“Thanks,” I said. “I think.” But I was more focused on the other thing he’d said. “What did you mean by ‘you’ve never done it like that before’?”

“Just that it felt personal. In a good way. That’s all.”

I think I knew what he meant. Rhett and I might have started the day as strangers, essentially, but we weren’t anymore. We’d connected during sex. And it wasn’t something that had ended now that it was over. I still felt it.

“Come here,” he said, tugging at my waist and pulling me in against his hot skin. “Does it hurt?” His fingers brushed low on my stomach and gently across my sensitive area. “Down here.”

“A little.” It was very tender.

“Can I do anything to help?”

“Just keep holding me,” I uttered. It was a needy request. I wasn’t a needy person, but I was in that moment. The feel of his arms around me, his skin against my skin, and his breath tickling the base of my neck—all of it was exactly what I needed. In four months, this was the best therapy yet.

“I can do that,” he whispered. “I can do that all night. I’m not letting you go anywhere.”

And he kept his word. His arms held me tightly in against him all night long.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of glass breaking. Rhett jumped in his sleep and immediately sat up. “Shit,” he whispered. “What was that?” He rushed out of bed and over to his dresser. He grabbed a pair of jeans, yanked them on, and then pulled a white shirt from the drawer, which he tossed in my direction. “Put that on, sweetheart.” Next a clean pair of his boxers came flying at me. “These too.”

He pulled one of his baseball bats off its hook on the wall.

That was when I grew scared. A shot of adrenaline hit me and that fight or flight feeling kicked in. “You think somebody broke into your house?” I sat up, quickly pulling on the clothes he’d given me.

“Possibly,” he whispered. “I’m going to check it out.”

“I’m coming with.”

“No, you’re not.”

He didn’t give me time to argue—he left before I could protest. But I wasn’t about to let him go out there alone. A few years back my mom was mugged in NYC. A totally random event. But being held at gun point had terrified her. After it happened, she made me take these extensive self-defense classes with John. Rhett might have been the one built like a MAA fighter, but I wasn’t completely useless in a fight. I had faith that I could help him. So I followed him.

Only, it wasn’t an intruder. It was a broken glass on the kitchen floor and a man in his pajamas. Rhett’s roommate, Noah, I assumed. He’d broken the glass.

“Put down the bat, Rhett,” he said, calmly. “You couldn’t hit for shit even when you were on the Daredevils, and anyway, it was me who made the noise.” Noah motioned to the shattered glass on the floor.

A laugh escaped my lips.

Not because of Noah’s words. Or because of the broken glass. It was a nervous laugh. Because I’d seen this guy named Noah once before. At Ben’s funeral. He’d been with Ben’s family, standing outside the doors when I first went into the building. Then I’d seen him again when I left. He’d been the one with tears in his eyes. His shoulder-length blond hair, currently tied back in a ponytail, was his distinguishing feature.

But it wasn’t just the three of us in the room. There was a woman too. And I knew her as well. Ellie. Ben’s oldest sister. The one John knew. Oh, God. How was it possible that I was suddenly surrounded by Ben’s people? Did that mean Rhett was someone Ben had known, too?

Rhett set the bat down on the kitchen table. “What are you doing? Other than breaking shit?”

“There was a rat,” Noah told him.

Rhett chuckled. “And you decided to throw a glass at it?”

He seemed relieved. I wasn’t.

Noah shrugged. “Something like that.”

Neither she nor Noah had even noticed or acknowledged my existence in the room. That didn’t speak well for Rhett. He probably brought home so many different girls that we were all faceless to them.

“Wait, what?” Ellie asked the guys. “Did you just say rat?” Ellie continued. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. First we had those weird silverfish bugs and now rats! I’m getting the hell out of here. Now!” She turned on her feet, hurried across the living room, and disappeared into a room. Less than ten seconds later she returned with a wallet and keys in her hands. “I know you and your OCD can’t handle disease-carrying rats—let’s go, Noah. I’m too tired for this bullshit. We’re going to Mom’s.”

“I don’t have OCD,” Noah argued.

“Like hell you don’t. I’ll be in the car. Clean up the glass because I know you need to. I’d offer to help, but you’ll just criticize the way I clean.” She shook her head and went for the front door. “Meet me outside when you’re finished. Please, try not to take all night.”

Rhett laughed, not caring about the rat or the broken glass. “Come on, sugar,” he said to me. “Let’s go back to bed. Ellie’s right; Noah’s particular about cleaning so it’s better to leave him alone.” He pulled on my arm, leaving Noah in the kitchen and leading me back toward his bedroom. I let him. I was too overwhelmed at the moment to say a word.

Rhett had known two people from Ben’s funeral—Ben’s sister and this blonde guy. I had to infer that meant he also knew Ben. We didn’t live in that big of a town, this sort of thing wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities, but, still, this knowledge felt like a kick to the stomach. I thought I’d escaped Ben for the night. I guess escaping from him would never be possible.

Rhett unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, letting them drop to the floor, then he turned off the lights in his room, and pulled me back into bed with him. I complied. But now, lying in his arms made my head spin. And, no, not because he was buck-naked and fearless about it. My head spun because my night with Rhett was suddenly tainted. By Ben.

“You okay?” he asked. “You’re rigid as a board. Trust me, we don’t have rats. You have nothing to be afraid of. Noah was lying about that. His OCD is so bad, sometimes I catch him cleaning in the middle of the night, so I doubt a rat would ever want to come into our house. Something else is up with him. I think I know what, but it’s not my business.”

“What do you think it is?” I asked, keeping my voice as normal as possible. I probably shouldn’t have asked this, but I had to know what he knew. “If you don’t mind me asking? He seemed a little shaken up.”

Rhett held me tighter. He’d literally just told me this wasn’t his business, so it surprised me when he told me everything. “A few months ago, Ellie’s little brother died. His name was Ben Turner. You might have known him. You should have seen how packed his funeral was. I think everyone in this whole damn town knew and loved that kid.”

I’d seen how packed the funeral was. I’d been there.

“Anyway, what people don’t know—and this is just between us, of course—is that Ben’s other sister, Georgina…well, she tried to commit suicide that very same day. Noah stopped her, or saved her, or something along those lines. I don’t know all the details from that night. All I know is that he came home covered in blood and he hasn’t been the same since. So Georgina went away to some women’s group home, some place that is supposed to help with stuff like that, and now she’s back—as of this week, actually. And now Noah is acting weirder than ever. I was really worried about him, until I realized that there must be some feelings going on there. He talks about Georgina a lot and he never did before. Now that she’s home, I’m waiting to see how it plays out, if my theory is correct.”

Holy shit. The air became trapped in my lungs. I never knew Georgina had tried to commit suicide. She’d been missing from school for the last few months before graduation and she’d never walked on graduation day. Her name was on the list of students accepted into Luke University, though, same as mine, so I’d assumed she was being homeschooled because she was grieving, the same way I’d missed that first month after Ben’s death. No one had mentioned a suicide attempt. The way rumors normally spread at our school…that meant someone had done a really good job at keeping that information to themselves.