“Well, I feel like shit.” Noah tugged his arm gently out of his grip, already compiling a list of things he had to pick up on the way to Benji’s hotel. “Wish me luck. I’m going to go home and drink my body weight in orange juice.”
“Worked in college,” Michael replied. Then, “If citrus doesn’t work, are you going to get Tia to bring you soup again? She’d bring it to your place if you asked. She’s a shitty assistant, but she’s pretty devoted to your wallet. I mean, to you.”
Noah paused at the door. He turned, eyebrows raised in a way that hopefully only Michael could recognize aswhat the fuck are you doing right now?
“Have a good lunch,” Noah said coolly.
The balm was unopened on Benji’s nightstand. Noah ignored it for now, instead eyeing the trash can overflowing with tissues next to the bed, the damp jacket in a pile next to the door, and the quivering lump under the blankets.
Noah made a mental note to take the jacket to be dry-cleaned. He sat down on the bed, dragging his plastic bag of supplies with him.
The lump groaned. “Fuck off, Max. Let me die in peace.”
“Not a chance,” Noah said softly.
The lump stilled. Benji’s head appeared out of the top of the duvet, squinting. His curls were a mess, his face damp with old sweat. He stared blearily up at Noah before reaching out and poking him in the chest.
“Noah,” he croaked once he’d presumably decided he wasn’t a fever-induced hallucination. “What are you doing here?”
Noah brushed a damp lock of hair out of his eyes. “Taking care of my baby, obviously.”
“Ugh.” Benji dropped his head back into the mattress, muffling a cough. He looked oddly embarrassed. “Come on, man. I can't do anything right now.”
He thought Noah wanted sex. Noah forced down the urge to grab Benji’s face and ask why thefuckBenji would think he’d want that when Benji was feeling so miserable. He schooled his voice into something calm.
“Oh no,” he said mildly. He reached behind him for the bag of supplies, unscrewing a jar of honey. “That’s a shame. When Icame in here and saw you all croaky and hacking up a lung, I just had to have you.”
“Seriously.” Benji dragged the duvet over his face, hacking hard. “Can we not do this? Just leave me alone. I’ll sweat it out.”
Noah pried the blankets away from his face and brandished a spoonful of honey at him. “Open.”
Benji scowled at it, confused. “Noah.”
“Do I need to order you?”
Benji’s scowl deepened. But his mouth fell open obediently, head tipping up to let Noah slide the spoon into his mouth.
Noah waited. Sure enough, Benji’s eyes widened.
“Oh shit,” he said, muffled around the spoon. “That issmooth.”
“Manuka,” Noah explained. “From New Zealand. It has healing properties.”
“Exotic.” Benji paused to hack into the duvet, then pushed himself up on his elbows to stare groggily around the room. “Where’s Max?”
“Made a friend down the hall,” Noah replied, standing up and heading to the bathroom with a washcloth. “He said he’ll be back for dinner. Do you need me to pick anything up from the storage unit or from college?”
Benji said nothing. Noah leaned toward the bathroom door and found Benji staring at the bag of supplies on the bed, which, beforehand, had been hidden by Noah’s bulk. His expression was dazed, as if he had a conclusion, but his fever-lagging brain wouldn’t let him get to it.
“No,” Benji said finally and sighed. “Fuck. My grades are gonna take a hit. I’m supposed to hand shit in. End of the semester’s coming up.”
Noah ran the washcloth under the faucet. “Worst comes to worst, you can take those classes again.”
“Maybe some of us can, Mr. CFO, butIcan’t just…” Benji’s glare faded into shock. “Huh. Guess I could, if I wanted. Having money is weird.”
“Get used to it.” Noah squeezed the washcloth until it stopped dripping, then returned to the bed. He tapped Benji on the cheek with the cold fabric. “Lean up for me.”
Bewildered, Benji did.
