Page 64 of Something Like Summer
Living in Austin had beenan easy adjustment. The city had its own skyline, waterfront, andculture centers, so it was in effect a smaller, warmer version ofChicago. Well, not exactly, but Ben found it much more vibrant thanHouston had ever been. He had also settled nicely into theuniversity. Allison had been there to guide him around all of theusual newbie hiccups, and after eight weeks Ben hardly ever gotlost around campus anymore.
The phone rang, makingAllison wince and Ben jump to his feet. He knew it would be Jacecalling with his flight times. He waited until he was out of thekitchen before allowing himself to shout withexcitement.
“Hello?” Ben gasped oncehe had finally found the phone.
“Hey, bucko,” Jace said inforced jovial tones that Ben had already learned tointerpret.
“You aren’tcoming.”
Jace sighed heavily intothe receiver. “I wanted to call you yesterday but it was the nightfrom hell. I didn’t get in until 3 a.m.”
Ben frowned and ploppeddown onto the sofa. “So do you have to work thisweekend?”
“No,” Jace answeredcautiously, “but my sister is out of town and someone has to takecare of Samson.”
“Oh, come on! This is thethird time you’ve canceled! I haven’t seen you once thismonth.”
“The other two times werebecause of work,” Jace replied calmly. “This is the first timebecause of Samson.”
“He’s a cat! Load up hisfood bowl and he’ll be fine overnight.”
“I haven’t been home forover a week,” Jace countered. “He needs to see mesometime. Anyway, I canget you on an afternoon flight and we can--”
“Forget it.”
“What?” Jace asked,sounding startled.
“Forget it,” Ben repeated.“You have fun with your cat. I’m going to do my ownthing.”
“Ben, I’m not tryingto--”
“I just need my space,”Ben interrupted. “I’ll see you next weekend.”
Ben hung up the phone,feeling instantly ashamed. He wasn’t being fair to Jace, he knewthat. Part of him also knew that he could get away with acting likethis. As difficult as Ben could be, he never managed to ruffleJace’s feathers. Ben supposed this skill came from dealing withannoying passengers every day.
The phone rang again. Benwanted to pick it up and be civil, but he also didn’t want toappear insane by letting his mood shift too suddenly. He shouldprobably pretend to really be angry, at least for a little while.He picked up the phone.
“Just let me--”
“I’ll call you later,” Bensaid before hanging up again.
All right. So maybe he wasbeing psychotic.
He didn’t really mind thatJace was so crazy about Samson. That proved that he was capable oflong-term love and dedication. Sure, he was a little possessivewith his cat, but then, Samson was overprotective of Jace. Theywere cute together, and Ben had just passed up the chance to becurled up in bed with both of them. And for what? Because the planhad changed? Jace had managed to visit Austin five times in twomonths. Just because schedules were tight in the last three weekswas no reason to punish Jace. Ben was being childish.
Time to admit he was beingan idiot. He didn’t know why love made him act so irrational, buthe was pretty sure he wasn’t alone in his emotionally inducedinsanity. Every time he saw Jace the feelings intensified. They gotalong so well and their relationship had been so harmonious that itwas hard not to selfishly want as much as he could get. Instead,his behavior had cheated him out of more of that time. Ben reachedfor the phone so he could call and apologize. It rang before hecould pick it up.
“Hello?” he saidtentatively.
“Italy,” Jace said asquickly as possible.
Ben furrowed his brow inconfusion. “What?”
“I’m taking you to Italy,you spoiled shit!”
“You are?” Ben asked,feeling like a tool, but a very happy one.
“Yes. I wanted to tell youin person, but--”
