He’d been expecting to hear all kinds of dangerous or legally grey requests. That was what they did.
This was… not… what they did.
Well, aside from one or two times that had only made Sam pine even more. Ben had seemed so comfortable with pretending, but he’d always sprung back firmly into just friends mode immediately after.
“Wouldn’t that kinda upset Eliot?” Sam raised an eyebrow.
Ben shook his head. “Trust me, he doesn’t want to do this, and he and Danny are as far from on the rocks as you can possibly be. They don’t belong at a couples’ retreat.”
Sam frowned. “Who the hell is Danny?”
“Eliot’s husband,” Ben said. He looked at Sam for a few moments assessing him carefully.
Sam pursed his lips, hoping Ben wouldn’t work out what stupid conclusion he’d jumped to.
“You thought we were together,” Ben said after a few moments. “Didn’t you?”
There wasn’t a whole lot of point in lying about it, now that Ben had seen through him. “A little. Well, no. A lot. You seemed so happy to see him, and the way you look at him… you just radiated love. In your own, incredibly reserved way.”
“I do love Eliot, but it’s not like that at all. He’s my friend, and I like to think I’m his mentor. I don’t, uh. I don’t have a lot of friends.” Ben looked back down at his coffee.
That wasn’t really a surprise. Ben had never had a lot of friends.
Sam had always thought of himself as lucky to be practically the lone member of a very selective club. He was okay with sharing that status, though, if it meant Ben was happier.
Especiallyif it meant Ben wasn’t spoken for. As much as Sam wanted him to be happy, he wanted to be a part of that happiness if at all possible.
“Well, that screws up my plan to ask you to give him my number,” Sam teased. “I figured I could sweep him off his feet, but I wouldn’t break up a happy marriage.”
“He’d be lucky to have you,” Ben said softly. “But Danny’s a good man, too. He’s exactly what Eliot needed in his life.”
Sam wasn’t sure how to respond to that. If Ben thought someone else would be lucky to have him, did that mean…
No. There was no point in letting himself think that Ben would be interested after all this time. He was just asking a favor of an old friend.
A work-related favor, even.
“I really need a decision on that couples’ retreat,” Ben said, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. “I know it’s dumb, but…”
“Are you kidding?” Sam grinned. “It’s my favorite episode of every cop show ever.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “Are you still watching those dumbass cop shows?”
“Are you still getting overly invested inGrey’s Anatomy?” Sam countered. Ben had been a fan from the first episode, and he’d tried to keep it a secret until Sam caught him.
It wasn’t exactly Sam’s thing, but he’d never understood why it made Ben feel guilty. He could see the appeal.
Ben cleared his throat. “Was that a yes, or a no?”
“It’s a yes,” Sam said, not wanting Ben to back away from the idea.
“Good.” Ben sipped his coffee, sitting back. Some of the tension in his shoulders eased, but he didn’t look completely relaxed.
That was fine. They could work on getting him to relax.
“So when is this happening?” Sam asked.
“This weekend. We’re leaving bright and early tomorrow morning to get there for noon. It’s about two hours’ drive out of town.”
