“Benjamin, what the fuck? Just because the door is unlocked doesn’t mean you can just waltz in!”
“That’s exactly what it means.” He grins. He’s got his glasses on and his hair is floppier than usual, which is doing funny things to the cadence of my breathing.
Massaging my temples, I eye Sahara and Thea, who of course became fast friends. Right now they are both looking ecstatic to see the very topic of conversation I’ve been avoiding all night.
Sahara stands up first, moving Ernest from his spot on her lap. “The famous Benjamin, so nice to meet you. Sahara.” She points to herself. “I’m in class with Cole.”
“Famous you say?” Ben asks, shaking Sahara’s hand.
“Well, not as famous as I’d like you to be. Cole is keeping her lips sealed.” She narrows her eyes at me playfully.
Bentsksbefore bopping me on the nose, not at all bothered when I bat his hand away. “You know I like those lips nice and open.”
“How you and Jules can be identical in looks and so incredibly different in personality is astonishing,” Thea chuckles.
“I think Jules got all of the brain cells,” I chime in, to an exaggerated frown from Ben.
“Wait.” Sahara holds up her hands. “Explain this dynamic again? You”—she points at Thea—“are with his brother? Twin?”
“You know Dr. Bardot from the Marriage and Family Therapy department?” I ask.
Sahara tilts her head. “The sex therapy professor? Yeah.”
I flourish my hands toward Ben. “This is one of her sons, Ben. He has a twin, Jules, who is the father of that fetus.” Thea rubs her belly for emphasis.
“Shit, I see the resemblance now,” Sahara says, nodding toward Ben. “What’s it like growing up with a mom who is a sex therapist?”
“Enlightening,” Ben deadpans.
“Dr. Bardot is much more interesting than Ben,” I say. “We’ll have to invite her next time. Benjamin”—I turn toward him—“thank you for coming, you can see yourself out.”
Instead of listening, because heneverlistens, he pulls out a chair and sits down next to me.
“Nope, nope nope nope. We are having a girls’ day and last I heard, you identified as a man.”
“Have you confirmed?” Thea waggles her eyebrows suggestively.
“Thoroughly. Inallaspects,” Ben confirms with a wink.
“Out!” I cry.
“Fine, but I did come over for a reason. We are booked at a cabin in upstate New York for next weekend. I’ll pick you up on Friday after your classes.” Ben blows me a kiss before finally exiting my apartment.
“That could have been a text,” I mumble to the closed door. When I turn around, both Thea and Sahara’s eyebrows are sky high.
“Complicated, huh?” Sahara laughs. “Doesn’t seem complicated. Seems like you’re dating Dr. Bardot’s hot son.”
“We aren’t—”dating. But that’s not true, is it?
“Aren’t what, Cole?” Thea asks, her voice gentle.
Plopping down into my chair, I sigh so loudly Ernest wakes up from his nap.
“What was the whole engagement thing about?” Thea pushes. Meeting her eyes, I see why she’s such a great mother. She’s questioning but not in a judgemental way. Curious because she cares.
“Engagement thing?” Sahara pipes up, glancing down at my empty ring finger.
So, for the first time, I tell someone about the pact Ben and I made twelve years ago. The pact I thought Ben had forgotten about until about ten months ago. The pact that apparently he was dead serious about calling in.
