Page 20 of Candy Hearts
They stared at each other, and Benji wondered how clearly William could actually see him without his glasses.
“I feel like there’s a very wrong answer to that question, but I don’t know what it is,” Benji admitted.
William’s expression softened. “That’s okay.”
“Let’s agree that … there are no expectations beyond the weekend.”
“Okay. I can live with that.”
Benji took a big ol’ breath. “But it’s not off the table.”
Chapter Six
Benji couldn’t help but worry that he was wasting precious time. They only had the weekend. But lounging in a cold room with William’s strong arms wrapped around him was now one of his top three ways to spend an evening, so he couldn’t complain too much. The number one and two top ways to spend an evening would probably involve sex. Or food. One—blowjobs. Two—pizza. Three—cuddling. Maybe he could finagle William into a top-five situation.
Four—watching Netflix shows about Australian AirBnBs.
Five—mutual masturbation? Hmmm, he’d have to think on it. Examine the data points.
“What are we going to eat tonight?” Benji whispered.
“I have bread and peanut butter.”
“Boring. Is DoorDash a thing out here in the sticks?”
William kissed the top of Benji’s head. Benji shivered in pleasure. He loved how affectionate William was being with him. He’d never had that.
He’d have to remember to ask for it in the future. With whomever he was with.
“There’s a local pizza place. I think everything in town has power. It only affected the properties in the lake quadrant.”
“There’s a town?”
“Sort of. There’s an antique store, a gas station, a school, and a pizza place. The pizza place is in the gas station.”
Benji hummed. Gas station pizza was perhaps not worthy of the number-two spot on his best ways to spend an evening list, but it was still in the top ten. He wasn’t picky when it came to heaven’s pie.
“Do they deliver?”
“Yes. And I have a coupon. Someone left a flyer on the door.”
“Nothing better than discounted gas station pizza. Let’s do it!” Benji crawled off the sofa ungracefully—William let out anoomphas Benji’s knee narrowly missed his stomach. Then Benji tossed William his phone. “You call. My phone’s about dead. I’ll eat any pizza as long as it doesn’t havefruiton it. Otherwise, surprise me.”
William smiled his indulgent smile and walked into the kitchen to make the order. Benji heard him say, “Yes, I’d like the Sweet Treat Two-Topping Pizza for Two. I have a coupon.”
Benji decided to explore some of the nooks and crannies of the living room while William was occupied. Now that he’d had William’s dick in his mouth, he wanted to know more about the man.
Benji made a circuit of the dim room. It was kind of boring. The bookcase was full of nonfiction and poetry. The walls were gray. The mantel was bare. The afghan on the couch was a muted mauve that clashed with the brown couch. The rug was from Target. Benji could recognize a good Target purchase from a mile away.
Benji skirted the kitchen counter so he could see William in the back corner of the kitchen. He was giving his information to the pizza place.
There was a door off the small breakfast nook. Benji pushed it open gently. He could feel William’s eyes on him, but William wasn’t stopping him.
It was a dark office, but a well-used one. It felt lived-in in a way the rest of the house didn’t. The desk was littered with files and papers and two big computer monitors. There was a black futon that was in the sofa position, but it had clearly been slept on, what with the pillow and messy tumble of blankets covering it.
William’s suitcases were in this room too, open to display neatly folded clothes. A weird sort of protective anger flowed through Benji.
He wheeled around and marched back into the kitchen. William was no longer on the phone, but he was standing still as a statue.
