Kiss and Makeup Read Online Free Page B

himself from his sobbing lunatic of a roommate with some teasing remark about how tall guys are known for their big wangs or something equally ridiculous. She’d laugh, and he’d laugh, and they’d get back to the superficial banter that befitted two strangers stuck in a hotel room together.
    But he didn’t.
    He just sat beside her, respecting the silence. And her thoughts slipped out. “Honestly, Ben. How is it possible for one person to mess up her life so monumentally?”
    â€œHey, I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems right now.” He rubbed her back, his big hand hot against her T-shirt. “You’ll figure it out. You’ll fix it.”
    Tears brimmed in her eyes with a vengeance. They burned like acid. “No. I won’t. And do you know why?”
    Ben shook his head.
    â€œMe, neither! I mean, do you see this? Do you see my hair?” She grabbed a handful and held it in his direction.
    â€œYeah...”
    â€œI did this for them!” she exclaimed, dropping the strands back into place. “I colored it boring old brown so they wouldn’t be embarrassed by me, but it didn’t work! I’m not even at the wedding yet, and I’ve already disappointed them. Nothing I try ever works, Ben. I don’t know what to do.” She’d never said that to anyone before and admitting the truth hurt so badly she thought her ribs might crack.
    Chloe dropped her face into her hands. Ben’s arms came around her, pulling her close, tucking her cheek to his chest. She gave in and greedily took what he was offering. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she leaned into him and let herself cry.
    She wasn’t sure if it was minutes or hours, but he held her until she had no more tears.
    â€œYou know what, Chloe?” His voice was soft and deep, breaking the silence she’d been measuring with the rise and fall of his chest beneath her cheek. “Maybe there’s nothing
to
do. I mean, I realize I just met you, but you seem okay to me.”
    That tiny reassurance allowed Chloe to muster enough gumption to reach up and wipe the wet tracks from her face. She couldn’t quite bring herself to lift her head off his shoulder, though.
    â€œAnd they’ll see it. One day, they’ll see it. You just gotta give them some time.”
    Her lip trembled, and she bit it, fighting the sadness. “They’ve had twenty-six years, Ben.”
    She felt him exhale. “It’s a really hard thing, you know, not taking the people we love for granted.” She looked up at him then and he smiled, a sad-but-reassuring little half smile that made her believe there was a chance that the despair she felt in that moment might not be insurmountable.
    Chloe pulled away with a final sniff. She was trying desperately to hold onto that moment of comfort even as the embarrassment of her epic cry-fest in front of a virtual stranger began seeping in at the edges.
    She exhaled shakily. “Sorry I got mascara and snot on your fancy shirt.”
    â€œIt’s just a T-shirt,” he averred as he pulled the black-smeared wet patch away from his chest. He even managed not to look horrified.
    â€œYeah, but I bet it cost, like, fifty bucks.”
    â€œSeventy-five,” he corrected. “But I’ll accept it as punishment for being douchebaggy enough to have spent that much money on a plain white T-shirt in the first place.”
    Chloe’s chuckle was waterlogged.
    â€œC’mere,” he said, tucking his thumb in the hem of his shirt. She leaned ever so slightly forward and let him rub the cotton-covered pad of his thumb under her right eye, then her left. She’d be surprised if she had any makeup on at all at this point. Some warrior, she thought, choking in battle and crying off her armor.
    â€œThere,” he said, showing her the black smudges on the fabric. “All cleaned up.”
    She frowned, letting him know she wasn’t