Page 2 of Candy Hearts
“Hey.” The man’s voice was gruff. “It’s okay. Not the end of the world. Why don’t you come inside?”
Benji followed the guy over the threshold. “I can drive back. I don’t want to intrude.”
“You just surprised me is all. Come in, and you can decide if you want to stay or not.”
The inside of the house was dark and a bit nippy, but there was a blazing fire in a big brick fireplace and a kerosene lantern on the coffee table. It would have been cozy and romantic if not for the frigidness wafting off Benji’s new friend.
“What’s your name?” Benji asked.
The guy blinked a few times, his eyes sparking behind the thick frames of his glasses. “It’s William O’Dare. I’m sorry. I want things to go according to plan, so I’m a bit … out of my element.”
The crazy thing was, William O’Dare seemed perfectlyinhis element surrounded by the soft, warm light. He could have been a flannel-pajama model or in a commercial for something all-American, like Ford trucks or Old Navy or homoerotic contact sports.
William was older, hot, and stern—Benji’s kryptonite. Though William was in casual clothes, he was commanding. Exactly the type of guy who usually made Benji feel ridiculous and silly. Exactly the type of guy he craved anyway.
“Plans are made to be thwarted,” Benji said.
“Not my plans.”
Well, this was a fun and enlightening conversation. Benji set his duffle bag down and scratched a hand through his hair.
“How do you know my sister?” he asked.
“We’re friends.”
Yeah, no shit. Talking to this man was like talking to a gorgeous wall.
Benji glanced around the room, trying to think of something to say. The house had a beautiful open plan interior with a modern kitchen and large windows overlooking the gloomy lake. He spotted a shuffle of papers on the coffee table next to the lantern.
“What are you working on?” Benji inched toward the table, hoping to catch a peek.
William sucked in a startled breath and gathered the papers before Benji could see, depositing them on the kitchen counter out of Benji’s view.
He’d expected his Valentine’s Day to suck. All that love in the air. Benji had figured it would hurt to be alone. Again. But at least at a house party he’d be alonewith other people. The point was to be surrounded by Sasha’s outrageous friends so he wouldn’t have time to dwell on his overwhelming loneliness.
Then, when he was tired of being entertained by other people, he’d disappear to his room in this stranger’s house andentertainhimself.
“Will. Do you go by Will?”
“Not really.”
“Okay. Cool.” Yikes. This super sucked. “So, you seem uncomfortable, and I have no idea what the right move is here. Should I leave? I can leave.”
“No. Stay. You drove three hours to get here. That is, if you don’t mind no light or electricity. Or limited heat. The hot-water heater doesn’t require electricity, but the furnace does, unfortunately.”
“Should I just disappear into a room? Also, do I get my own room? I could probably keep myself occupied in there for a few hours.”
“Doing what?”
A fierce tenor of emotion in William’s voice made Benji double-take. This was getting ridiculous. Benji wasn’t going to tiptoe around this dude for an entire day. He’d rather spend three hours driving back to the city.
“Jerking off and eating Valentine’s Day candy most likely. Unless you can think of a better option?”
William’s mouth fell open and his gaze slid from Benji’s face, down his neck and chest to his legs.Whoops.
“I didn’t mean sex with you,” Benji blurted. “That wasn’t the option I was suggesting. I meant Canasta or adult coloring.” Oh God, what if Benji had read that look totally wrong? “Not that you were going to offer sex. Fuck, you might not be queer. I’m sorry. I was kidding about jerking off.”Huge lie.“But I do have candy.”Truth. “I’ll share. Not in a transactional-sex kind of way, but because candy is nice, and I’m good at sharing.”
A sickening, gaping silence followed.
