Page 17 of Falling for the Forbidden
Before putting it into reverse, he looks over at me. I open my mouth to say something, anything to take the pained look from his face, but he beats me to it.
“This is for the best.” I’m not sure who he’s trying to convince because I’m pretty sure neither of us truly believes that.
I never would have thought it, but the brooding boy who’s avoided me at all costs in the past makes me feel alive in a way I never have before. I know he’s trying to do the right thing, but damn if the only thing I want to do right now is break all the rules.
There’s no way we should be doing this. No one, other than us, will understand this pull, this incredible connection. The thought makes my heart drop. I could have found the one person most people spend most of their lives looking for…and he’s the one person I never should have looked twice at.
“Are you ready?”Ben asks after we’ve sat in the driveway in darkness and silence for a few minutes.
I desperately want to say no, that I’m not ready for our time together to be over, but he doesn’t need to hear it. His entire body is tense. I know he’s struggling with this just as much as I am.
“Maybe we should run away.” I suggest it as a joke, but when he turns to look at me, his eyes are deadly serious.
“Do not tempt me, Lauren,” he warns. The deepness of his voice hits me and I swallow a ball of emotion that threatens to form in my throat. He really hates it here. I wish he’d open up. I just want to understand, to help in any way I can.
“Come on, let’s get this over with.”
I don’t understand the concern in his tone. All we’re doing is going home. What’s he got to be so concerned about?
Everything starts to make a little more sense the second the front door clicks shut. Suddenly, all Ben’s ignored phone calls and his worry about coming back make sense.
“Get in here right now,” Dad booms from the living room.
Dread fills me. Looking over at Ben, his lips are pressed into a thin line, his eyes hard and angry.
I squeeze his forearm and make him look down at me. “It’s okay. I’ve got this.”
“I’m not leaving you with him.”
Ben doesn’t get to say any more because Dad staggers into the doorway, leaning against the frame for support. He’s drunk.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he hollers, his angry eyes focused on Ben. I immediately drop my arm and step in front of him. He shouldn’t have to deal with Dad like this.
Dad’s eyes don’t move from Ben, even with me trying to distract him.
“Go upstairs, Lauren,” Ben says behind me.
“No.”
“Lauren,” Ben growls. “You don’t need to be in the middle of this.”
“But—”
“Do as you’re fucking told for once, kid,” Dad barks. Tears sting my eyes at his belittling tone. With a quick glance at Ben, I run from the room and up the stairs.
“Shut your door and put some music on,” Ben says when my foot hits the first step, but I don’t respond.
My heart pounds and my hands tremble as I sit on the top step and wait for the shouting to start.
I’m not disappointed, and suddenly I understand why Ben hates it here so much. My dad really doesn’t like him. I just don’t understand why. So what if he’s a little moody and comes in late, drunk? He’s a twenty-year-old guy—that’s fairly normal. It’s probably no different to what he did at that age.
I can’t make out all of Dad’s words from up here. He’s too drunk and most are so slurred that I doubt even Ben has a clue what he’s saying. But I hear his warning loud and clear. “I told you to stay the hell away from her. If I find out you’ve so much as laid a finger on her, I’ll fucking kill you.”
My stomach knots. I’ve never heard my dad talk like that before. Never heard him so vicious. I’ve hidden myself away from plenty of arguments between him and Mum in the past, even him and Jenny on a very rare occasion, but he’s never threatened either of them like that.
The second I hear footsteps, I jump up and run to my room, not wanting either of them to know I was listening.
Sitting on the end of my bed, I try to figure out what I’m going to say to Dad when he’s sobered up. There’s no way that Ben and I won’t be spending any more time together. The connection between us will make that physically impossible, especially when he sleeps just across the hallway.
