Free Beautifully Broken by Amanda Bennett Page B

normal.
     
    His hand rested on my knee
as he pulled up to the curb. “Baby, I think it’s best if we do it this way. I
don’t want to make this any harder on you than it already is.” His eyes refused
to look at me. He was being a coward.
     
    “This isn’t about me. You
just don’t want to feel any guiltier than you already do. I can’t believe you.
This is how you really want to leave things? You are an ass Gray Elliot Weston,
a giant ass.” I pushed open the passenger door and slammed it shut with
everything I had in me. I stood in front of the hood of my car, staring at Gray
through the windshield with my hands on my hips. He hadn’t gotten out of the
car yet and I was now fuming while he was trying to ignore me.
     
     A minute later he was
reaching for the handle on the inside and the door sprang open. He started
walking to me before retrieving his luggage from the trunk. I knew this was
going to end in a fight, but I was standing my ground.
     
    He stood in front of me with
his arms crossed over his puffed out chest. The sight of his T-shirt hugging
his bulging biceps was affecting me, more than I would have liked to admit at
that moment. His piercing blue eyes met mine a moment later; I was melting
beneath his stare. I tried to keep my stance but his gaze was more than I could
handle. How could I stay mad at him, when he looks SO DAMN GOOD!
     
    His hand came up to my cheek
a second later. “Why do you have to make things so damn difficult woman? You’re
absolutely right. I AM trying to make this easier on ME. It’s fucking killing
me to have to leave you. You are delusional if you think that I’m doing okay
with all of this.” His hand dropped from my face and he began raking it through
his polished brown hair. I dropped my hands from my hips and reached for his arm,
but he pulled away.
     
    “If this is how it’s going
to be the whole time I’m gone, then….” His eyes finally met mine again. “I
don’t want to be fighting with you for the next twenty-two weeks Bennett. I
WON’T do it!” I could see the anger bubbling up inside of him. His hands
clasped my face in between them, “I can’t stand fighting with you and I love
you far too much to do it. I don’t want you to feel insecure. It’s not you. You
know me Bennett. I’m your Gray. I’m the same guy I have always been.” He let
out a loud sigh before his lips were pressed firmly against mine.
     
    My anger melted away
instantly as I stood on my tip toes, wrapping my arms around his neck. He tried
to pull away some time later, but I couldn’t let go. I held to him for dear
life and lost myself in his mouth. I let every intimate detail from the last
week flash through my mind, fueling my desire for him right then and there.
Eventually, I pulled back knowing he had to leave. I pulled his palm up to my
lips and gently kissed it. I stood staring at him for the next few minutes as
he gathered his belongings from the trunk. I already felt lost and alone, and
he hadn’t even left yet.
     
    We kissed a few more times
and said our ‘I love you’ and ‘good-byes’ and then he was off. I watched as he
crossed the small walkway heading inside the airport. “GRAY WAIT!” I ran the
short distance to where he was standing. “I forgot to give you this.” I pulled
the letter I had written him last night out the back pocket of my jeans. “Read
it after you take off, okay?”
     
    “I promise.” He kissed me
one last time. I blew a quick kiss and waved my final good-bye after I got back
to the car. He did the same and I climbed into my car with tears starting to
spill down my cheeks. My head fell against the steering wheel as my crying
jarred my body. A car horn sounded behind me, making me jump. I checked the
rearview mirror before pulling out into the rest of the airport traffic. I
looked behind me one last time as the tears continued to cloud my vision. He
was gone. This was going to be the longest five and a half months,