Page 92 of Rebellious Hearts

“Of course. Ben has good taste, you know. When he decides to give it all to a person—whether it’s friendship or romantically—you better know you’re worth it.”

She walked away and left me with those words.

You better know you’re worth it.

That was the one thing I hadn’t really felt in a long time. Not since Brad had screwed me over.

But after everything I’d done, everything I’d achieved, maybe she was right.

And, maybe, I had to talk to Ben.

29

BEN

The hotel was quiet and the living room area was empty except for Amy and Sofia sitting on the couches by the window.

It wasn’t just outside the holiday or tourist seasons, Harborview just didn’t have as many guests and visitors anymore. Not even with a hotel as fancy as The Seabreeze Grand.

Soon, if we could get Richard back on board with this business, all of it would hopefully change, and we could turn things around.

My mind mulled over these types of things, thinking about business. I was always thinking about business, but since Sofia had come into my life, a lot had changed.

Business wasn’t everything anymore.

And now, with her, it was taking more and more of a backseat.

Something was wrong with her, and I needed to find out what it was.

Amy and Sofia were sitting together on the couches when I stepped into the living room. Sofia covered her face with her hands, and Amy’s face was riddled with concern.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

Sofia dropped her hand and her face was stricken with tears. My heart constricted, and I wanted to rush in there and fight whatever was plaguing her. I wanted to be her hero, taking away whatever bothered her—

“It’s not about it being the wrong time or something like that, either,” Sofia said. I hesitated, waiting before I interrupted their conversation. “I don’t want a relationship, to play happy families, the white picket fence and two point four kids… The whole thing with Ben is just pretend.”

My blood drained from my face. I knew we’d started off pretending, but this had become something real. Hadn’t it?

“It’s not real, and when this is over, I’m going to Costa Rica so I can do what I love instead of being in this scenario where everything is like some fairy tale, something made up.”

My head started spinning. Every word she spoke felt like another punch to the gut, and I felt like I had to double over. I couldn’t breathe.

“Something that’s not real.”

Her final words made me turn away from them and leave the living room.

What the fuck! I’d thought this was real. I’d thought things were going well between us, that we were on the same page… I’d told her I was falling in love with her, for fuck’s sake! I’d done everything right even though it was completely against my grain because Sofia had become everything to me.

Because I’d thought there was something between us.

“Hey, man,” someone said behind me. I spun around, and Luke stood in front of me. It felt somehow out of place to see Luke here, even though I should have known. Wherever Amy was, Luke wasn’t far off. And the other way around.

He frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” I barked and turned on my heel, marching toward the bar.

“Hey, wait up,” Luke said, hurrying after me. “What the hell is going on?”