Page 54 of Candy Hearts
William didn’t exactly want to explain the secret valentines thing his best friends in the middle of the night, but Benji’s apparent fear of it hurt.
William dried off in record time, threw his clothes back on, and reached the landing of the second floor as Perry opened his and Sasha’s door and stepped out.
Perry was rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he said, “Hi.” He didn’t seem confused by William’s presence on a floor he had no reason to be on tonight.
“Uh, hey. Hi.”
Benji tiptoed down the stairs behind him, pulling William’s attention like a magnet. Both of them had wet hair. Jesus Christ, they were obvious.
“Need help turning out the lights and plugging appliances back in?” Perry asked.
William nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Perry led the way down the stairs, followed by Benji and William. When they reached the ground floor, William could see Wren standing at the entrance to the sunroom, probably wondering where the hell he was. He tensed.
She turned as she heard them. William knew her pretty well, but he couldn’t read her expression at all in that moment. Maybe delight. Maybe suspicion.
The four of them systematically took care of the lights and appliances downstairs. Wren was sleepy-drunk, and she gave William a hug before heading back to bed. Benji pretended to be distracted by a chocolate cupcake.
Perry clapped a hand on Benji’s shoulder. “You okay? Gonna head back up?”
Benji nodded and shoved some cupcake into his mouth. Around his bite, he said, “In a ’econd.”
Once Perry went upstairs, Benji turned toward William, his mouth still full of chocolate. William grinned and snatched Benji to him, nipping playfully along his neck. Benji tasted slightly astringent from bubble bath not fully rinsed off, but the underlying sweetness of his skin soon met William’s tongue.
Benji groaned and went pliant against him, but he didn’t stop eating the cupcake.
“We should go to bed,” William said, kissing the words into Benji’s throat.
“Mmmhmm.” Benji pulled back, biting his lip on a smile. “Maybe your house is full of prudish little fairies, always cock-blocking us.”
“It just might be.”
“Maybe tomorrow we should fuck in the sunroom. It’s easier for me to lie about why I’m downstairs than for you to explain why you’re on the third floor.”
“Sure.” William wanted to pull Benji into the sunroom now, but this was nice too, especially as Benji’s eyes went hooded and his mouth went soft. Benji thumbed William’s bottom lip, and it took William a second to realize Benji had spackled chocolate icing on it.
Benji followed his thumb with a lazy, lush kiss. A kiss that could make a man lose his head. It tasted of chocolate and champagne.
A word burst from William’s lips fully formed and urgent. “Sweetheart.”
Benji made a gutted noise in his throat, and that sound wrenched something in William’s heart. Then Benji was hugging him, gripping him tight and undoubtedly smearing cupcake down his back.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Benji whispered.
And William couldn’t let him go, so he didn’t. He dragged Benji into the sunroom, laid him down, and held him until morning.
Chapter Sixteen
With morning, and electricity, came responsibilities, but William wanted this—Benji spooned in front of him, their body weight making the middle of the air mattress sink, the scent of watermelon in his nose—for a few minutes longer.
Borrowed time. William normally thought of that phrase in regards to his work, but this morning it applied. At any moment, the rest of the house would awaken, and William would have to check his email, and this fuzzy, wonderful bubble he and Benji had been living in would burst.
Benji stirred against him, his legs rustling the blankets. “Morning.” Benji’s voice was rough from sleep. When all was said and done, they’d only gotten a few hours.
“Morning, beautiful.”
Benji let out a happy, little hum. “Can we watch the sunrise from here?”
