Benji shushed her.
“He’s not paying attention,” Daphne protested. Sure enough, Max’s voice drifted through his bedroom door, all laughter and whooping. Daphne shuffled back on the bed, patting the empty space beside her.
Benji flopped onto the bed, burying his cheek in the duvet. “What thefuck.”
“What the fuck indeed,” Daphne agreed, her chin propped up in her hands. She had fake eyelashes again, a dimple popping in her cheek from how hard she was smiling. “So, are you going to tell me what happened, or do I just piece it together from yourveryrushed texts?”
Benji sighed. He rolled onto his back, exhausted. It had been a long,longday. He’d been tense the whole time that the movers were hauling their hastily-packed boxes down the elevator to the moving truck, and Noah kept texting to check in. Asking how Benji wasfeeling. Asking if Benji wassurehe didn’t want him to come over and help out with those final boxes. It was sweet, but a little stifling. Benji could handle it on his own. Benji could handleanythingon his own. He’d been doing it for a while now.
“So, the night of the gala,” he started. “The CEO of Stern Appliances shows up at my apartment. He tells me to end things with Noah or else.”
Daphne frowned. “I thought Noah was CEO?”
“CFO,” Benji corrected. “Finance guy. Not the owner guy. Anyway?—”
He kept explaining, skimming over the crying and the almost-bathroom sex and the more crying and the floor sex untilthey were up to today. How had all of that happened over one weekend? Benji felt like he’d been given the carweeksago.
“And he keeps sending me apartment listings, and Max just asked why we didn’t move in with the guy I’ve been seeing for two months,” he finished. “Not that he knows I’m seeing him. Still. It’s ridiculous! As if I’d actuallydothat.”
Daphne was suspiciously silent. Benji looked over and found her chin still in her hands as she stared down at him, her face unreadable.
“No,” Benji said, heart sinking. “You can’t be on his side. I’m not moving in with a guy I started seeing two?—”
“Three,” Daphne insisted.
“Three—lessthan three—months ago,” Benji corrected, glaring. “That would be— I’m— What about Max?”
“What about him?”
“He’d get attached!”
Daphne shrugged, flopping down so her hair fell into his face. “So?”
“So that would suck, when—” Benji waved a vague hand to encompass the inevitable doom of their relationship. “Come on, Daph. Be realistic.”
Daphne’s gaze went pitying. She reached over and took his hand, squeezing gently.
“We’re doing arts degrees,” she reminded him softly. “You want realistic? Go work at a cafe. Go be a plumber. I spent my whole day pinning tinfoil stars to a canvas, like that’severgoing to let me earn a living.”
“Daph,” Benji said, pulling his hand free.
Daphne held fast. “And I loved it! But don’t pretend this is about realism. This is about your brain being really mean to itself!”
Benji groaned so loud that Max’s booming laughter paused. Benji froze, and Max's laughter started up again.
“Okay,” he snapped, sitting up so he was leaning over her this time. “Wouldyoumove in with him, if you were me?”
Daphne hesitated. “Sure!”
“Aha! You paused!”
“I wouldn’t feel one hundred percent comfortable,” Daphne allowed. “But I’d still do it! Let yourself have nice things, Benji.”
“Let yourself have nice things,” Benji mocked, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Like it was that simple. Noah had tried to tell him, and damn him, Benji was trying. He was genuinely excited about the car, the clothes, and even Noah paying for the hotel. But there was a difference between letting himself have that andmoving in with someone.It was too early. He’d scrolled Reddit for an hour last night, and almost everyone agreed that three months was too early. Daphne and Max, and even Noah, were just… hopelessly optimistic.
“Nice things,” Benji repeated, desperate to change the subject. “You know what’s not nice? He won’t let me jerk off.”
Daphne grinned, surging up on the bed. “Yeah? Did he put a cage on it?”
