“You trust him?”
“Yes.” Joshua’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t trust myself.”
Those words hurt Benji’s heart. “I trust you. You made a promise to me today, and I trust you. I trust in us.”
And deep, deep down, Benji still needed Joshua to prove to him that their relationship was enough. That their love was strong enough to see them through any obstacle.
Even an obstacle as sexy and beautiful as Van Holt.
SEVEN
The unfamiliar cadenceof someone snoring by his ear snatched Joshua out of a deep, dreamless sleep and crashed him back into his body with a startling jolt. He jerked up from the pillow only for a bolt of agony to slice down the back of his neck and spine. He smashed his face back into the pillow until some of the dizzying pain of the headache relented, allowing him a chance to take stock of things.
His mouth tasted like stale liquor and lemon, and his stomach was sloshy, which hinted at tequila shots—one of Benji’s favorite things when he was feeling playful. Tequila helped him relax, and some of the best, rowdiest sex of their lives had happened while Benji was hammered on tequila.
Benji doesn’t snore.
Horror stole over Joshua. He tried to move again, only to realize that his bare skin was pressed against the sheets.
Why am I naked? Who the fuck is snoring?
Another naked body was plastered close to his, an arm across his waist—opposite side of him from the person snoring. He hazarded a quick peek. The sight of Benji sleeping next to him released some of the fear that had frozen his insides—fear thathe’d only managed to go half a day without cheating on his boyfriend.
Thank God, he hadn’t fucked it up already.
Except snoring person.
Risking more pain from his hangover headache, Joshua turned his head to his other side. Van was sleeping next to him, one arm flung across his eyes, mouth wide open, and snoring.
He was also on top of the covers and fully dressed in yesterday’s clothing.
Joshua groaned in relief, then snuggled closer to Benji, easing into the embrace. Benji snuffled once, and the arm around his waist tightened. Warm kisses landed on back of Joshua’s neck. He relaxed into the joy of being in bed with his boyfriend.
And a third guy.
That thought sent him bolt upright. His aching head screamed at him, and the sudden motion startled the other two guys awake. Benji groaned. Van sat up more slowly, apparently clear-eyed and not hungover at all.
Did he drink with us?
“The hell happened last night?” Benji asked. “My mouth tastes like ass.” Then he spotted Van and startled so hard he rolled right off his side of the bed. “Ow. Fuck.”
“No one fucked last night,” Van said. He stifled a yawn, which made Joshua yawn too.
“Oh, thank God.” Benji’s head popped up over the side of the mattress. “Then why am I naked?”
Van glanced at both of them and blushed. Really, truly blushed. “After the concert last night, I was going to drive home and leave you two to celebrate, but you”—he pointed at Benji—“insisted I stay and hang you with guys. We hit up a few bars; you two did quite a bit of drinking, so I named myself your chaperone for the rest of the night. Joshua came up with thebright idea to buy a bottle of tequila and a pack of cards, and to come back to your room to play strip poker.”
Joshua groaned and dropped his face into his hands.
Benji climbed back into bed, the sheet tight around his waist. “How badly did we embarrass ourselves?”
“Not too badly.” Van laughed. “Although it’s too bad we weren’t playing for money, because I’d have cleaned up. By the time you were both down to your underwear, you’d stopped playing and started groping each other. You got in bed, and then you just kind of fell asleep together. I was too tired to drive home, so I crashed here.”
As drunk stories went, that wasn’t a bad one. Joshua and Benji had both been drunk and naked. Joshua very much believed Van about no one having sex last night. First, he helped Joshua fix his relationship, and then he stayed hands-off despite blackout drunkenness and the very real attraction between them.
There aren’t enough decent guys in the world.
“Thank you,” Benji said.
