Chapter Five
Hey, you wanna go on an adventure?
Sam had been staring at the text for the last three minutes, unsure how to respond. The sentimental choice of words was almost enough to make him think that someone had stolen Ben’s phone, but then, they were only sentimental between them.
That was the first thing Sam had ever said to him, on the first day they met.
Sam still thought of that day as the best one of his life. Everything had changed the moment he’d worked up the courage to go and talk to the cute reporter he’d had his eye on for weeks. Even though it hadn’t worked out the way he’d initially imagined, he wouldn’t have traded any of it for the world.
Of course he wanted to go on another adventure. He’d go on any adventure Ben wanted to take him on.
Obviously, he finally texted back.When + where?
Excitement welled up in his stomach. He’d been part-way through packing the few things he owned back into the suitcase he’d been living out of for the past ten years, but he’d drop it all for Ben.
He’d always drop everything for Ben. He’d just forgotten that for a while.
We need to talk in person. Meet me back at that coffee shop, as soon as you can.
That sounded… weirdly urgent, but then Ben had a tendency to make everything sound weirdly urgent. Sam’s hotel wasn’t all that far from the coffee shop, so he could be there quickly. He shot back a quickon my wayand ducked into the bathroom to check his hair.
The scar on his face suddenly seemed huge again. There was no way in hell Ben hadn’t noticed. He just wasn’t mentioning it out of politeness, probably.
If nothing else told him they were just friends, and they’d always be just friends, it was that. No one who was interested in him could ignore that. Even if it wasn’t a complete dealbreaker, they’d react to it one way or another.
Ben, on the other hand, had reacted like a friend. He hadn’t even looked twice.
The sun was setting by the time Sam stepped out of the hotel and onto the street. People were making their way home, pushing past Sam in waves, staring down at their phones, telling loved ones they’d be home soon, or asking if they needed to pick up milk on the way, or cursing their boss for last-minute emails.
A cool breeze blew past. It might have been Sam’s imagination, but he caught the faintest hint of salt on it, though he knew he was probably too far from the ocean for that. He’d been much closer for most of the last decade, soaking up the sun on exotic beaches all over the world.
LA still seemed so strange, and that was part of why he was trying to run away from it right now. Home wasn’t home anymore.
If Ben needed his help, though…
Sam had never been able to refuse him. If Ben had told him to stay on the day he left, he would have. No matter how much it would have broken his heart.
The coffee shop was blissfully idle. A lot places were closed by now, but apparently this was one that understood that sometimes, people needed coffee at night, too.
Ben was already occupying a table in the corner, a cup of coffee sitting in front of the seat opposite him while he focused on his phone, squinting in the mood lighting.
Sam’s heart flipped. He was looking at everything he’d lost, and everything he’d missed, and it hurt. It hurt like hell not to have Ben.
“Thank you for coming,” Ben said, looking up as Sam sat down. “And sorry for making this all seem so urgent, but it kind of is. I… was me, as usual.” He smiled wryly.
Sam knew what that meant. Ben had done something without putting a lot of thought into it first, and now he was stuck. He’d always relied on Sam to help him out, and Sam had always been happy to.
That hadn’t changed.
“What did you do?” Sam asked. He already knew he was going to help with whatever Ben needed him for, but he figured he should find out what that was, first.
Ben cleared his throat. “Well, see, they wanted Eliot to go and do a fluff piece, but he’s working on something important right now and I don’t want his career to slide backward like that, and it was either hand him over or lose my own personal project…”
“Following so far,” Sam said. Ben rambling didn’t seem like a good sign.
“Uh. So now I have to write the fluff piece.” Ben sipped his coffee, then looked up and met Sam’s eyes. “How do you feel about going to a couples’ retreat?”
Sam blinked at him, opened his mouth to respond, and then blinked again before closing it.
