“Is that what’s really going on?” Benson leaned his head over the table, lowering his voice until Liam barely heard it over the loudspeakers playing Ricky Martin. “Or is she just trying to have her cake and eat it, too?”
“Meaning…?”
Benson raised one eyebrow before sitting back again. Liam caught sight of his partner’s hand, but already forgot what they were playing. “Eden is young and hot. She’s talked about how her whole stint on La Mariposa was about ‘making money off her body while she still could.’ Maybe she went into it with a practical mind, but unfortunately, you and I were so damn dogged and good at fucking her that we rewired her whole conception of the work she was doing.”
“We couldn’t have beenthatgood.”
“Really.”
“All right, maybe we’re fucking great. What’s that got to do with it?”
“She’s not going to be happy with us unless we really meet her at her level. Otherwise, she’s going to eventually break up with us because she can have crazy sexandget paid for it.”
Liam rubbed his eyes. “I’m honestly shocked hearing you spell this out. Usually, I’m the one trying to explain female sexuality to you.”
“Yeah, well…” Benson put down his cards and had a drink. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my relationships and why they all ended. Usually, it was because I wasn’t listening to whatwas actually needed to make everyone happy. I don’t want to make that mistake again.”
Although he didn’t look at Liam when he said that, the man couldn’t help but wonder if Benson meant him, too.I’m tired. I was tired then, too.Liam had been truthful to Eden when he said that monogamy probably wasn’t for him. The arrangement he had with Benson was exactly what he had been looking for, but…He wasn’t listening to me.And it wasn’t just about Liam’s desires to spread his love around. Eventually, Benson would want a woman to dote on.We both love women way too much to go without one for long.Liam’s ideal situation was a closed circuit between the three of them.With maybe, you know, fun in the club.Eden had certainly seemed game to explore that once in a while with the right partner. But could Benson admit it?
“I think what we have…” Liam began, fanning his cards against his arms as he folded both on the table, “is a woman who wants to be the center of attention. At all times.”
“Yeah, and?”
“And she needs to feel fulfilled. Which means feeling independent enough that she’s not entirely, well, dependent on us. Financially.”
“Right. We were trying to figure out a career for her.” Benson narrowed his gaze at Liam. “Thatisn’tthat.”
“Uh-huh. Well, there’s the Salon.” Liam knew Benson was familiar with the place, even though they had not gone together.
“I don’t know about that. She still has to be scantily clad and make men think she’s their girlfriend long enough for them to open their wallets.”
“But nobody will be touching her.”
“Wouldyoureally be okay with that?”
Liam shrugged, defeated. “It’s the least worst out of the options she’s throwing out.”
“Honestly, I’d rather she be a support worker at La Mariposa than working the Salon.”
“She’d be around way more sex! Not to mention it’s only quarterly. She’s gonna want more to do outside of one weekend a season.”
“This is stupid.” They had completely given up on their so-called card game. “Between you and me, we can spoil her like a princess for the rest of her life. She won’t have to work a single day. Hell, I’ve got so many connections in the non-profit world that I could have her volunteering if that’s what she wants to do three times a week.”
“The world’s changed since even I was a kid. Women don’t want to be in relationships if they can’t keep making their own money. Too many horror stories from their grandmas.”
“We’re not a horror story!”
“She doesn’t know that. Not really.”
Benson sat with that for half a second before saying, “Guess you’re right. We’re still two guys who paid a god-awful amount of money to fuck our way through a weekend of women. Amazingly, we’ve made it this long.”
“What’s amazing is that she managed to bring us back together. Or something.”
Benson snorted. “Did not have sitting across from you in a gentleman’s bar, discussing what to do about our girlfriend, on my bingo card this year.”
“And you think I did?”
“So, what are we going to do?”
