Friday Night..
1420 Words
By Thursday afternoon, Anna had memorized the cracks in the ceiling of Room Twelve.
The motel air conditioning rattled constantly.
The shower water took exactly three minutes to turn warm.
And every night around midnight, someone drove too fast down the highway behind the motel with music loud enough to shake the windows.
Blackwater Ridge was officially the strangest place she’d ever been.
And somehow, Ben Moretti was still the strangest part of it.
Anna lay sprawled across the bed scrolling mindlessly through her phone before tossing it onto the mattress in frustration.
No service again.
Perfect.
Outside, the desert heat pressed against the motel windows in thick waves. The red neon VACANCY sign buzzed endlessly outside her room like it was trying to drive her insane.
She needed coffee.
Or entertainment.
Preferably both.
Anna grabbed her boots and headed downstairs.
The motel office was empty.
A half-finished cigarette burned in the ashtray behind the counter, meaning Ben couldn’t be far.
For some reason, her eyes immediately searched for him anyway.
Annoying.
She found him outside near the back lot, crouched beside an old motorcycle with grease staining his hands.
He didn’t notice her at first.
Or maybe he did and chose not to react.
With Ben, it was hard to tell.
Anna leaned against the railing above him.
“You secretly rebuilding cars back here or hiding bodies?”
Ben tightened something with a wrench before answering.
“Depends who’s asking.”
“You know, most people would call this a hobby.”
“It’s work.”
“Everything’s work to you.”
That finally made him glance upward.
His dark eyes settled on her for half a second before returning to the motorcycle.
Conversation over.
Anna frowned.
“You’re really committed to this whole emotionally unavailable thing.”
“Thought you’d appreciate consistency.”
She rolled her eyes and headed downstairs.
Up close, the motorcycle looked old and expensive.
Ben wiped grease from his hands with a rag.
“You always wander where you shouldn’t?”
“You always answer questions with questions?”
“Yes.”
God.
Everything about him was irritating.
The silence stretched.
Ben kept working.
Anna kept standing there.
“You know,” she said eventually, “it’s actually impressive how little interest you show in people.”
Ben shrugged slightly.
“Most people leave.”
The answer caught her off guard.
Not because it was emotional.
Because it wasn’t.
He said it like fact.
Simple.
Finished.
Anna studied him more carefully now.
“You always this cynical?”
“You always this curious?”
“Maybe.”
Ben stood slowly, taller up close than she remembered.
The heat outside suddenly felt heavier.
“You should work on that,” he said.
“My curiosity?”
“Yeah.”
“What if I like knowing things?”
Ben tossed the rag onto the motorcycle seat.
“What if some things aren’t your business?”
There it was again.
That wall.
Every conversation with him felt like touching an electric fence.
Anna should’ve walked away.
Instead she crossed her arms stubbornly.
“You know what I think?”
“Not particularly.”
“I think you enjoy acting mysterious because it makes people leave you alone.”
Ben stared at her blankly.
Then:
“I think you talk because silence makes you uncomfortable.”
Ouch.
Anna narrowed her eyes instantly.
“You’re kind of a jerk.”
“You still keep coming down here.”
And there it was.
That tiny almost-reaction again.
Not flirting.
Not warmth.
Just awareness.
Like he noticed her more than he wanted to.
Before Anna could answer, another voice cut through the heat.
“Well, look who finally left her room.”
Anna turned.
The silver-haired waitress from the diner walked across the lot carrying two iced coffees.
“You looked bored,” she said, handing Anna one.
“Honestly? I was close to climbing the walls.”
The waitress laughed.
“Jade.”
“Anna.”
Ben grabbed another cigarette from his pocket.
“You recruiting strays now?” he asked flatly.
Jade ignored him expertly.
“You doing anything tonight?” she asked Anna.
“Besides slowly dying in this motel? No.”
“There’s a bar outside town.”
Ben immediately went still beside the motorcycle.
Tiny reaction.
Easy to miss.
Anna noticed anyway.
“Fun bar?” she asked.
Jade smirked slightly. “Depends how much trouble you enjoy.”
“That sounds promising.”
“It’s Friday night. Whole town goes.”
Ben lit his cigarette.
“No.”
Anna looked toward him immediately.
“No what?”
“You’re not going.”
The directness of it surprised everyone for a second, and Anna found this hotter than she let on.
Jade blinked. “Since when do you decide that?”
Ben exhaled smoke slowly.
“Since tourists don’t belong there.”
Tourists.
Anna’s irritation flared instantly.
“Wow. I forgot I needed your permission.”
“You don’t.”
“Then why exactly are you answering for me?”
Ben’s eyes settled on hers calmly.
“Because you don’t know the town.”
“And you do?”
“Yes.”
His confidence irritated her almost as much as his indifference.
Jade looked between them with open amusement now.
“Oh, this is interesting.”
“Nothing’s interesting,” Ben muttered.
Anna stepped closer.
“Why do you care where I go?”
“I don’t.”
The answer came too fast.
Too automatic.
And somehow that made it worse.
“Then stop acting like my dad.”
Ben’s jaw tightened slightly.
“I said you shouldn’t go.”
“And I said I didn’t ask.”
The tension sharpened instantly.
Hot desert wind moved through the lot while they stared at each other.
Neither backed down.
Finally Jade clapped her hands once.
“Well. Anyway. I’m going at nine.”
Anna didn’t break eye contact with Ben.
“I’ll be ready.”
Ben laughed quietly under his breath.
Not amused.
Disbelieving.
“You’re doing this because I said no.”
Anna tilted her head.
“You think everything’s about you?”
“Yes.”
That answer almost made her smile.
Almost.
Ben looked toward Jade instead.
“Don’t bring her there.”
Jade scoffed. “She’s an adult.”
“She’s reckless.”
Anna blinked.
“You barely know me.”
Ben looked directly at her.
“I know enough.”
The comment landed harder than it should have.
For one second, something strange passed between them.
Not softness.
Recognition maybe.
Like he’d already figured out parts of her she tried not to show people.
Anna hated that feeling immediately.
So she pushed back harder.
“You know what I think?” she asked coldly.
Ben looked exhausted already. “This should be good.”
“I think you hate when things happen that you can’t control.”
His expression flattened instantly.
Dangerous territory.
Jade noticed too.
“Anna—”
“No, seriously,” Anna continued. “You walk around acting like you own everything here.”
“I own the motel.”
“You know what I mean.”
Ben stared at her for a long second.
Then he stepped closer.
Not aggressively.
Just enough.
Enough for Anna to suddenly become aware of how close they were standing.
“You should stop trying to figure me out,” he said quietly.
His voice was calm.
Low.
Controlled.
Which somehow made it worse.
Anna folded her arms tighter.
“Why?”
“Because you won’t like the answer.”
Then he walked away.
Just like that.
Conversation over again.
Anna watched him disappear toward the motel office while frustration twisted hot beneath her ribs.
God, she wanted to get under his skin.
Not because she liked him.
Absolutely not.
Because nobody had ever dismissed her this thoroughly before.
And somehow Ben kept doing it effortlessly.
Jade sipped her iced coffee beside her.
“He does that.”
Anna tore her eyes away from the office door.
“Does what?”
“Acts like he doesn’t care.”
Something about the wording caught her attention immediately.
“Acts?”
Jade smiled slightly but didn’t answer directly.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Anna looked back toward the motel office.
The blinds had shifted slightly.
Like someone inside had moved them.
Watching.
Her pulse stumbled before she immediately got annoyed with herself for noticing.
Tonight suddenly sounded a lot more interesting than sitting alone in Room Twelve.
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