Chapter 3
Benji woke up stressed.
This was not uncommon. He’d spent most of his life stressed. Would he get beaten up today? Would he pass a class? What the hell was going on with his batshit parents? Was he getting fired? Did he have enough money for rent?
Most of his mornings were spent sifting through the stress to figure out what he had to worry about this time. The usual stressors flooded in. School. Money. Whoever was pissed at him this time.
You’re on summer break, his brain replied helpfully.
You don’t have a job to get to, and you have more money than you ever dreamed.
Your dad and Dillion and a bunch of strangers who read gossip rags are pissed at you, but don’t worry!
Your billionaire boyfriend will take care of it.
Because he loves you. He loves you so much he wants to MARRY you.
Benji was suddenly wide awake and surging with adrenaline. He turned over and saw Noah asleep next to him, bathed in morning light.
He was so beautiful, Benji wanted to cry. He maturely suppressed the urge and snuck out of bed, only pausing for a second to enjoy the twinge in his sore hole. Noah had taken him apart so thoroughly that he hadn’t been worried about anything when he finally fell asleep.
If only that feeling stayed, Benji thought as he grabbed his boxers and his phone and headed into the on-suite bathroom.
Daphne answered with a sleepy mumble that sounded vaguely like Benji’s name.
“Daph,” Benji whispered. “It’s me. Wake up more, I don’t want to have to say this shit twice.”
Daphne yawned, sheets rustling on her end of the line. “‘M awake. Hope you guys left for a good reason, the gallery was super fun. Me and Tia got McDonald’s after. So, what happened? Security guys wouldn’t tell us anything.”
It was good that Daphne didn’t know. That meant there were no articles up about the clusterfuck of last night. She had a Google alert for anything about Noah or Benji.
Benji sat down on the cushy bathmat, his mind whirling. What should he tell her first? He felt like it had been a hundred years since he had seen her last.
“Noah asked me to marry him,” he said in a rush.
There was a long pause.
“Holy shit,” Daphne said finally, sounding much more awake. “Ben! That’s amazing! What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything! Chet showed up right after!”
“Chet,” Daphne said, sounding confused. She had never officially met the man, after all. And Benji didn’t talk about him much. But before Benji could clarify, she gasped.
“Wait, you mean your dad? I thought he was selling stolen cars in Miami!”
“Missouri,” Benji corrected, and frowned. “Maybe it was Miami. Anyway, he’s here now, and suddenly he has moral qualms about ‘exposing Max to my lifestyle.’”
“Exposing—?” Daphne spluttered a laugh. “Didn’t he make you guys pretend to be dying of cancer so he could go around businesses asking for donations?”
“Oh yeah,” Benji said. “I forgot about that. Anyway, and Dillion tried to sabotage my painting!”
“Wait, Dillion actually tried something out in the open? When did this happen? Was this after Noah proposed?”
“No,” Benji said. “So, Dillion tried to sabotage my painting. We’re pretty sure Michael put him up to it. Then Noah saw the painting, and—”
He stammered to a stop. Even the memory of the soft amazement in Noah’s eyes made Benji’s heart twist. He’d spent so many weeks worried about Noah’s reaction, but he never could’ve imagined it could make Noah want… that.
“And thenheaskedmetomarryhim,” he said in a low, rushed mumble. “And before I could say anything, Chet showed up yelling about taking Max away from me.”
“Ew! Good luck, asshat.” Daphne let out a disgusted noise. “So… what happened after that?”
“Nothing,” Benji said hastily. “We went home.”
Daphne waited. Benji dropped his head onto his knees, cringing against the bathmat. He had needed to vent. But now he suddenly wanted off the call. Daphne was going to ask questions he didn’t want to answer. He could feel it in the silence.
“Sooo,” Daphne said finally. “The marriage proposal just got dropped?”
“Basically.” Benji swallowed, thinking back to the momentary hurt in Noah’s face, back in the car. He’d covered it well, but he had been upset that Benji hadn’t answered.
“He said I didn’t need to give him an answer now,” he said. “Which, like, that’s the only thing he could’ve said, right? It would be crazy if he wanted me to say right now, yes or no, will you marry me? We’ve known each other six months.”
Daphne made a dubious noise.
“Moving in with each other is commitment enough,” Benji reminded her. “Do you know what it took for me to come around to it? I had to get him to tell me to move in. I was too chickenshit otherwise.”
He grimaced. He’d never said that out loud. He’d left that part out when he told her he was moving in.
“Okay,” Daphne said slowly. “And do you regret it?”
“I just moved in, Daph! It’s too soon to tell!
” Benji rubbed the soft bathmat, looking around the bathroom where Noah had taken him while he was coming down.
