Page 12 of Need Him
He sank into the sofa next to Victor and said, “So, what’s happened?” He forked some food into his mouth, encouraging Victor to talk by just not being able to say anything himself.
Victor sighed. “The Daddy I met the other night isn’t interested in more than what we had.” He pushed the food around the container with his chopsticks, staring into it as if it held all the answers to the modern world’s problems.
“Oh, geez. I’m sorry. There are plenty of us around, though. You’ll find someone.”
He sighed again. “I want to find someone now. I’m too damn impatient. I want my happily ever after now.” He dropped the hands holding the container to his lap and gazed at Gareth, the sparkle usually visible in his eyes concerningly absent.
Gareth put his food back on the coffee table, did the same for Victor’s and pulled him close, wrapping his arms tightly around his friend. “I know you do. It’s not fair at all that you have to wait. It will be worth all the pain in the long run, though. I wish we had worked out. I truly do.”
Victor snuggled his cheek into Gareth’s chest and blew warm air across his body when he exhaled. “Thanks. We can’t change who we are, though, can we?”
“No, which is why you’ll find someone who’s perfect foryou. Give it time, and don’t settle for second best. You deserve all the happiness.” He pressed a kiss to Victor’s head. “Do you want to go to Bound this weekend? See who we can rustle up for a happily ever after trial run?”
Victor chuckled. “Yeah, all right. I’ve nothing better to do.”
Gareth pushed him away in mock anger. “Well, if that’s how you think of our time together, I’m out of here.” He went to stand but fell back laughing when Victor held onto his arms.
“You know I didn’t mean it like that!”
Gareth subsided and smiled across at him. “I know. I’m only messing. Come on, eat up. You’re too slim as it is.”
“No, I’m not. I’m perfect.” Victor pouted.
“That’s right. You are. Now, we need to find that Daddy who’s perfect for you.”
He bid goodbye to Victor an hour later and climbed into his car, setting off for work. He had time to consider how he was going to approach Ben, but he wasn’t sure the easiest way to explain what he thought Ben might need without explaining who Gareth was. He would tell him, but he wished he could explain the rest before he threw himself on the fire.
Maybe he should think about it as a blog post. Okay, he didn’t have time to have a heartfelt essay ready to go, but he could explain it as he would to his readers. He hoped.
By the time he ascended the stairs to the offices, he had an idea of how to approach it, but it all depended on how receptive Ben was to his words and ideas. If he knew anything about the guy from the extremely short time he’d known him, it was that he could take offence at things and veer into tantrum land before anyone could inhale.
Hopefully, if that happened, Gareth could show Ben exactly what he was doing. Or maybe he’d fire him. Either way, they’d have an answer.
****
Chapter 6
Ben
Ben didn’t know what possessed him to ask Lindsay to arrange a meeting with Gareth. Even Lindsay had given him a strange look, but he’d ignored it, not willing to explain what he couldn’t understand himself. He waited for what seemed like hours after Lindsay left for the knock on his door.
When it happened, he inhaled and called for the person on the other side to enter. The first thought that jumped to the forefront of his mind was that Gareth looked good in the navy blue store uniform. It wasn’t loose enough to hide his muscles and not tight enough to be obscene, and Ben found himself wishing he’d requested the tighter versions of the clothes. The second thing he noticed was that Gareth was clean-shaven. He couldn’t remember seeing him with such soft-looking, bare skin before. He focused on the sleek contours of his face until he reached Gareth’s mouth—which was quirked up at one side.
Ben blinked and cleared his throat, chewing his bottom lip as he tried to regain his balance and ignore the need to fall into those arms.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed,” Gareth said, his voice as soft as Ben would expect someone in a library to speak. Or someone trying to tame a scared cat from behind a sofa. “You can look as much as you want.”
Ben avoided his gaze. No, he really shouldn’t. He tidied some paper into a pile and tapped them on the table to square them off. Carefully setting them in front of him again, he linked his fingers on top of them and braced himself to look at the man he’d asked to come. When he lifted his eyes, he was struck once more by how handsome Gareth was and couldn’t find the words to explain why he was there.
Gareth appeared to understand because he sat on the edge of the chair opposite Ben and leaned his arms on his desk. “How about I go first?” he continued in that soft, alluring, calming voice. Ben nodded, and Gareth’s smile was his reward. “Okay. I’m going to say some statements, and you’re going to nod or shake your head for yes and no. All right?” Ben nodded. “And if you want to clarify anything as we go, you’ll need to speak up.”
Ben nodded and briefly wondered why he was being accommodating when, normally, he would get right up in someone’s face for talking to him like that.
“Let’s start with something easy. Do you like strawberry milk?”
Ben briefly closed his eyes and nodded, feeling heat creep into his cheeks.
“Nothing to be ashamed about. Everyone has at least one vice. Do you like to make sure jobs are done properly?” A nod. “Do you feel like no one can do the job as well as you can?” A hesitant nod and Ben closed his eyes, not wanting to see Gareth’s expression if the questions continued as they were. “Do you like getting lost in something, so you don’t have to think about anything else?” A nod and Ben lowered his head. “Are you happy?” Ben did nothing, tears filling behind his closed lids. “It’s okay.”
