Page 64 of Operation Sunshine
Ben’s jaw tightened. He hated being put on the spot, his private world dragged into the open, under the spotlight. But then he felt Franco’s hand brush his under the table, light, quick, and reassuring.
When Ben looked at him, Franco wasn’t grinning or deflecting. His eyes were warm, searching, almost pleading.
Denial was a lousy place to stay, anyway.
Ben exhaled. “Fine,” he said at last. “Yes. We’re… seeing each other. Sort of.”
A chorus of cheers and groans followed his declaration, accompanied by applause. Ollie whooped loud enough to rattle the pots. Mina clapped her hands together, her eyes shining. Willow smirked like she’d just won a bet.
Lexie threw a serviette at Franco’s head. “Took you long enough,” she muttered.
Franco beamed. Under the table, his fingers stayed tangled with Ben’s, a quiet anchor in the storm of teasing and laughter.
Ben breathed a little easier.
Maybe I don’t have to be afraid of this after all.
The laughter from the staff still lingered in Franco’s ears as he leaned against the closed office door, his arms folded tight as though he could hold himself together by force alone. The smile he’d worn all night was gone now, and what was left of him was raw and restless.
Ben closed his laptop, packed it into his bag, then rolled down his sleeves, his gaze steady. “You did fine.”
Franco gave a hollow laugh. “I always do fine. Fine’s my specialty, didn’t you know? Put me on a stage, give me a crowd, and I’ll spin it into gold.” He waved a hand toward the dining room, the teasing voices all gone along with the rest of the staff. “But when it’s me up there—when it’s me they’re looking at—I…” His voice faltered. He rubbed at his wrist, unable to meet Ben’s eyes.
Ben got up from behind the desk and walked over to him. “You hate being seen.”
“Hate it?” Franco’s voice cracked. “Try terrified. I don’t… I don’t do real. When people see you, they start expecting. And then they wait, for the mess, the crash. For me to prove I can’t actually hold onto anything.”
Ben stared at him as though he’d never truly seen Franco until that moment.
“Is that what you really think they’re waiting for?”
Franco pressed his palms to his eyes, expelling a long breath. “Isn’t it obvious? Hell, maybe I’m waiting for it too. It’s always beenthe same pattern: I shine, I burn, I bolt. And if they know that—if they see me—it’s only a matter of time before I let them down.”
Ben closed the distance between them. “They weren’t judging you.” His warm hand found Franco’s. “They were happy. For you. For us.”
Franco froze, staring at their joined hands. The words hit something fragile inside him, something he didn’t know how to protect. He swallowed hard. “That’s what scares me the most,” he whispered.
“What does?”
Franco finally looked at him, his voice raw with the truth he’d been dodging all night. “That I liked it. That you said I was yours and I… wanted it. Like some idiot who believes in fairy tales.”
Ben’s thumb brushed slowly over his knuckles, soothing him. “Not a fairy tale,” he murmured. “Just us.”
In what was starting to become a pattern, Franco didn’t joke or sidetrack. He let the silence fall, let himself lean into Ben’s chest, trembling with the weight of being seen—and wanting it anyway.
The restaurant around them was silent now, and Ben’s hand lingered in his, firm and unyielding.
“Come on,” Ben said softly. It wasn’t an order or even a plea.
It was an invitation, one Franco knew he wouldn’t ignore.
They walked out into the night, the cool air brushing against Franco’s flushed skin. They didn’t talk much on the way to Ben’s flat, not that they needed to. The comforting weight of Ben’s hand around his was enough, an anchor against the tumult in Franco’s head.
At Ben’s flat, Franco hesitated in the doorway. The urge to crack a joke bubbled up—What, no red carpet? No champagne?—but he bit it back. For once, he didn’t want to hide behind noise.
Inside, Ben kicked off his shoes, then glanced back at him with his usual quiet steadiness that always unravelled Franco in ways he didn’t understand.
It was a look that saidstay with me tonight.
