“I meantabouthim.”
“Those are things about him.”
“Ben.”
“I don’t know anything beyond his name and what he looks like. I could probably tell you what kind of soap he uses, but if I think about him too hard, I’ll probably get an erection in the middle of the store and I think that would embarrass you.” He paused to breathe and raised an eyebrow at her. “Did you want me to try anyway?”
“You’re an asshole.”
In his pocket, Ben’s phone hammered with a staccato vibration and he pulled it out to check the alert. His screen remained black, which let him know it was a One-Night alert. A quick glance at Lara confirmed thatshealso knew what the alert was, and she grinned at him eagerly while waiting for him to read it.
He knew without looking it was from Thomas, and his finger shook a little as he tapped on the inbox icon. But in the deepest part of his chest, Ben didn’t need to read the message. He already knew what it was going to say.
TM45968:Can I see you again?
CHAPTER6
THOMAS
Thomas regretted leavingwithout saying goodbye as soon as Ben’s door closed behind him. He regretted leaving Ben’s messages unread, and he regretted reaching out and finally responding. He worried he looked desperate, answering Ben’s texts with nothing more than a request for another hookup, but it should have been fine. Neither of them was looking for anything serious, and Ben was probably looking for something even more casual than him. Thomas wanted to experiment and Ben, with his tight and toned body, was a perfect test case.
In the hours that passed from when he’d woken up to when he’d finally grown the balls to reach out, he’d made a messy list of the things he liked the most, followed by some things he wanted to explore a little longer. He knew he couldn’t go over to Ben’s with the list in hand, so he’d come up with some ways to try and make things appear like they were happening naturally.
He still wasn’t ready for kissing, though.
Hours turned into minutes and, before he knew it, he’d once again arrived at Ben’s front door. They lived close, only a handful of blocks between their buildings, which Thomas hoped would prove useful in the near future. He knocked quietly and listened to Ben’s footsteps thump louder and louder until the chain was detached and the door swung open.
Ben had a glass of white wine in one hand and the door in the other. He wore nothing more than a skimpy pair of purple shorts that left little to the imagination. Thomas took a breath to once again appreciate Ben’s stature and form, doing his best to not gawk. Even in his own heyday, Thomas had never looked that put-together.
“Hey, you.” Ben smiled and stepped to the side, making room for him to come in.
“Hey.” He hadn’t been nervous all day. Not even when he’d made his list and not even on the walk over. But back in Ben’s apartment with the smell of his soap and their sex still fresh in his nostrils, Thomas’s body turned tense. He straightened his back and tried to look away from Ben’s penetrating stare.
“Did you want a drink?”
Yes.
“Not really.”
Ben chuckled. “Just here for the business portion of the evening?”
“That’s the agreement, isn’t it?”
Ben scrunched his nose and studied Thomas over the rim of his wine glass before taking a decidedly large swallow. He nodded, like he’d made up his mind about something, and then jerked his head toward the bedroom.
“Come on, then,” Ben said, starting down the hallway.
“It was the agreement,” he repeated.
Thomas couldn’t help but feel like he’d mis-stepped. Maybe there was a fine line between casual and disinterested and he’d just fallen firmly onto the wrong side of it. Ben didn’t so much look bothered as much as he looked at Thomas like he was a puzzle with about seventeen missing pieces. Thomas got the feeling Ben wanted to find the pieces and he knew better than to allow that because he had no interest in being seen…being known.
“You’re not wrong.” Ben set his wine glass down on the corner of his dresser before sliding over to the nightstand and flipping on his bedside lamp. The room was dim, even in the light, and Thomas liked the feel of it. He didn’t know Ben, but it felt like a Ben space. Whatever that meant.
“You got curtains,” he observed, drawing an aborted chuckle from Ben.
“Today,” Ben confirmed. “I was at the store when you texted me.”
“I hope I didn’t interrupt.”
