Page 31 of Candy Hearts
Robin laughed, low and husky. “He’s not alone.” He snapped his gaze to her, and she shrugged. “Benji Holiday’s monster truck is out there.”
“Monster truck?” William hadn’t noticed Benji’s vehicle the few times he’d opened the door today. Benji owning a monster truck was not that surprising. He was delightfully weird.
“It’s not a monster. It’s a 1980 Ford F-150 Ranger XLT four-by-four short bed.” The three of them whipped around at Benji’s voice. Benji had thrown on baggy sweats and his orange poncho. He smiled shyly. “Hi.”
William couldn’t hold in a starry-eyed grin.
Wren, thank God, was not looking at him. Robin was.
“Benji didn’t get the memo about the postponement of the party. He got here around lunch,” William explained.
“Oh, that sucks, Benji,” Wren said. “You must have been bored all day. Especially with this one.” She flicked her thumb at William, but before anyone could respond, she said, “We need beer. I had the longest day.”
“We left it in the car,” Robin said. “Need to get our bags too. I’ll help you carry everything in.”
Robin waved William away when he made toward the door to help them. Once the door closed behind them, Benji puffed out his cheeks and let out a big breath. “So, Robin can tell.”
William laughed. “Robin might just assume. Her parties are, well …” He stopped. He had no idea if Benji knew about Robin’s parties. She kept them pretty secret.
“Have you been to Robin’s orgies?”
Okay, he knew.
“A time or two. Have you?”
“Robin sees me as a little brother. No one invites their little brother to an orgy.” Benji’s eyes went wide. “Oh God, please tell me you haven’t fucked my sister. Or my soon-to-be brother-in-law. I know they go to those parties, and I’m not sure I can handle that.”
“No. Anyway, I haven’t gone to one in years. Way before Perry was on the scene.” No reason to tell Benji that the only person he’d ever slept with at a Lady Robin’s orgy was Wren. Well, actually, maybe heshouldexplain that to Benji.
“Whew. That’s good. I mean, I say I couldn’t handle it, but also …” He shrugged. “I like you. So I could probably put it from my brain momentarily while you put your tongue in my—”
The front door banged open, and Wren and Robin stomped in. They both looked like rockstars—Wren a goth goddess with pale skin and ripped clothes, Robin all steampunk and femme fatale.
“It’s sleeting out there. Sleet is the worst type of precipitation. Like, make up your mind, sleet! Are you rain or are you snow?” Wren set down a duffle bag and case of beer before tugging her shoes off. “Beers all around.”
William got the fire going again, since it didn’t seem as if Wren and Robin were planning to head to bed soon. Benji split the gas station brownie into four parts, which William thought was very gracious of him, and passed a square to everyone. Robin and Wren settled on the couch together. Benji plopped down on the rug again, which made William flashback to their afternoon exertions in that very spot. Benji grinned at him.
William sat in the chair.
From there, he’d have a perfect view of Benji without it being obvious that he was staring at him. William could be contemplating the fire. No one would be any wiser.
“Willie, how did your date go last week?” Wren asked. She turned to Benji. “William’s New Year’s resolution was to find love.”
William tensed. Benji tensed.
“Don’t call me that, Wren, and it wasn’t to find love. It was to go on some dates.”
“Whatever.” Wren waved her hand and grinned. “So how was it, lover boy?”
“It was not great.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“She was a teetotaler. Didn’t like my job. The meal turned into a lecture.” William took a sip of beer to put an extra-fine point on it.
Wren sighed sadly. “What about the date with Dray?”
William tried not to glare at her. The last thing he wanted to do was hash out his disastrous first dates in front of Benji.
