Page 110 of Hound Dog
If I broke up with you.
Heat flushed my face, and a bitter laugh snapped at the back of my throat. “Right. Because there’s no way in this world thatIcould ever actually end things with you, right?”
Ben paused, taking a moment to glance around as more people at the party stopped what they were doing and started focusing on us.
My cheeks now felt like they were on fire. I didn’t mind being the center of attention when I was on stage or performing. But being the center of a small town’s hot gossip? That wasn’t exactly the sort of leading role I wanted.
“Babe,” Ben said, lowering his voice. “That’s not what I meant.”
From the doorway, movement caught my eye.
“Yeah,babe,” Finn said, suddenly there behind Ben. My heart caught in my throat at the sight of him.
“Not babe,” I said to Finn, then turned to make the same point directly to Ben. “I’m not your babe. Not anymore.”
“You don’t mean that.” Ben’s face twisted into a frown, so raw with anguish, that when he reached for my hand, I let him. I stared as he threaded his fingers through mine.
Two years. I was with this man for two years. We made love. And talked of our dreams and plans for the future. We looked at rings together and fantasized about what our wedding would someday look like.
I loved him.
Past tense.
But I also owed him a proper breakup. Face to face. In person.
“Let’s go somewhere quiet to talk,” I said.
I wanted this to be officially over, but not like this. Not with some public, dramatic display that would be forever gossiped about in this town.
There was hope in Ben’s eyes as they swept up to meet mine. “Yeah?”
“Haylee, no.” Finn’s voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper, but cracked with emotion.
Slowly, Ben turned to face Finn and stared silently, meeting Finn’s stony, green-eyed glare.
“The cake guy,” he said after a long, tense breath.
Panic thickened in my chest. “You two know each other?” I asked.
It shouldn’t matter. Itdidn’tmatter.
But then why did I feel so fucking guilty?
Because within literally minutes of your breakup with Ben, you jumped into bed with Finn.
The pause was thick and heated as Ben and Finn stared each other down. Then, Finn’s gaze shifted slowly to me.
When his jaw flexed, my breath hitched in my chest.
This. This was the man I wanted to be with. My heart pounded against my ribcage in rhythm with the loud music.
Breaking the spell, Finn cleared his throat and stepped forward, handing me a small, wrapped gift. “Happy birthday, Haylee,” he said, his gaze briefly flicking to Ben.
The air molecules around us set off, bouncing about, and as his hand touched mine briefly, a spark of electricity zipped up my arm.
“I should go,” Finn muttered.
Before he could walk away, I clutched his hand. “No. Stay, Finn. Please.”