It was a room for warmth and safety and a deep trust that Benji still didn’t quite know what to do with.
How many times had Noah washed him so gently after a scene, or helped him out of the bath and dried him before placing him in bed?
It was a room where he’d felt so many wonderful things. Things he thought nobody would ever make him feel, things Benji didn’t think he was capable of feeling. So why did it make him so panicked now?
“I don’t know, I just—” Benji dropped his head back against the lip of the giant tub. “I… kind of miss when life was normal? Is that weird?”
“A little? You were pretty miserable.”
“I wasn’t miserable,” Benji protested.
Daphne said nothing. He heard something clink on her end and imagined her playing with the jar of marbles that she kept next to her bed.
“I wasn’t,” Benji insisted. “I just— I don’t know. Maybe I was a little miserable back then. Because I’m happy now, and it’s…”
“New,” Daphne said quietly.
“Weird,” Benji corrected. “Like, I keep waiting for things to go back to normal. Even though I know it won’t. I have all this money now, I won’t go back to living paycheck to paycheck, worrying if I should pay for groceries or rent.”
“Rent,” Daphne said.
“I know, always rent. Thank fuck for food stamps.” Benji rubbed his thighs together, feeling the twinge of the bruises Noah sucked into him last night and so many nights before. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like this is my life. I don’t get to keep this.”
“Mmm.” Daphne paused. “Ben, haven’t we talked about this?”
“About what?”
“About letting yourself have good things,” Daphne said gently.
Benji had a vague memory of Daphne bringing it up a few times, especially since Noah came into the picture.
“It’s not about that,” he tried, his stomach squirming uncomfortably. “It’s—”
She cut him off. “Do you want to marry him?”
Incredible excitement and spine-tingling fear rushed through Benji in equal measures. He had never let himself imagine a lifetime with Noah. Every time he tried, the inevitability of Noah leaving crashed into him like a tsunami.
“That’s not the point,” he started weakly.
A knock on the door made him jump.
“Benjamin,” Noah said. “Everything okay? You sound weird and hissy.”
“I don’t sound hissy,” Benji hissed. He cleared his throat. “Gotta go, Daph.”
“Oh,” Daphne said. “Uh, okay. Congrats on the almost-engagement?”
“Ha ha,” Benji said woodenly.
He hung up and stood, swinging open the door. It didn’t squeak. Nothing in this giant apartment squeaked, or groaned, or needed you to jiggle it before using it. Benji had never lived anywhere better, and he would never get used to it.
Noah was leaning on the doorframe, fully naked and effortlessly sexy as ever. Benji almost wanted to scoff at how stupidly perfect he looked, bare and rumpled with sleep. Even his soft cock made Benji want to fall to the floor in worship.
He swallowed a sudden gush of saliva. “I sound weird?”
Noah shrugged. “Just woke up. Can’t think of a better word. How about… husky?”
“Husky is hotter,” Benji agreed reluctantly.
Noah smiled and tucked a finger into Benji’s waistband, pulling him in for a kiss. Benji waited for it to get heated, but Noah’s finger never dipped any further.
“You okay?” Noah murmured against his mouth.
Benji nodded, hoping Noah hadn’t heard that rendition of last night’s events. “Fine. Just catching up with Daph. Her and Tia went to McDonald’s after the gallery last night.”
“I know. Tia sent me photos. From what I can tell, they stole a stop sign for Daphne’s next art installation.”
Benji snorted. “Sounds like drunk Daph. Pair her with the right person, and she can get wild.”
“Told you they’d be trouble.” Noah pulled his finger out of Benji’s waistband and slid his hands up Benji’s bare back, bringing him until Benji’s clothed crotch was pressed against his naked cock. “And Mrs. Presley texted me.”
Benji’s nerves, slightly calmed by Noah’s touch, came ratcheting back. “Oh?”
Noah nodded, watching him carefully. Seeing if he should continue, Benji realized. He was always watching Benji like that, checking if he should lean in or step back.
“She wants to buy it,” Noah said. “She wants you to set the price.”
Benji sagged with relief. “Okay. I was worried she was going to say some ridiculous number.”
Noah said nothing.
Benji narrowed his eyes. “Noah?”
“She also said she won’t accept any offer lower than ninety thousand.”
Benji choked. “Dollars?”
“She likes funding new artists,” Noah explained, rubbing Benji’s back soothingly.
Benji blew out a shaky breath. Ninety thousand dollars. He needed to hire an accountant. His taxes were going to look fucking weird.
“And you’re sure she isn’t doing this because I’m Nate Stern’s new boy toy?” he asked, his voice sharper than he intended.
Noah’s smile didn’t drop. But there was the slightest hardening in his eyes before they relaxed again.