He got up to finally order something. Eden remained in her chair, digesting what he said and reflecting on their conversation the night before.Benson is embarrassed.So embarrassed that he couldn’t bring himself to talk to Eden right now. Whether it was the newness of their relationship or her being a younger woman, Eden had no idea, but it was driving her crazy.Here I thought we separated last Saturday on well-enough terms.She made the two of them tell her everything, including what blew up their engagement, but Benson was still holding something back, and Liam was frustrated at everyone involved. It had taken three days before Eden even reached out to one of them. Turned out, during that time, Liam and Benson were hashing out their own issues behind her back.
Liam returned with his own cup. He collapsed into the couch with a heavy breath. “I always said that man would be the death of me.” He took a sip. “And every woman I’ve met.”
Eden threaded her fingers through her hair while her elbow dug into the arm of her chair. In one weekend, both of her boyfriends had been outed to her as bisexual – never mind former lovers themselves. Now that she looked at Liam?Yeah, I can see it.The man was so comfortable around other men, let alone in a sexual capacity, that it seemed natural. ExceptEden had never thought the same thing about Benson, who had his unique kinks, but was alwaysthe guy in charge.Well, she supposed it made sense now. She was simply still reeling from the big reveal.
“He’s had a rough breakup with everyone he’s been in a serious relationship with, it seems,” Eden said.
“You don’t know the half of it. The whole reason Sydney finally filed for divorce was because he came out to her.”
Eden bit her tongue.
“Yeah, I know. The woman who does all those social work charities, including raising money for young queer kids.” Liam snorted. “When it’s her own husband coming out to her, though? Nope. She’s outta there.”
“I won’t pretend to know what really happened,” Eden said, “but I can understand how he might interpret it that way.”
“His daughter is the only one who knows and supports him,” Liam said.
“She knows?”
“Of course. She knew we were together. So did Sydney. It was her big problem with me being around the kid.”
“Goodness.”
“Yup.”
“How long were you two together, exactly?”
Liam looked up toward the ceiling, as if counting the rafters would reveal the years he and Benson weretogether.“Two years? Engaged for about one. Felt a lot longer than that. One of thosewhen you know, you knowthings.”
“I can’t imagine you being engaged at twenty-eight.”
“Me neither, but I was.”
“That story about the last girl you and he… shared,” she tacitly said, “about you getting engaged to her…”
“Half-truth, half-lie.”
“I figured.”
“Libby was very serious about us. Wanted one of us, if not both of us, to father her kids. But Ben was snipped, and I brought up that if I were gonna be the bio dad, then it was her and me that should get married, just to make sure all the legal ducks were in the right row. Besides, she was only a year older than me, so it didn’t look weird.”
“But wouldn’t you two have been living with Ben?”
“Yes. We were looking for a place together when shit blew up.”
“Wow.”
“It was longer ago than when we were together for,” Liam mused. “Honestly, it was for the best that Libby got cold feet and left. I wasn’t really ready for any of that yet, but she had a ten-year plan for marriage and kids. Ah, when she left, and it was just Ben and me again… we decided to go ahead with our engagement. But…”
Eden picked up her cup, urging him to continue.
Liam glanced around to make sure nobody was nearby before continuing. “But Benson wanted it to just be him and me going forward. He was tired of the women coming and going. I think five ‘serious girls' after his divorce and getting with me had messed him up a bit. You know how he is. Mr. Settle-Down. He wanted to go all in on a same-sex relationship, fuck the haters, that kind of thing. I admired him for it, but there was just one really big problem.”
Eden could guess. “You both really love women, too.”
“Just a little.”
“Is that what you two fought over?”
