He struggles to get up, and I know it’s the alcohol affecting him more than the punch. Half the bar is now marveling at the spectacle when Sarah comes running over and kneels down by Ben’s side.
“Luke, what the hell is going on?” She scowls up at me with angry blue eyes.
So fucking sexy.
“Heeey, baby, we were just fucking around. Luke punched me, and it didn’t even hurt.” Ben slurs every word, lying flat on his back in the middle of the graveled parking lot, then closes his eyes like he’s about to go to sleep.Asshole.
“Luke, help me get him up please?” Sarah pleads, struggling to lift him.
Of course, I help her, but he’s dead weight until a couple of guys come over and help us out.
“Luke, can you help me get him home, please?”
My jaw clenches and I can still feel the warm blood flowing through the vessels of my neck, but I can’t deny the desperation swimming in her eyes.
I sigh, defeated. “Let's get him in the truck.”
The drive is quiet, as we make our way through the dark, winding back roads. Sarah’s perched in the back seat, with Ben’s head resting on her lap.
“What happened between you two?”
Our eyes meet in the rearview mirror, and I can see her tears threatening. “Brotherly stuff,” I growl. “He’s just drunk and needs to sleep it off.”
Her brows snap together, and I can tell she doesn’t believe me, but she needs to figure this shit out on her own. She knows what Ben is capable of, yet she still chooses him, and I refuse to get in the middle of it.
Doing most of the heavy lifting, I pull Ben from the truck. We sling his arms over both our shoulders and carefully walk him to the house he and I rent. Neither of us could wait to get out of the home we grew up in, so when I was eighteen I left, and Ben followed.
“You need to walk, shithead. Wake the fuck up.” I smack his cheek trying to keep him alert.
“Hey, baby bro, thanks for not ratting me out about Kelly,” he sings.
I glance over and catch Sarah’s expression harden. “Let’s go, jackass. Time for bed.”
Ben leans over and rests his head on Sarah’s shoulder. “Awe, hey, baby. I love you.”
“Ben, you’re an asshole,” Sarah hisses at him, but he’s oblivious to her anger.
We struggle to get him through the front door and roughly deposit him onto the couch, since it’s closer than the bedroom. I lift his feet up onto the sofa, and Sarah tugs his boots off, dropping them on the floor with a loud, angry thud.
“Are you staying here tonight with him?” I ask, as she throws the crochet blanket her mom made over his still body.
“Can you take me home? I told Momma I’d be home tonight. I don’t want her to worry.” The pain in her voice guts me, and I just want to scoop her up into my arms and never let go.
The tension between us grows thicker than the fog on the drive home. Sarah rests her head against the passenger window, quietly sighing as she bites the cuticles on her nails. She deserves someone whose sole purpose in life is to make her smile.
That can’t be me.
We pull onto her street, which is a dirt road with only a few houses on it. Her dad split when she was thirteen, so it’s just her and her mom now, who’s been sickly this past year, putting a lot of extra stress on Sarah.
I stop the truck way back from her house and turn off the engine. I wonder if I should scrounge up the courage and tell her how I feel. But then what? We’d run away together and live happily ever after? I reach out placing my hand on hers. It’s warm and comforting, and I want to hold it in mine forever.
“Sarah,” I whisper, causing her to gaze up from her lap. The tears are threatening in her eyes. I swallow hard not quite sure what to say.
“It’s okay, Luke, I’ve accepted how he is. What choice do I have?”
“You know you have a choice. You’ve always had a choice.”
She stares back down at her lap, wringing her hands nervously. “What can I do? You leave tomorrow, and you're probably never coming back. So tell me what my options are.” She stares me down.