Page 45 of Candy Hearts
By two in the afternoon, William pulled food out of the fridge that he was worried about spoiling. It was a watermelon, a pound of ground beef, a bottle of mayo, and a dozen eggs. For lunch, they’d eaten donuts and Valentine’s Day candy.
Robin cut up the watermelon, and they ditched the rest. The ground beef was already room temperature, so they figured it was all a lost cause.
Avi and Manuel arrived at three. Still no power.
Benji had met the men at Sasha’s cancelled wedding over three years ago and, like back then, was a bit in awe of the lithe dancers. Avi was serious and broody, Manuel bubbly and effusive.
An hour later, William said, “I should call the power company again, huh?”
Benji was in the kitchen with him, eating salted watermelon straight from the rind. Robin, Wren, Avi, and Manuel were on the dock, drinking and catching up. It was a beautiful day outside, sun shining and a temperature in the mid-forties. Bundled up, it was almost pleasant.
He and William had been stoically not touching all afternoon. It was torture.
“Not a bad idea. If it’s not coming back on tonight, we need to prepare.” Benji’s idea of preparedness would be sharing body warmth with William, but they surely needed to chop wood or something.
Actually, Benji’s new idea of preparedness would be watching William chop wood. Ax in hand. Shirtsleeves rolled up his forearms, showing off his dark arm hair. Sweating. Grunting with each swing.
Benji daydreamed as William called, but he could tell it wasn’t good news. “What’s the verdict?” Benji asked. “Will you have to chop wood to keep us from contracting hypothermia?”
“Huh?” William shook his head, bemused. “They said there was an issue, and it might be five to six more hours.”
“That’s not so bad. It’ll be back on by bedtime. We won’t have to cuddle for warmth. We’ll justwantto.”
William touched Benji’s wrist and flashed him a flirty, private look. “Maybe I should go buy a generator. The closest store that sells stuff like that is probably an hour and a half away. I should have gone yesterday, but I thought we’d have power again by this morning.”
“Might not be worth it, then. By the time you’re back, the electricity should be nearly back on. Plus, I’ve kind of enjoyed the adventure.”
“Well, I should contact your sister at least,” he said. “She and Perry might not want to come.”
“Uh, fuck no. She didn’t call me when the power went out. You should lie. Tell her everything is A-okay. Here. Give me your phone. I’ll do it.”
William shoved him away playfully. “Brat.” Then William reeled him back in and kissed him.
It was a relief. They both groaned like they’d been denied each other for longer than a few hours. William pushed Benji into the kitchen counter, his hand snaking up the back of Benji’s shirt, fingers tripping up his spine.
The front door banged open, his sister’s yelled welcome preceding her through the entryway. William jumped back, and Benji flailed, knocking half of the watermelon onto the floor.
Chapter Thirteen
The arrival of Sasha and Perry was a whirlwind of hugs and kisses and congratulations. William hadn’t seen them since they’d gotten engaged, and he presented them with a nice bottle of wine as a celebratory present.
Benji cut William with a glare. “Where the fuck did you pull that out of? You said there was no wine last night.”
“Well, it was meant to be a present.”
William didn’t know much about wine, but he’d asked the drink specialist at Sky Bar at the Plaza for a suggestion.
“Take me to your corkscrew, you beautiful man,” Perry said, excitement in his voice. Then, “Oh. It’s dark in here.”
“The power’s out.”
“Still?” Sasha said. Her short hair was wild from the wind. Or maybe from Perry’s hands. Last year, while in that honeymoon phase of a new relationship, they’d been horn dogs around each other, which William happened to think was endearing, luckily.
“I was about to call you,” William said. “It’ll be out for a few more hours, but should be back on tonight.”
“We have flashlights in the emergency kit in Perry’s SUV,” Sasha said.
“Do you have food in the emergency kit?” Benji asked. “I smashed our only sustenance.”
