Page 49 of Let Me Be the One

Ben’s smile is pure smugness. “I’m fine thanks, Lainey. I’ve already got a drink.”

I poke my tongue out at him before turning around. Even while I mutter under my breath about having to pour another glass of wine, I’m smiling. There’s just something... fun about my time with Ben. Our conversations and interactions are always so easy. A minute ago, I was angry and miserable, and after a minute or two in Ben’s company, I’m looking forward to spending the rest of the night watching movies with him and swilling wine together.

The opening credits have finished by the time I walk back in and sit down again. “What did I miss?”

“Just The Rock beating the crap out of a few footballers,” Duncan answers.

“Cool.”

The four of us alternate between silence and conversation. Ben and I finish our glasses of wine and then take turns to refill a glass that we share while doing our best to ignore the sound of passionate kissing coming from the other couch.

During one particularly long make-out session between our friends, Ben nudges my knee with his. “How’s the novel coming along?”

I sigh. “You don’t want to hear about that.”

“I asked, didn’t I?”

I shake my head, convinced he’s not serious, but he glances at Cass and Duncan, then at me, and motions for me to start talking.

“Tell me what it’s about.”

“It’s about a guy and a girl. A love triangle, if you will.”

To his credit, he doesn’t roll his eyes.

“She’s caught between these two guys. One is the man she loved a long time ago and the other is a new guy who has come into her life who she has lots in common with.”

“And the reason it’s not working?”

“Originally, I’d plotted for her to wind up with the ex. It’s supposed to be a second chance romance kind of story. She changes and grows up, turns into a beautiful swan, and the ex sees the error of his ways and begs for a chance. But the more I write... well, she seems to have moved on from the ex. There’s not enough chemistry between them.”

“So her happy ending is with the new guy?”

“Well, you’d think so. They have more chemistry, but he’s got an ex, too. It’s never going to work between him and the heroine.”

Ben frowns. “So make him get over the ex. Problem solved.”

I laugh. “I can’t make the characters do anything.”

Now he looks well and truly bamboozled. “You’re the writer. You can make them do what you want.”

“Ah, no. It doesn’t work like that. Okay, sometimes it does. But not every time. So, anyway, now my heroine seems to be moving towards a future with no one, because both the new guy and the ex are stuck in the past, wanting things to be the way they were.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“It is. Every character needs a growth arc, and I can’t seem to find one for my hero. It’s only fitting, I guess. I can’t even manage to be a hero in my own life, failing to tell Dad I write romance novels.”

His expression softens and his smile is gentler than anything I’ve seen from him before. “So you didn’t tell him Thursday night. It’s not the end of the world, Lainey. You’ll get to it.”

“I’ve lost control of the characters and the plot. It’s becoming too difficult to move forward. I need to replot and rewrite it.”

“Fuck.”

“That’s an apt description, except for the fact there’s not a lot of that happening in the book, either.”

He chuckles before his expression turns serious. “Well, if Cass has her way, you’ll be finding your inspiration soon enough. She’s not giving up on you getting back out there, is she?”

“Nope.”

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