Page 56 of Candy Hearts
Benji skipped up to him, thrust a glass of grapefruit mimosa—pink for Valentine’s Day—into William’s hand and said, “Help me pick my next Instagram picture.”
“Okay,” William said. He glanced over Benji’s shoulder. Avi was watching them, a small, sly smile on his face. “What type of vibe are you going for?”
Benji stepped even closer, their hips touching. He stole William’s drink to take a sip. When William lifted the cup back to his own mouth, the glass was warm from Benji’s lips.
“Hmmm. Dark and vampy, I think,” Benji said. “With a bit of an anti-Valentine’s Day message.”
William’s mouth went dry. He wanted Benji to have a good Valentine’s Day, to want to celebrate it rather than denigrate it, but William also really wanted to see him in something vampy.
William growled, “You’re a tease, you know that?”
“I know that,” Benji said, nodding very seriously.
“I like this one with the fishnets all over.”
“It’s a bodysuit.”
“Yeah. That one. It’s kind of asstastic though, so if you don’t want your full crack on the Internet, I’d go with the—”
“Did you just say asstastic?”
William flushed.
Benji laughed loudly, attracting the eyes of everyone in the living room. He dropped his voice, “Am I rubbing off on you, William?”
“Not currently,” William sassed back.
“Maybe later.” Benji tapped out a caption. William could see the word “asstastic” in all caps, but other than that, he didn’t read it fast enough. He’d have to follow Benji so he didn’t miss a post. “Sasha said that we could play poker soon, and that you could teach me.”
“Oh, Sasha volunteered me, did she?”
Benji nodded and took another sip of the drink he’d made for William.
“When?” William asked.
“Whenever you can?”
William nodded. “Let me reply to some emails first, then I’ll teach you.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Benji bopped William on the chest, chin, and nose.
They stared at each other for a loaded moment. William wanted to kiss him, and it was clear that Benji wanted that too. There was a hole where the natural action would have been. Benji shook his head and bounded off. William met Sasha’s eyes across the room and flushed, wondering if that gap where the kiss should have been was as obvious to the others as it was to him.
He went to his office. Wren’s suitcase had exploded in there, but he hardly noticed. He fell into his desk chair and took a few deep breaths.
It was going to be okay. Benji would or wouldn’t take him up on the date. They would or wouldn’t work out in the real world. The universe did not end and begin on the lost kiss of a beautiful twenty-four-year-old man.
Emails. William needed to focus on the emails.
It wasn’t hard to do. There were a shit ton of them.
A gazillion deleted emails and four phone calls later, Benji stepped into the office.
William jumped. He’d been in his own world. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“Hey.” Benji closed the door most of the way behind him, but didn’t latch it. “I decided to rescue you.”
“How long have I been in here?”
