Page 18 of Candy Hearts
Benji’s resolve to crawl off this beautiful man dissolved completely. He slumped back onto William’s abdomen. So hard yet so comfortable.
“Like ten minutes?”
“Like an hour and a half.”
Benji yelped. “I slept on top of you for an hour and a half!”
“Yes.”
“Oh no. I’m such a jerk. Did you sleep too?”
William was silent for a long beat before he shrugged and said, “Yes.”
“Liar.”
“It was like dozing. Relaxing here with you, not worrying about … well, anything.”
“What do you normally worry about?” Benji asked.
“Work.”
“Blah. Boring.”
William laughed and touched Benji’s chin. “It can be, but it’s been the only thing in my life for a very long time.”
William’s serious gaze sent a shot of fear from Benji’s heart to his fingertips. This was getting a little heavy, and they needed some ground rules.Benjineeded ground rules, or he was going to get his hopes up.
He’d get his hopes up or get his heart broken. Either way, he was a total sucker for assholes who were married to their jobs. Or married to other men. He’d fallen into that trap once too.
God, guys sucked sometimes.
“Will. Can I call you Will?”
“Wish you wouldn’t,” William said with a laugh.
“Fine. William. What are we doing?”
Suddenly, William seemed very interested in the thick curtains behind the couch, his gaze shifting away from Benji. “Cuddling. Or cuddle hostaging?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
A small, unhappy smile marred William’s stern face and he wrinkled his big nose. Benji adored that nose, especially when it wrinkled up like that.
“I know,” William said. “I wasn’t planning on a fake valentine this weekend.”
Benji frowned and took a deep breath. He hadn’t been planning on fucking a stranger either. He definitely hadn’t been planning on cuddling with one. Or being a fake valentine, but he’d suggested it, and here they were. Ground rules. He needed them!
“I have a problem,” Benji blurted. William frowned. Now they were frowning at each other like two very unhappy cuddlers. “It’s a personal problem. A love-life problem. And I’ve been trying to solve it. Trying to figure myself out. To figure out how to be healthy when it comes to relationships and friendships and boundaries. I’m worried I just fucked that up.”
William let out a shuddery sigh. A disappointed sigh, maybe? Or a scared one? Then William lifted a hand and cupped Benji’s cheek. “Sweetheart. Can I call you sweetheart?”
“Wish you would. Like, all the time,” Benji admitted.
“Sweetheart, whatever you’re worried about, I’ll help if I can. If you’re freaked out about what we did, we can fix it. I’m not here to hurt you or complicate things for you. It’ll be okay. If I can make it okay, I will.”
“Gah, you’re too much.”
William snorted a laugh. “What’s the problem? You said you have a problem. Tell me what it is, and we’ll go from there.”
