Page 225 of Broken Saint

Recognition flickers in the back of my mind, but I’m too pissed about him daring to walk up to my front door uninvited to try and figure it out.

“What do you want?” I bark rudely, holding his eyes and hoping he turns around and runs.

He takes a moment to swallow and stands a little taller, attempting to look confident.

“I’m not signing anything,” I complain, confused as to why he’s still standing there.

Just when I start to think that he’s not going to say anything, he quickly blurts,“Hi, I’m Bennett Myers.”

He continues talking, explaining who he is, but the second his name hits my ears, my world begins to spin out of control.

Reaching out, my fingers curl around the doorframe to hold me up.

“Ella,” I rasp. “Is she okay?”

He doesn’t say anything, and I swear my stomach plummets to my feet.

“Can I come in?” he asks, glancing over my shoulder at my building site of a house.

“Uh…” I stumble back. “Y-yeah.”

He hesitantly steps inside, his eyes darting every which way, taking everything in.

It’s clearly not what he was expecting, but he keeps his mouth shut.

“Why are you here? What’s happened?”

Concern for the only girl I’ve ever loved floods my system.

Bennett points to my battered couch. “Do you mind?”

“Only if you tell me why the fuck you’re here,” I snap, not giving a shit about being a crappy host.

Something has happened.

There’s no way he’d just turn up for no reason.

We’re not friends. We’ve never met before. Hell, we’ve never even spoken.

I’m only aware of who he is because Ella talked about him so much that I felt compelled to check out him and his performance at Trinity Royal.

He studies me as I glare at him.

“You love her, right?” he finally asks, sitting forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

“What?” I ask, my brow wrinkling as I try to figure out what kind of fucking game he’s playing here.

“My sister. Ella. You love her, right?”

“The fuck?” I bark. “Have you really shown up here to ask me if I’m in love with your sister?”

“Amongst other things, yeah,” he confesses, finding his confidence.

It seems he left any hesitation he felt before at the door.

My fists curl at my sides, my patience quickly running out.

“Why are you really here, Benny?”