Ex with Benefits (Sequel to Roommates with Benefits) [NEW VERSION]

2. Once a cheater, always a cheater

15 years ago

LUKAS

"This isn't the kind of bachelor party I expected from you."

I cracked a small smile, my head hanging low. "The guys are out there partying hard and getting wasted." The midnight air hit my skin like a cooling balm. I'd spent barely an hour at the party Dion and Leo had thrown for me, inviting all the guys we knew. I'd never thought I'd say this, but I wasn't in the mood for partying.

"Yet you're calling me." Tara giggled, sounding mildly tipsy. I wasn't even sure what Kelly and Sean had prepared for her, I just hoped she was okay.

"Who else was I supposed to call?" I asked, sitting down on the terrace, uncaring of the ruckus that came from downstairs. The guys had booked us into some high-end hotel not too far from the church Tara and I had picked. We'd decided to get married in the same church as her grandparents, in our hometown. I could have gone home, the bachelor party could have been hosted there, that mansion is huge and so completely empty. I just didn't feel like it.

"You know the rules." Tara joked, her voice soft yet somewhat unsteady. I could hear noise in the background, a sign that they'd thrown a party.

I wondered if she was comfortable. She always hated these things. She'd only accepted a bachelorette party because they'd promised it'd be just a few friends. Supposedly only Kelly, Sean, Janelle, maybe DeeDee. Aiden was here with the other guys. We actually became pretty good friends. I still don't like his boyfriend, but Aiden is a cool guy.

"Technically, the rule says we can't see each other," I pointed out, leaving my head against the railing of the balcony, "and we're not. Also ..." I checked my watch, "there are exactly 36 hours before the wedding. Plenty of time."

"But why aren't you at the party?"

I heaved a deep sigh, closing my eyes. "I just wasn't in the mood."

"But why?"

"I don't know ..." cue another sigh as I rubbed the bridge of my nose, "I guess Party Hard Lukas was left in high school."

"I think it's something else," Tara pointed out, proving, as always, that she knew me well. We may have been together for barely 2 years, but be it the co-living, be it our combined efforts, there weren't many secrets left.

Except, maybe, mine. As much as I tried, I still couldn't bring myself to talk things out. The one time I did, was before Nicky was born. I cried like a baby as I told her a few things about my mom. After that, every time I tried, I froze.

"Like what?" I feigned ignorance.

"You miss Nicky."

I smiled at the thought of our daughter. "Of course, I miss my Ladybug. I miss her every day."

"I may or may have not checked the baby camera ..." Tara admitted in a low voice, "she's sleeping peacefully."

"Eloise is good with her."

"Oh, she spoils her," my soon-to-be-wife laughed, "as it should be."

The thought of her grandmother made me think of the two people that will likely not be at the wedding. We still kept their spots, but the quarrel they had at Kelly's wedding was huge, Hera even refused to come see her granddaughter when she was born.

Sometimes, I wonder whether it was my fault. Then I remember even my dad set aside his problems with me to be there for my daughter. If the almighty Larry Bennet could, Hera Baker has no excuse. Not that our relationship really improved. No matter how hard Tara tries, a few months of presence and some gifts for his granddaughter don't make up for a life of absence.