Status: Internet at home sucks where we live, so i'm not sure when I'll be able to update next. :/
Release Me, so I Can Convince Myself That I'm Better off Without You
I Just Can't Escape the Memories; Tell Me What's a Girl to Do When She's Crying Inside?
“Oh dear Jesus, I am exhausted,” I groaned, collapsing on the couch in my living room.
Joel chuckled behind me. “Course you are, Kimber. You had a quickie with my brother in one of the elevators, and then had to run from cops. I’d be exhausted, too.”
Benji came from the kitchen and sat down on the edge of the couch by me. “You jealous, Joel?” He snickered, eating what happened to be a chocolate chip cookie.
“Not exactly, bro.” Joel sighed, plopping down on my tan lounger.
“Where did you get that cookie?” I asked, picking my head up off the couch to look at Benji.
“The kitchen,” He supplied. “It was the last one, too.”
“What!” I exclaimed, sitting up. “I had a cookie, and you didn’t tell me?”
“Shouldn’t you know for yourself, Kimmy?” Joel questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Pfft, are you kidding? Kimber never goes in her kitchen.” Benji laughed.
Before any of us could say another word, the doorbell rang to let us know someone was at the door. Benji, being the amazing boyfriend that he is, got up to answer the door.
“Well, I’ll be damned! What’s up, Haner? Why are you here?”
Haner? As in Brian Elwin Haner Junior? Oh, dear Lord, what is he doing here?
“Nothing much, man. Is your girlfriend here?”
“Yeah, she’s in the living room, dude.”
I heard shuffling of feet until; finally, I was looking at the chocolate orbs that were Brian’s eyes. He was leaned over me, smiling down at me like some kind of freak.
“What do you want, Haner?” I laughed, pushing him away.
“Well, Stephens, I just wanted to know if you and your boy toy wanted to come by Shads’ place tomorrow for a barbecue.”
“I don’t know, Bri. I’m not exactly on speaking terms with Baker at the moment.”
“So? Don’t talk to him!” He counteracted. “Come on, Kimber, please. We haven’t seen or talked to you in a while, and it would be very nice to be able to hang out with you. What do you say?”
The pout on his face made it hard to say no. Not to mention the fact that I did miss the girls and the guys. The more I looked at Brian, the more his chocolate orbs and puppy dog pout convinced me to at least visit the barbecue for a minute or two. Looking away, I groaned, dejectedly. “What time?”
Brian jumped up, excitedly. “Two o’clock tomorrow. Bring a swimsuit,” He looked at Benji, then at me. “Both of you,”
Rolling my eyes, I looked up at Brian from my place on the couch. “Cool your roll, Haner. I didn’t say we’d stay or that we’d even go. I just asked what time.”
Brian gave me a knowing look. “Kimber, honey, I know you better than you think. Stop lying,”
“I actually have some things to do in the morning. If they don’t take all day, maybe we’ll stop by.” I looked at Benji for confirmation before turning back to Brian. “Sound good?”
“Sounds great,” Brian bent down to pull me into a tight embrace as he added, “I love you, kiddo.”
Later on that evening, Benji and I were lying under the covers of my bed, trying to catch our breath. I was curled into his side, thinking, while his arm traced patterns up and down my side. The motion of his fingers was lulling me into a deeply calm state of mind.
“Kimberlyn,” Benji muttered, softly.
“Yeah,” I muttered just as softly.
“What exactly happened between you and Vengeance?” He turned to look at me, his honey orbs piercing my soul. “Why are you not on speaking terms?”
I let a sigh escape from my lips as I pulled away from Benji’s side. Sitting up, I set my feet on the hardwood floor and bent down to grad Benji’s discarded shirt. Once I grasped the material, I pulled it over my head and situated the material so it covered me. I then turned to face him with downcast eyes.
“It’s a long story,” I supplied, softly.
