Page 24 of Ghost Note

“That’s what I said.”

Ben grumbled something and urged me to focus, and when I did, I saw the blonde-haired drummer who was, in all ways, just as attractive as the lead singer. Even though I wasn’t a fan of this kind of stuff for obvious reasons, when the clip finished, I turned to Ben.

“Okay, so they’re a pretty big deal, huh?”

Ben’s eyes were wide. “The second video of seventy thousand screaming fans in Wembley Stadium give that away?”

I slumped back into the bench seat we were sharing, feeling somewhat confused and defeated as I looked up at him. I wanted to ask Ben why he thought the likes of Rhett Ryan were hanging around in Hope Cove, but it was a stupid question because we both knew the answer, and that answer would lead to talk of Danny.

Danny…

Where he’d once been warm, he now looked cold. As though he’d just woken up from a bad dream and couldn’t shake the cloud of uncertainty away from his life. The old part of me that still wasn’t fixed quite right wanted to go to him and take care of that uncertainty. I wanted to rub a soft thumb over his confused lines and make them disappear with nothing more than my touch.

The other part of me wanted to stick a pin in his narrowed eyes and give him something to really cry about.

A woman scorned never claimed to have a perfect heart or good morals.

“Mind if I say something I probably shouldn’t?” Ben asked, interrupting my reverie.

“You’ve never asked permission before.”

He slumped down on the seat, copying my pose. The two of us looked like the perfect couple in love who were staring adoringly into each other’s eyes. He took my limp hand and curled lazy fingers around it.

“You’re never going to be happy unless you get out of your head. Living in the clouds and ignoring stuff doesn’t make it go away. It just means that when it comes back, it sucks even more because youcan’tpretend anymore.”

“Oh, Ben, don’t start with this. I promise, I’m—”

“You’re not fine.” He leaned even closer, his voice dropping when he spoke again. “You’re a patched-up doll, Dais, fixed together with thin stitches and a shaky hand. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who and what caused that, but you’ve got to step out of denial now. Take out those shitty stitches and fix yourself up with stronger glue. Otherwise, you’re going to be half-living for the rest of forever, and that sounds like a crappy existence to me.”

“Are you telling me that I’m damaged?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

“Fuck.” I winced. “You’re a real dick. You know that?” I lied. Ben wasn’t a dick. Ben was a good man who deserved better—someone who could give him everything he wanted that I never could.

He laughed and tugged on my limp hand, pulling me closer. Our heads were only inches apart as we stared into each other’s eyes.

“Someone’s got to say it,” he whispered.

I searched his pools of amber, knowing that Ben was exactly the kind of guy who could make me happy if I let him. Handsome, warm, charming, reliable… he was all the things a woman searched for to light up her world, but he just didn’t do it for me, no matter how many new chances I gave the two of us, or how many times I tried to force myself to love him.

“You’re still a dick,” I forced out through a genuine smile.

“A dick who has made your legs tremble a few times.”

“Please. I faked it all.”

“You can’t fake that type of pleasure, Daisy.”

“You’d be surprised what I can fake.”

Ben’s body shook as silent laughter tore through him. I was about to add another insult when I heard a commotion before the doors to Harbour & Hope flew open and in walked two bodies looking like they didn’t belong there.

“No, no, no. No, you don’t,” Rhett said, walking backwards with his hands pressed against a man’s chest. His face was twisted, and his dark hair had fallen forward like there’d been a struggle. “Fuck. You’re a strong kid.”

“I’m doing this whether you try to fight me or not,” a familiar voice growled.

“Fight you? I don’t fight shit. Jesus, come on, man.”

---