Between Never and Forever

BETWEEN NEVER AND FOREVER BRIT BENSON CONTENTS Playlist Content Warning Prologue Then Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Then Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Now Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Epilogue Also From Brit Sneak Peek Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright© 2023 by Brit Benson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review and certain other noncommercial use permitted by copyright law. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons and things living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental. Except for the original material written by the author, all mention of films, television shows and songs, song titles, and lyrics mentioned in the novel are the property of the songwriters and copyright holders. Cover Design: Kate Decided to Design Editing: Rebecca at Fairest Reviews Editing Services Proofing: Shauna Casey, The Author Agency PLAYLIST cardigan – Taylor Swift Your Name Hurts – Hailee Steinfeld Matilda – Harry Styles hope ur ok – Olivia Rodrigo Feelings – Lauv Miss You a Little – Bryce Vine, lovelytheband Live Forever – Bazzi Girl Almighty – One Direction Ain’t It Fun – Paramore Help I’m Alive – Metric No One Compares to You – Jack & Jill Gasoline – Halsey Blame Me – The Pretty Reckless Wish I Never Met You – Loote Serial Heartbreaker – FLETCHER If I Died Last Night – Jessie Murph Beggin for Thread – BANKS Name – The Goo Goo Dolls feel something – Bea Miller Another Life – Surf Mesa, Josh Golden, FLETCHER All I Wanted – Paramore Back of My Mind – Two Feet Healing – FLETCHER Goddess – BANKS Criminal – Fiona Apple Dazed & Confused – Ruel Cardiac Arrest – Bad Suns the 1 – Taylor Swift Backseat (Kiss Me) – Jutes Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon Bright – Echosmith cardigan – Taylor Swift For the extended playlist, please visit my website, authorbritbenson.com CONTENT WARNING Please be aware, Between Never and Forever contains some difficult topics that could be upsetting for some readers. Topics that take place on page are: vulgar language, sexually explicit content, physical and verbal abuse of a child*, violence, drug use and addiction, sexual assault*, unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancy, near-death experience*, traumatic religious experiences* Topics that are referenced but do not take place on page are: rape, overdose, addiction relapse, loss of a loved one to terminal illness. *If you require a content-specific chapter guide for these topics, you can find one one my website. This one is for the brats. Go off. PROLOGUE A high-pitched scream wakes me, and I shoot upright in my bed. My heart is in my throat and my breath is straining my lungs when I hear it again. Another high-pitched scream. Brynn. My feet hit the floor just as a chanted stream of oh my god begins, and I sprint down the hall toward her room. I have never known fear like this. For these few seconds, terror turns my blood to ice, and the need to protect overpowers everything else. Logic, reason, self-preservation—they all disappear in the seconds it takes me to cross the house. Only the primal instinct to protect, to defend, remains. I shove through the bedroom door at the end of the hall with my fists raised, ready to fight. Ready to kill, if necessary. When I find Brynn sitting cross-legged on her bed, alone, my eyes immediately dart around the room to find the threat. The closet door is open, displaying clothes on hangers. The second-floor window is closed tight. Everything seems as it was hours earlier when I hugged her goodnight. “What’s wrong?” I say, my voice urgent. I glance back at her and find her staring at her tablet with her hand covering her mouth. She doesn’t answer. “Brynn?” I say again, rushing to her bed and dropping to my knees, reaching for her shoulders while scanning her body for injury. She jumps with a gasp as her eyes shoot to mine. “Dad!” she shouts. “Oh my gosh!” Her hand splays over her chest. “What the heck? You scared the crap out of me!” She takes off her headphones and lets out a laugh, her eyes wide. “Oh my gosh, Dad, you look like a ghost. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” My jaw drops, and I suck in a breath. Possibly the first one since being jarred awake. “You screamed,” I say. “I thought something was wrong! I thought you were...that something...” I can’t stop my eyes from scanning her features, my sleep-fogged brain still not grasping that fact that Brynn is fine. She is not hurt. She’s not in danger. I don’t need to beat the life out of an intruder. She’s safe in her room. I consciously unclench my fists. “Oh,” she says sheepishly. “I’m sorry I scared you.” “Brynn,” I breathe out, dropping my head to her mattress and trying to get my heart to calm down. “Jesus Christ, Brynnlee.” “Sorry, Daddy.” We sit in silence for a minute, and when my chest no longer aches with panic, I bring my eyes to hers and raise a stern brow. “Why the hell are you screaming in the middle of the night? You know you’re supposed to be asleep, and you’re not allowed to be on your