90 Days (Prairie Town Book 2) (7 page)

     After parking his pathetic and beat-up Pontiac Thunderbird, Benji crawled out of the car and groaned as the blood rushed back into his legs.  Aggie hadn’t wanted to stop very much on their way to North Carolina so now his body had to pay for it.

     “Damn woman.” He muttered, massaging his left shoulder with his right hand and then switching.

     “Did you get taller since the last time I saw you?” Callum asked as he approached the car, crossing his muscular arms over his chest.  “You look taller.”

     “I don’t think so,” Benji replied, appreciating Callum’s efforts to make him feel included.  “Did you get more muscles?  You look like you got more muscles.”

     “Probably.” Lydia’s boyfriend grinned proudly, shrugging.  “Jeb and I have been hitting the gym every morning for the last month and a half.  I’ve got to look good in a tux, you know?”

     “Right, right.” And then an idea hit him.  It was probably stupid and Callum would probably say no, but—

     “Would you like to come work out with us?”

     “Beg your pardon?” Benji asked, surprised.

     “You, me, and Jeb—the gym?  We wouldn’t mind if you wanted to come.  It might be more fun if somebody else was there to make fun of him with me.”

     “You’re serious?” Benji didn’t know what he was supposed to say.  In some small way he’d hoped that Lydia would have a talk with Jeb and Callum about making him feel like one of the guys once he settled down in Prairie Town, but this was definitely above and beyond what he’d expected.

     Guys hanging out at the gym together had always been a sacred male bonding experience.

     Did they consider him to be one of
their
guys?

     “So what do you say?” Callum asked, pulling him out of his flabbergasted thoughts.  “You think you’d want to come in the morning?  Breakfast’s on me.”

     “Yeah.  Sure.” He tried not to smile too big as he opened the trunk and reached for a few bags.

     “Damn, is all of that Aggie’s?” Callum questioned as he joined him.

      “It’s everything we had aside from furniture.  That should be arriving tomorrow or the next day.  I’m shit at driving a moving truck—I tried once.  I hit a deer.”

     “You what?” Callum laughed.  “Really?  You hit a deer?”

     “Yeah, and it was bad.  My girlfriend at the time, Marcy, she cried.  I
wanted
to cry…” His voice drifted off and he cleared his throat.

    
Men don’t cry, you idiot.

     The awkward silence blanketing them made him uncomfortable and he decided to busy himself with unpacking the rest of the luggage, sitting each suitcase on the pavement as he mentally kicked himself, over and over again.

     “Hey, man.” Callum said after a few beats of silence.  “I would have cried, too.  Hitting any sort of animal sucks.  I hit a cat once.  I’d just got my license and it jumped out in front of me.  I’ll never forget that noise…”

     “Yeah.” Benji glanced at him, nodding in appreciation.

     Callum was a really good guy.  Lydia had chosen well.

     “There you are!”

    
Speak of the devil.

     “I’m so happy you’re here!” Lydia exclaimed as she hurried down the sidewalk towards them.  “Give me a hug.”

     He opened his arms to her and wrapped her up in the tightest hug he could manage, smiling happily as she kissed his cheek.

     “I’ve missed you so much, Benny.  Did you have a good trip?”

     “Yeah, it was good.  I missed you, too.  I suppose Aggie isn’t coming back out to help me, is she?”

     “No, but that’s what Callum and I are here for.” She smiled a dazzling smile and stepped back, smoothing her hand over the skirt of her dress.  “Gosh, I’m so happy to see you.  I’ve been counting down the days since you guys agreed to take the apartment.  You’re going to love it.”

     “I don’t doubt that.”

     “Only if it’s haunted.” Callum joked, hoisting the largest suitcase onto his shoulder and gripping it with one hand.

    
Show off.
  Benji thought, watching as he disappeared into the complex.

     “Don’t mind him,” Lydia whispered as she looped her arm through his.  “He’s been like that all week.  I’m not sure what’s gotten into him, but I like it a lot.”

     “I bet you do.” He snickered, rolling his eyes.  “So, uh, is it cool if we borrow some pillows for the night? The moving van should be here tomorrow.”

     “Of course it’s cool, but I still don’t understand why you don’t just stay at our place tonight.  We’ve got a couch, you know?  I could always stay at Callum’s and you guys could have my bed.”

     “I’m not kicking you out of your bed, Lydia.  How many times do we have to have this conversation?”

    
I’ll take Laney’s though, if she’ll be in it.

     “What is that look for?” Lydia asked suddenly.

     “Huh?”

     “That look, just now.  You had that grin on your face.  What were you thinking?”

     “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His face heated up and he turned away from her, once again busying himself with luggage.

     “You can’t lie to me, Benjamin.  You were probably thinking something dirty.  Oh god—it wasn’t about Laney, was it?”

     “Aw, jeez, Lydia.  Really?” Holding two suitcases, one in each hand, he turned to stare at her.  “You think I’d really do that?  She’s your sister!”

     “Exactly” Her hands fell to rest against her hips and she arched an eyebrow.  “So you
were
thinking dirty thoughts about her.”

     “So sue me.”

     “I would, but I’d probably only be able to get that old clunker of yours.” She wrinkled her nose in a cute manner and nudged his side, nearly causing him to drop one of the suitcases.  “Get inside, you perv.  And no humping my sister when you get up there.”

     “Well, you know that’s the first thing I was going to do.” He snorted, shaking his head.  “It’s how I say hello these days.”

     “Uh huh. Just play nice.  I mean it.”

     The way she said that last part caused him to stop in his tracks and he turned his head to peer at her.  The playfulness in her eyes had vanished and was replaced with another look he hadn’t seen very often since Lydia had come into his life.  She was worried about something.

     “Lydia?”

