Page 20 of The Lost Art of Woodworking and Taking Risks
Bennan laughed, looking a lot more relaxed all of a sudden. “Yeah, that’s actually one occasion where I think ‘better him than me.’ I’d say I can’t really imagine how it works, except he’s so open about it that I’m not sure anyonedoeswonder.”
Chamis felt his lips tip up. Knowing that one of the things Bennan and Perian had been talking about was Perian and Summus? That made him feel a bit better—even if he was aware that he and Bennan were only just getting together now.
More seriously, Bennan said, “You really think you’ll be all right with the flirting?”
“I think so,” Chamis confirmed with a nod. “I’ll know that it’s different with me, that I’m the person you’re in a relationship with.”
Bennan beamed at him and came out of his chair enough to lean in and softly kiss Chamis before sitting back down again.
“Yes, exactly. And if it ever feels to you like I’ve forgotten that, then we stop and talk about it, all right?”
Chamis nodded, then prompted carefully, “And you’ll check in with me every once in a while.”
“To see if you want to try something else.” Bennan was already nodding, still smiling. “Yes, I will. And if you get comfortable enough to tell me, then you do that, but no problem if you don’t. This isn’t a race. This is us figuring out how to be in a relationship together, and it doesn’t matter how long it takes, because that’s all part of the relationship. We’re in a relationship. Right now.”
Bennan seemed struck by this as he said it, and Chamis felt a shiver run through him, his whole body suddenly suffused with this knowledge. They’d had this whole entire conversationaboutit, and this was the first time they were really acknowledging they wereinit.
Chamis drew a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“It feels amazing,” he saidwonderingly.
Bennan grinned at him, the biggest, brightest grin that Chamis had ever seen.
“It does feel amazing,” he agreed. “Thank you so much for deciding to take a chance on me. Even if Perian was the one who said you should, you were the one to decide to do it.”
“Thank you for being patient with me and still being all right with doing this even after I shut you down before.”
Chamis had to wonder what would have happened if only he’d been brave enough to accept one of those old invitations, back when Bennan had flirted with him. If he’d said yes, could they have been in a relationship all this time?
Fingers on his cheek brought him back to the present.
“Hey,” Bennan said softly. “Where’d you go?”
Swallowing, Chamis admitted, “Wondering if I wasted a lot of time. If only I’d said yes to you before.”
But Bennan shook his head. “We weren’t ready before. We’re ready now.”
And perhaps that was true. Maybe they really had needed Perian and wouldn’t have worked it out on their own. At the very least, it was a nice thing to say.
He nodded and smiled. “I think you’re right. There’s no way I could have managed this conversation a couple of years ago. I would have actually exploded from embarrassment.”
Bennan laughed. “And I thought my actions were clear and couldn’t imagine them causing confusion. And now here we are.”
Chamis smiled back. “Yes, here we are.”
“Another kiss?” Bennan asked.
Still feeling a bit shy, Chamis nodded. Bennan knew he wasn’t ready for more, but the kiss before had been amazing.
Bennan stood up from his chair, so Chamis rose to his feet as well, and they met in the middle. This kiss was even better than their first, which Chamis would not have thought possible, except that he’d been a bit stunned the first time. Plus, while their talk might have been embarrassing, it had clarified a lot. This was maybe the first kiss of theirrelationship, and it was amazing.
Bennan’s hands crept up Chamis’s back and then twined around his neck when he wasn’t rebuffed, and Chamis, experimenting, found that hips really were a good handhold. They kept a little bit of distance between their lower bodies, which made Chamis feel more comfortable. He thought he could probably even handle feeling the man’s arousal, now that he knew Bennan wouldn’t expect anything right away.
Was that part going to get any easier? He really wasn’t sure. But this was day one of their relationship. Some people might be ready to fall into bed on day one, but that didn’t mean Chamis needed to do it. And just the kissing was nice, especially when Bennan nipped lightly at his lips, and when Chamis gasped, his tongue probed gently inside.
Oh. Oh, goodness. Chamisdefinitelyliked this kind of kissing. His hands tightened on Bennan’s hips, and he might have tugged the man closer without even thinking about it. He felt Bennan chuckle, a rumble in his chest, and that tongue probed deeper, Chamis meeting it tentatively. Bennan groaned, a needy sound, and they lost themselves to several minutes of slow, deep kisses.
Eventually, Bennan pulledback a bit.