The springs in the mattress squeaked as Benji moved around and sat up. Placing his hand under my chin, he made me look up so that our eyes locked. “Kimberlyn Bristol Stephens,” The tone in his voice was sincere, letting me know that I shouldn’t be afraid to tell him. “I won’t hold anything you say against you. I just wanted to know why seeing him seems to turn your cool demeanor into dust.”
“Baker and I have always had a love-hate relationship. For years, all we did was fight. Well, one night, about two years ago, we got in one of our usual arguments when he just kissed me. As pissed as I was, I pulled away from him and slapped him as hard as I could. Then, he kissed me again and again, and our anger was temporarily fixed by sex.
“The same thing happened four more times before we even acknowledged the chemistry between us.”
“So, the two of you went from enemies to fuck-buddies?” Benji asked.
“Basically,” I confirmed. “We were like that for two months before we became official. Eight months later, he asked me to marry him. And, five months ago, I found him in bed with my own sister.”
“Were they actually doing anything?”
Closing my eyes, I nodded my head. “She was naked, straddling Zacky, who was naked from the waist up.”
“That’s not all, is it?” Oh dear Benji, and his keen ability to sense the unsaid.
Shaking my head, I opened my eyes to peer up at him through watery orbs. “Benji . . . Benji, he . . . left her messages, sent her texts. He played me the whole time, even when I had a pregnancy scare.”
“Pregnancy scare?” Benji questioned. “He knew?”
“I was gonna tell him that I wasn’t the day I found him with Mira Belle.”
“What’d you do?”
“I probably should have yelled at the both of them, threw a fit—done something to make me feel better. I didn’t, though. I just calmly took my engagement ring off and set it on the coffee table on my way out the door.”
“Where did you go?”
“I went home.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
I shook my head no. “The girls and the guys tried to get me to tell them, but I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want to even think about it, so I started busying myself. I stopped talking to the group as much, and eventually stopped all contact with them, until recently when I got a phone call inviting me to have brunch.”
Benji pulled me closer into a tight embrace. “I wouldn’t worry about them or Vengeance too much, babe. He’s missing out on the best girl he ever had.”
Benji knew all the right things to say to make me melt.
Joel chuckled behind me. “Course you are, Kimber. You had a quickie with my brother in one of the elevators, and then had to run from cops. I’d be exhausted, too.”
Benji came from the kitchen and sat down on the edge of the couch by me. “You jealous, Joel?” He snickered, eating what happened to be a chocolate chip cookie.
“Not exactly, bro.” Joel sighed, plopping down on my tan lounger.
“Where did you get that cookie?” I asked, picking my head up off the couch to look at Benji.
“The kitchen,” He supplied. “It was the last one, too.”
“What!” I exclaimed, sitting up. “I had a cookie, and you didn’t tell me?”
“Shouldn’t you know for yourself, Kimmy?” Joel questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Pfft, are you kidding? Kimber never goes in her kitchen.” Benji laughed.
Before any of us could say another word, the doorbell rang to let us know someone was at the door. Benji, being the amazing boyfriend that he is, got up to answer the door.
“Well, I’ll be damned! What’s up, Haner? Why are you here?”
Haner? As in Brian Elwin Haner Junior? Oh, dear Lord, what is he doing here?
“Nothing much, man. Is your girlfriend here?”
“Yeah, she’s in the living room, dude.”
I heard shuffling of feet until; finally, I was looking at the chocolate orbs that were Brian’s eyes. He was leaned over me, smiling down at me like some kind of freak.
“What do you want, Haner?” I laughed, pushing him away.
“Well, Stephens, I just wanted to know if you and your boy toy wanted to come by Shads’ place tomorrow for a barbecue.”
“I don’t know, Bri. I’m not exactly on speaking terms with Baker at the moment.”
“So? Don’t talk to him!” He counteracted. “Come on, Kimber, please. We haven’t seen or talked to you in a while, and it would be very nice to be able to hang out with you. What do you say?”
