Before my eyes closed, the last thing I saw was Elise resting her head against his shoulder, looking right at me.
Smiling.
In that moment, something inside my chest cracked open—clean and sharp, like porcelain breaking.
There was a time when Benjamin had protected me the way he now protected Elise.
When those trust-fund boys followed me, catcalling and closing in, and I was shaking with fear—he had charged out and planted himself between us. He told them to back off without flinching.
Then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me through their circle, and we ran.
Later, I learned that Benjamin had been targeted and harassed by those rich kids because of what he'd done.
I found him with tears brimming in my eyes and apologized. He just smiled, patted my head, and said, "Don't worry about it. I just can't stand to see you cry."
The man who once panicked at the mere sight of tears in my eyes could now ignore my pain entirely for another girl's sake.
When exactly had Elise Simmons wedged herself between us?