I nod, standing up. “You’re right. I’m going over there. I’ll ask him if he knows anything about Sawyer. I’ll tell him I just want my brother to meet Roman.”
“You want me to come?” Lucy stands up with me.
I shake my head. “No. It’s nearly bath time. Then B-E-D.” I shift my eyes toward Roman, who soaks up all our words like a little sponge.
Lucy smiles, squeezing my arm. “He’ll come back, Rae. And he’ll forgive you for staying behind. I know he will.”
I give my sister a hug, hoping she’s right.
Then, for the second time since I moved to Woodvale, I find myself walking the few blocks that separate Benji’s house from mine. This time, I’m not carrying a peace offering. I’m going to be asking him something that I know he doesn’t want to tell me.
He’s loyal to Sawyer. It won’t be easy to convince him to tell me where my brother went, but I have to try. It’s my best hope at starting to mend my family.
By the time I get to Benji’s house, sweat is gathering in my armpits, but not because it’s warm out. There’s a chill in the air, yet my body’s burning up.
I’m nervous.
Is it because I’m going to ask about Sawyer, or is it just Benji’s presence that does it to me? As I lift a trembling finger to ring the doorbell, I’m not quite sure of the answer. I shift my weight from foot to foot, listening for the heavy footsteps that will tell me Benji’s about to open the door.
Silence.
I sigh, closing my eyes, then open them back up and ring the doorbell again.
“Rae?” Benji walks out of the garage to my right, wiping his hands on a rag. “You got more treats for me?” He smiles, but it drops when he sees my face. “What’s wrong?”
I walk across the strip of grass that separates us until I’m just a couple of feet away from him. The smell of engine grease and sandalwood wraps around me, and it’s all I can do to stay upright.
“I was hoping you could help me with something,” I say, my voice small.
“Need some muscle?” he asks, grinning. His bicep bulges as he tenses it, and I can’t help but let out a shaky chuckle.
“Not quite.” I suck a breath in, forcing myself to hold his gaze. “I need you tell me where Sawyer is.”
Benji’s face turns to stone. Shuttered. Closed.
No chance.
My heart plummets.
The mechanic shakes his head. “I can’t do that. I don’t know where he is for sure, and even if I did, it would be breaking every promise I made to him. He doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“He doesn’t know about Roman, Benji,” I say, staring into his eyes and hoping he understands. “He left right after Lucy found out she was pregnant. I was going to tell him in person, but when I tried to find him, he was gone. I just want him to meet his nephew.”
Benji’s mask falls for just a moment as surprise paints itself over his features. He rearranges them, clearing his throat.
“I can’t, Rae.” He shakes his head. “I just can’t. He’d never forgive me.”
I pinch my lips, sighing. “That’s probably true. Take it from someone who knows.” I let out a bitter snort, and Benji’s shoulders soften. Glancing over my shoulder, I dread the walk back to my house. I don’t want to tell Lucy that this conversation failed, too.
Benji must sense my reluctance, because he jerks his head toward the garage. “Mind helping me out for a few minutes? I could use a set of hands.”
I know what he’s doing. He’s softening the blow of not telling me where Sawyer is. Telling me that he’s okay with my presence, and he doesn’t hate me as much as he did two weeks ago. Trying to extend that tattered, charred olive branch to make up for the fact that he’ll always be loyal to Sawyer.
Taking a deep breath, I nod. “Sure.”
“You can hold the flashlight. Think you can handle that?”
“I’ve held lots of flashlights, thank you very much,” I snap.
Benji’s eyes darken, an eyebrow teasing upward. Redness erupts over my cheeks as I realize what I’ve just said, then snap my mouth shut.
“Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about. I just asked you to hold a light for me.”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t quite keep the smile off my face. Inhaling the air around Benji, I fall in step beside him and follow him into the garage. When I see an old, vintage car up on a set of blocks, I arch an eyebrow.
“Is this what you do for fun, too? Don’t you think you should branch out? Diversify?”
“I’m still waiting on those plants you promised,” he says, his back to me as he digs through a toolbox. “Maybe there’s a green thumb under all this grease.”
When he glances over his shoulder, a light gleams in his eyes. Fire licks my thighs, and I want to move closer to him. When he hands me a flashlight, our fingers brush, and electricity jumps over my skin. Benji’s eyes shift to meet mine, an unreadable expression swirling in them.
The air crackles. The lights fizz. Every atom around us can feel the tension building.
Benji shifts his weight, taking a step closer to me. There’s a breath of distance between us, and all I want to do is erase it. His broad chest is screaming for my hands. His shoulders begging for me to wrap my arms around them and pull him close.
I don’t move.
I can’t.
But I want him.
Need, need, need.
The feeling courses through me like a hurricane, its winds whipping at my defenses. I stand in the eye of the storm, staring at the man who created it.
I shouldn’t want him. Shouldn’t kiss him. Probably shouldn’t even be here.
Yet, I am.
And I want more.
Like two magnets drawn together, Benji moves closer. His chest is against mine
