Better With You by Brit Benson

Author:Brit Benson [Benson, Brit]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary
Amazon: B09FFGNS4P
Goodreads: 57992122
Publisher: Brit Benson Books
Published: 2021-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

When I get to my room, the first thing I do is call Ivy. She answers on the first ring.

“Hey, babe,” she chirps. I can hear laughter in the background, then I hear rustling and a door shutting, and it grows quieter. “How’s it going?”

I break.

“I don’t belong here, V,” I say through silent tears. My insecurities unleash and swell like a tidal wave, and I let them pull me under, covering me in darkness. “I don’t belong here.”

“Yes, you do.” Her voice is full of conviction. “You belong there as much as anyone else. What happened?”

“We almost got sent home. Today. On the first fucking day.”

“Okay.” She takes a soothing breath and I instinctively mimic her. “But you didn’t, right?”

“No. But, V, I botched cupcakes. Cupcakes. All these other contestants are so much more talented than me. And they know how to bake. They’ve probably been doing this way longer. I never even used a real kitchen until we got the apartment. Before that it was just the community one in the dorms where I had to rotate everything every ten minutes or it would burn the whole left side and undercook the right.”

“Hey, you made some great stuff in that crappy kitchen.” I can hear the smile in her playful tone.

“True. But none of those recipes would win here.”

“Stop selling yourself short, Bailey. You’re a talented baker. You’re creative and imaginative and talented. You just had a little hiccup today.”

“And what if I have another hiccup tomorrow? What if they throw me something I’ve literally never baked before? I’m going to fail, V. I’m going to fail and let Brandon down again.”

“First, you have never failed Brandon. Ever.” Ivy’s voice is stern, bucking any argument. “You’ve told me that whole story, B, and none of it was your fault. Brandon made his own choice in telling Craig, and there is no way you could have known what was going to happen freshman year. You were and are a great sister. You have never failed him.”

I squeeze my eyes shut as tears continue to stream out, losing the battle to stifle my whimpers.

“You’re good enough to be there, Bailey. You deserve to be there, and I know you can do this.”

“I don’t feel good enough.”

Ivy sighs and I hear her sniffle. When she speaks again, her voice is soft, but no less firm.

“You’re thinking like a secondary character again, B,” she says the thing she’s been telling me periodically since sophomore year. “You’re more than the token best friend or twin sister. You’re more than a supporting part. You don’t exist just for the purpose of moving someone else’s storyline forward. You’re main character material.”

“I know,” I whisper.

“Say it,” she urges, and a small smile breaks on my lips.

“I’m the hero in all of my stories.”

“Every single one of them. And this baking competition is yours, too. It’s your plot, B. You’re the hero in this story. Right?”

“Right,” I say with a sniff, and I wipe my face with my sleeve.

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