andante ❈ benjamin pavard

SEVENTEEN

Nina's face was filled with confusion, and Zoe knew her's was as well.

"Why is she here?" Nina asked, her tone accusatory. Zoe recoiled at the question and instinctively moved closer to Ben. He immediately moved away.

"Jacques was being really creepy and she had nowhere to go, so I let her come to Paris with me."

Let me? Zoe thought incredulously. He was the one who offered! Zoe had wanted to stay behind at Noelle's, but Ben all but forced her to stay with him. She wanted to stick up for herself, but her brain was moving at a hundred miles per hour while her mouth stayed at zero.

Ben was still with Nina. Sort of. Zoe wanted to be surprised, but she wasn't. Nina was the type of girl that boys like Ben were supposed to fall in love with. Who they were supposed to be with. Zoe was the type of girl that was supposed to fall for golden boys like Ben. They were all just playing their respective parts.

"You took her on the Paris trip? Ben, that was supposed to be our trip!"

"You're the one who bailed because you hate Paris!"

"You're supposed to know I hate Paris! Why would you plan a surprise trip to a place I hate?"

Zoe couldn't believe what she was hearing. That's why the hotel room seemed so off to Zoe-- because it was always meant for two. It was why they fit so perfectly together on it. Anyone would. It felt like Zoe was suffocating under the weight of all of the realizations she was coming to, and there were even more to come.

"Sorry I wanted to go to the City of Love for our one year anniversary!"

One year. They had been dating for an entire year. They were together before Zoe, during Zoe, and probably after Zoe. She was just a blip in Ben's radar. Someone to keep his mind off of beautiful, perfect Nina Girard. Zoe bit her lip, hoping the pain would stop her from crying.

"Yeah, and you spent our one year anniversary with another girl." Nina shook her head, and Zoe could feel the daggers Nina was sending her. Zoe didn't blame her. She'd react the same way. "And every time I was on the phone with you, you were with her?"

So that's who Ben was on the phone with. Not his agent. His girlfriend? His ex-girlfriend? His on pause girlfriend?

"You broke up with me before I left!" Ben broke out into laughter, but it wasn't out of amusement. It was forced. It was empty. It hurt to hear. A sound that Zoe had come to love was twisted beyond recognition. "And it's not like she's some prostitute I picked from the street. She's Mathieu's little sister. You've known her for years. Hell, you fucked her brother."

"Fuck you," Nina snapped. "I'm not a fucking idiot, Ben. I know what you do. I know what you do every time we go on break. You run to Noelle, or Juliette, or Alice, or whoever the stupid girl of the week is, and you did it again. Except, this time, you have the balls to rub it in my face."

"You aren't even supposed to be here! This is my house! You live in Bordeaux!" Ben brought his hands up to his head in exasperation.

"Not even going to deny you fucked her in the suite you picked for us?"

"When are you going to get it through that thick, industrial sized head of yours that I did not have any sexual contact with Zoe? At all? I never thought about her in that way, ever. I promise." Ben ran his hands down his face in frustration. "Jesus, Nina."

Zoe hated how close she was to crying. Zoe hated how Margot was right. Zoe hated a lot of things at that moment. But mostly, she hated how in love she was with Ben. She hated how he could act like she was the only girl in the world when she wasn't even the only girl in his life. She hated how his eyebrows danced when he concentrated on something. She hated how he was so generous with his money. She hated how his laugh sounded like an angel singing. And she hated how, even knowing the outcome, she would spend the weekend with him all over again.