     “Ugh. I’m so awful at this.” She whined, letting her hands rest at her sides as her shoulders slumped.

     “Uh huh.  You’re awful at staying quiet about important things, I get that, but what’s up?” He placed the suitcases on the pavement and leaned against the side of his car, eyeing her carefully.

     “I can’t say.”

     “Don’t feed me that crap. You wouldn’t have said anything if you couldn’t say.  What’s wrong?”

     “I really can’t.” She frowned.  “I just have a big mouth. Ignore me.”

     “That’s not going to work on me.” He replied, glancing up towards the window of her apartment.  The curtain was pulled back and he saw Laney’s face, but when she realized he was looking, she quickly closed it.  “Hm.”

     “She’s just having a rough time.” Lydia finally said, her voice sounding sadder than he could ever recall.  “I’m worried about her.”

     “How worried are you?” He questioned, raking his fingers through his hair. “Should I be worried, too?”

     He liked Laney a lot and if she was in trouble, he wanted to help.  Maybe it wasn’t his place to get involved, but he’d never exactly been one to play things by the book. 

     “I don’t think.  Maybe.  Ugh, I don’t know.”

     “Then I’m worried.” He confirmed with a nod.  “I’ll be nice, Lydia.  You don’t have anything to worry about.  Hell, you’ll be lucky if I work up the nerve to visit regularly now that I’m here full-time.” A thought stuck him then.  “You…this whole ‘worried thing’ isn’t because I’m here now, is it?  I won’t be a problem, will I?”

     “No!” She said quickly, her eyes widening.  “God, no. No, no.  I’m so happy you’re here.  We’re all happy you’re here.  Having you and Ags in town is a dream come true for me, Benji.  Don’t say stupid things like that.”

     “Hey, I’m just making sure.  I don’t want to do anything that will compromise what you’ve got going on here.  You’re damn lucky to have all of this, you know? I’d never do anything to fuck it up.”

     “I have never thought that, Benji.” She promised, wrapping her arms around him in another tight hug.  “I’ve missed you so much.  I want you here and now that you are, you’re not allowed to leave.  Do you understand?”

     “I do.” He replied softly, rubbing her back.

     But a small part of him worried there was something bigger going on, something Lydia wasn’t keen on sharing.  He knew it involved Laney and as much as he wanted to help, maybe…just maybe this one time he wouldn’t stick his nose where it didn’t belong.

    
I won’t risk Lydia’s happiness.
  He decided, as they carried the luggage inside. 
I can be selfless.  Just this once.

     At least he hoped he could.

----------

Laney

     Dinner that night was awkward and it was no one’s fault but her own.  While her sister and her friends chatted and laughed about days gone by, Laney kept to herself and picked at her food, wishing more than anything that her appetite would return.

     She hadn’t been eating very well lately and that was a tell-tale sign that something was wrong.  The warnings were always there when things were about to get bad, but if she could somehow break the cycle…

     “Did you fall asleep, Laney?”

     “Huh?” Her head snapped up when she heard her name, and she met Aggie’s concerned gaze with complete shame.  “I’m sorry, what?”

     It was hard to ignore the looks of her friends, especially her sister, as they all shared a similar frown.

     “I was just asking if you are looking forward to the spring.” Aggie gave her a smile and she couldn’t help but to appreciate the girl’s efforts in being nice to her. 

     Ags was always a nice man, or woman, and Laney liked both of them.  It was herself she didn’t like very much right now.  Hopefully her sister understood that; hopefully everyone would understand that, especially Benji.

     And just as his name entered her mine, their gazes locked and heat crept through her chest.  Her lungs tightened and her stomach began to knot. 

    
Oh, god.
  Her mind squeaked as one corner of his mouth curved upwards. 
Oh, god. Don’t look at me like that.  Don’t smile at me.

     But damn it, she liked when he smiled at her.  She liked the fact he
wanted
to smile at her.

     Why did her brain have to be so complicated?

     Doing her very best to return a believable smile, Laney nodded and finally picked up a small scoop of peas from her plate.

     “I am.  I’m really looking forward to the spring.  This winter was insane.”

     “God, it was.” Lydia agreed, giving her an appreciative nod. 

     What? Did she expect her not to reply?  As if she’d ever be so rude!

    
I’m depressed, not an asshole.

     “So your mom is still doing okay?  How’s physical therapy working out for her?” Aggie asked, genuinely concerned.

     “Yes.  She actually just finished up a few days ago.  You can’t even tell she was ever injured.  She’s like a new woman these days. Isn’t that right, Laney?”

     “Mhm.”

     Silence fell upon them again as they seemed to run out of things to talk about.  Or maybe it was Laney’s fault for not being very talkative in the first place.

    “Knock, knock. Anybody home? I smell food.”

     “Jeb!” Lydia said excitedly.  “Get in here.  Where have you been?”

     Watching as her baby brother—nearly two feet taller than everyone else—walk into the room, Laney sighed in relief.  At least with him around they would be distracted with whatever misadventure he’d been on all day.  Maybe that was her chance; maybe she could slip into her room without being noticed.

     And that’s exactly what she did.

     While Jeb went on and on about how people needed to learn how to use their turn signals and how he was never driving again, Laney quietly pushed away from the table and gave Benji a shy smile before she took off to her bedroom.

     Once she was safely behind closed doors, she sank down onto her bed and sighed.

     “What is wrong with me?” She asked in a quiet whisper, fisting her bed sheets.  Her heart was racing.  It felt like she was going to have a heart attack.  She felt so sick to her stomach and she feared her dinner, what little of it she actually ate, wouldn’t stay in her body for very long.

    
“Why don’t you tell me about what’s been going on at home?” Doctor Rykerman, a seemingly nice lady, asked.