Ben nods and I know he just gets it. I don’t have to explain or defend. “I wish it were that easy.” He pulls open the window and holds the curtains back. “Come on, I saw there were seven different cheeses. I’m not sure how anyone can not be happy with that much cheese in their life.”
“Yes! Now we’re talking.” Mustering a smile, I pass by him.
We sneak back inside and rejoin the party. The music’s pumping and several people sing along to “Kiss” by Prince. I follow Ben to the kitchen but when I glance to my right I’m stopped in my tracks. The television screen that fills one wall of the living room shows an up-close video of Matt entering a crowded arena.
He looks so different I almost don’t recognize him. The beard is gone. He’s completely clean shaven and his hair is cut so short the sides must have been trimmed with a razor blade. Fuck me, he still looks good. The camera pans wide and there’s his fighter, Xavier, at his side. The shot cuts to two announcers. Matt’s name comes up on the screen and I can’t take it anymore.
