Page 50 of Break Me
“Benji,” I say again, “are you okay?”
His full lips curl into a smile and his finger trails lower, to my throat. I’m wearing a tank top beneath a light jacket, and black yoga pants. I sit on my butt beside him, let his finger rest on my throat. He’s got a thing for throats, this guy.
“Ava,” he says again, but it’s not a question this time. And then his fingers shift to the back of my head, and he yanks me toward him, his lips crashing into mine. I’m vaguely aware that Riley is gasping behind me, but even still, for a second, I give into his kiss. He tastes like rum and marijuana and when his tongue shoves its way into my mouth, I don’t stop him.
Until I do.
I pull back, forcefully, and take his hand in mine. “Benji, why don’t we go lie down?”
His dark brows pull together and he’s actually pouting. And it’s actually…cute. Even though he’s clearly fucked up, and not okay. He shakes his head, and tries to pull his hand from mine, but I don’t let him.
“I want you,” he whispers, that child-like appearance gone. “I want you, Princess.”
I smile at him, thankful he won’t remember this conversation in the morning and thankful, too, that he doesn’t know how it’s pulling at my heart. “Let’s go lie down?” I ask again.
His shoulders shake, and for a split second, I think he might be having a seizure and I’m about to scream for Riley to call 911, but then he turns his head from me, and proceeds to vomit all over the carpet at his side.
“Oh my God,” Riley cries out, and I think it’s because, well, this idiot just threw up all over her carpet, but then I see why she said it like that.
His vomit is…black.
“Oh my God,” I echo Riley, hand still clutching Benji’s. He keeps vomiting and I turn to look up at her. “Call 911.”
Her eyes are glued to Benji and she doesn’t move. He vomits again and I feel like I’m going to be sick. I clamp one hand over my mouth, trying to swallow back the bile rising in my throat.
But then Riley forces herself to look at me after I manage to call out her name.
“I can’t,” she whispers, swallowing. “He…he won’t let me. He won’t be safe.”
I stand to my feet, letting Benji’s hand fall to the ground. I turn my back on him once I see him lean his head back against the wall, eyes closed, black vomit trailing down his mouth.
“Riley, he’s bleeding. Internally. That’s what that means,” I tell her.
“You don’t know that,” she counters, but not as if she’s accusing me. As if she doesn’t want it to be true.
To be fair, I don’t really know if it is true, but…I pull my phone out of my jacket pocket and Riley snatches it from my hands.
I glare at her, my heart racing. I can smell the vomit now and I wrinkle my nose, glance back at Benji. He’s still breathing. I see his chest rising and falling beneath his black t-shirt. But he needs help.
“Riley.”
But Riley just squeezes my phone tighter in her hand. “No,” she says, adamant. “He made me promise I wouldn’t. No matter what.”
I look back at Benji, long lashes nearly grazing his cheekbones as he sleeps. Riley is being stupid. They’re both being stupid, him making her promise that. But I know Benji does bad shit. I just haven’t wanted to know how bad.
I look back at her. “Okay,” I finally say, slowly, nodding. I see her shoulders sag. She didn’t want to fight me on this, but she wants to be loyal to Benji. To keep him out of trouble. “But you’re going to help me move him, get him cleaned up, and we’re not leaving his side until he wakes up, got it?”
She nods, hands my phone back to me.
And then we get to work.
* * *
I don’t sleep.
Benji snores softly, naked save for his boxers. We’re in Riley’s bed, he’s in between us. It would feel weird, except for the fact that I’m too anxious to feel anything but anxiety.
I see Riley’s eyes on the ceiling, even as the sun begins to rise beyond her black out curtains, a hint of light seeping through. She gave me a white t-shirt to change into, exactly like hers. I don’t know where it’s from, but probably Wal-Mart, if I had to guess. It’s a little tight, but it was better than sleeping in my workout clothes, so I didn’t complain.