The pout on his face made it hard to say no. Not to mention the fact that I did miss the girls and the guys. The more I looked at Brian, the more his chocolate orbs and puppy dog pout convinced me to at least visit the barbecue for a minute or two. Looking away, I groaned, dejectedly. “What time?”
Brian jumped up, excitedly. “Two o’clock tomorrow. Bring a swimsuit,” He looked at Benji, then at me. “Both of you,”
Rolling my eyes, I looked up at Brian from my place on the couch. “Cool your roll, Haner. I didn’t say we’d stay or that we’d even go. I just asked what time.”
Brian gave me a knowing look. “Kimber, honey, I know you better than you think. Stop lying,”
“I actually have some things to do in the morning. If they don’t take all day, maybe we’ll stop by.” I looked at Benji for confirmation before turning back to Brian. “Sound good?”
“Sounds great,” Brian bent down to pull me into a tight embrace as he added, “I love you, kiddo.”
Later on that evening, Benji and I were lying under the covers of my bed, trying to catch our breath. I was curled into his side, thinking, while his arm traced patterns up and down my side. The motion of his fingers was lulling me into a deeply calm state of mind.
“Kimberlyn,” Benji muttered, softly.
“Yeah,” I muttered just as softly.
“What exactly happened between you and Vengeance?” He turned to look at me, his honey orbs piercing my soul. “Why are you not on speaking terms?”
I let a sigh escape from my lips as I pulled away from Benji’s side. Sitting up, I set my feet on the hardwood floor and bent down to grad Benji’s discarded shirt. Once I grasped the material, I pulled it over my head and situated the material so it covered me. I then turned to face him with downcast eyes.
“It’s a long story,” I supplied, softly.
The springs in the mattress squeaked as Benji moved around and sat up. Placing his hand under my chin, he made me look up so that our eyes locked. “Kimberlyn Bristol Stephens,” The tone in his voice was sincere, letting me know that I shouldn’t be afraid to tell him. “I won’t hold anything you say against you. I just wanted to know why seeing him seems to turn your cool demeanor into dust.”
“Baker and I have always had a love-hate relationship. For years, all we did was fight. Well, one night, about two years ago, we got in one of our usual arguments when he just kissed me. As pissed as I was, I pulled away from him and slapped him as hard as I could. Then, he kissed me again and again, and our anger was temporarily fixed by sex.
“The same thing happened four more times before we even acknowledged the chemistry between us.”
“So, the two of you went from enemies to fuck-buddies?” Benji asked.
“Basically,” I confirmed. “We were like that for two months before we became official. Eight months later, he asked me to marry him. And, five months ago, I found him in bed with my own sister.”
“Were they actually doing anything?”
Closing my eyes, I nodded my head. “She was naked, straddling Zacky, who was naked from the waist up.”
“That’s not all, is it?” Oh dear Benji, and his keen ability to sense the unsaid.
Shaking my head, I opened my eyes to peer up at him through watery orbs. “Benji . . . Benji, he . . . left her messages, sent her texts. He played me the whole time, even when I had a pregnancy scare.”
“Pregnancy scare?” Benji questioned. “He knew?”
“I was gonna tell him that I wasn’t the day I found him with Mira Belle.”
“What’d you do?”
“I probably should have yelled at the both of them, threw a fit—done something to make me feel better. I didn’t, though. I just calmly took my engagement ring off and set it on the coffee table on my way out the door.”
“Where did you go?”
“I went home.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
I shook my head no. “The girls and the guys tried to get me to tell them, but I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want to even think about it, so I started busying myself. I stopped talking to the group as much, and eventually stopped all contact with them, until recently when I got a phone call inviting me to have brunch.”
Benji pulled me closer into a tight embrace. “I wouldn’t worry about them or Vengeance too much, babe. He’s missing out on the best girl he ever had.”
Benji knew all the right things to say to make me melt.