CHAPTER 3
It was the fanciest hotel that Benji had ever stayed in.
Granted, it was also theonlyhotel Benji had ever stayed in. As Max helpfully pointed out, motels and hotels were two different things. Still, this hotel was worlds away from the dingy mattresses and the water-stained ceilings of the motels that Benji had stayed in as a kid.
There were no water spots. No grime on the mirror. The carpet was so thick it was like walking on air. The mattress was almost as soft as Noah’s bed, and—this was the kicker—they even gotseparatebedrooms.
“I thought we’d be stuck in the same room forweeks,” Max cried from the other bedroom, where he was presumably jumping on the bed. It was difficult to tell. There were no creaky springs, just the sound of impacts and Max huffing from effort. “This is awesome! You’re sure we can afford this? We even paid for parking!”
“We’ll be fine,” Benji called, pulling his suitcase open on his bed. “Just don’t take anything from the minibar.”
“I know!”
“Seriously,” Benji stressed, rummaging through his mess of clothes, trying to find where he’d shoved his socks. “It’s like ahundred dollars for a chocolate bar. I have hotel money; I donothave minibar money.”
That was a lie. Benji absolutely had minibar money, especially now that he checked Noah’s most recent deposit into his account. He’d had to sit down and breathe into his hands while the movers loaded their shit into a truck. He could pay off his student loans. He could pay his loans until the end of community college and still have enough to live off of for… a year? Not if he lived in a hotel, but if they found somewhere semi-decent.
Benji unzipped side pocket after side pocket, wondering if he would ever look at money as anything other than survival.With this much money, I could survive until X.
Benji had never had so much survival in front of him. It made him dizzy. He kept doing the calculations on his phone, seeing how long he had until it ran out. No matter what Noah said, there still had to be a time limit. Even if it was longer than Benji expected. A year? Two? He’d never been in a real relationship before. He didn’t know how long he’d take to fuck it up, only that it was coming.
Probably. Almost definitely. He hoped not, but there were only so many times Noah could salvage this. Benji’s good luck had to run out sometime.
Max yelled from the other bedroom, “Benji! Where did I put my social sciences textbook?”
“If it’s not in your suitcase, it’s in storage,” Benji recited, the same thing he’d told him five times since they arrived. He let out a triumphant noise as he opened yet another side pocket, and his socks and boxers spilled out. He knew he hadn’t forgotten. He almost had, but Noah had reminded him. Then Noah went back to wrapping Benji’s dildo in a sock and nestling it lovingly in a box labeled BEDROOM FUCK OFF.
“I hate having stuff in storage,” Max yelled, still jumping. “Why can’t we just stay with Noah? I heard you guys whispering about it in your room! He’s rich, he’s got space! He even said we could move in; that would be so cool!”
Benji grimaced. He thought Max had been in the kitchen during that brief argument that only started because Max was complaining yet again about moving.
“I met him less than three months ago,” Benji pointed out. “And he's my boss! It’d be weird.”
“Rich people are weird,” Max replied.
There was a brisk rap on the door.
“I know that knock,” Max screamed. “Daph’s here!”
There was a loud grunt and a thump. Then Max shot out of his bedroom, running for the door and throwing it open. “Daph! Check out this hotel room! It’s got, like, FOUR rooms! It’s bigger than our apartment!”
“Old apartment,” Benji said darkly. “Hi, Daph. Don’t touch the minibar.”
“No promises,” Daphne chirped. She flung her arms around him, and Benji remembered the first time that she tried hugging him in sophomore year. He’d flailed out in shock and accidentally given her a bloody nose.
Max hugged her next, bouncing with excitement. “Come see my room! It’s got birds painted on the ceiling!”
“She didn’t come here to hang out withyou,” Benji reminded him. “Go give us some privacy, would you?”
Max flipped him off. Benji did it back, the two of them shoving their hands in each other’s faces until Daphne pried them apart.
“I’ll see it after I catch up with Benji,” she told Max, tweaking his curls. “Okay?”
Max opened his mouth, presumably to complain. Then his laptop dinged back in his bedroom, and his eyes lit up.
“Okay, cool,” he said in a rush, running back to his bedroom and slamming the door.
Daphne beamed, dropping down onto Benji’s double bed. “This is soluxurious! A gift from Daddy?”
