Chapter 8
Liam
Liam’s approach to work and love was that the two did not mix.
His work meetings, late nights of research, and renting conference rooms to go over things with Wyatt rarely included details about his personal life.
After all, Wyatt didn’t even know that his investment partner had gone to a place like La Mariposa.
He hadn’t known about Benson, even though some of Liam’s hardest working years were in the wake of their breakup.
He didn’t know anything about Liam’s predilections, and Liam didn’t know anything about Wyatt’s.
Which was kinda weird, when he stared at his business partner from across a conference table and realized that he didn’t even know if the man was seeing anyone.
“What?”
Wyatt had looked up from his laptop and caught Liam staring at him. At first, Liam was embarrassed. Then he did his usual thing – brush it off with a joke before putting his eyes back on his own paper.
He was aware that Wyatt was still looking at him. The wiry man who was only a couple of years older than Liam had a perceptive way of knowing something was up. Probably because Liam was terrible at hiding his emotions when he really felt them.
“What’s wrong?” That sigh wasn’t concern – well, not concern for Liam.
The thing about Wyatt was that he was the real glue that held their business together.
The professional. That’s him. Liam wooed and was easily wooed, but it was Wyatt who read between the lines and used facts and numbers to analyze whether they should invest in Liam’s gut feelings.
I’ve got the spirit; he’s got the noggin’.
It was a partnership as old as time, but it didn’t exactly foster any camaraderie between them.
On a list of his top ten friends… well, Wyatt wasn’t on it.
Who the hell is on it? What a time to have that revelation.
“Nothing,” Liam said.
“Something’s up. What is it?”
“Nothing to do with work.”
“Oh, so it’s worse. What girl is breaking your heart this time?”
“Who said anything about that?”
“You get mopey about two things: women and your parents.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I also get really emotional about the Olympics. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this year’s was intense. The ice skating, man…”
Wyatt slowly shook his head. “Just keep it away from work.”
“Nobody’s breaking my heart. If anything, my love life is great, thanks.”
“Didn’t ask.”
They soon descended into a discussion about their current talks with a young start-up in dire need of some investment money.
Both Wyatt and Liam were on the fence about whether to invest, with neither Wyatt’s analytics nor Liam’s gut feelings winning out.
Every time we think we should go for it, we suddenly doubt their business plan.
That should have been enough, but they couldn’t deny that the start-up had a great idea that could make money… if done right.
Somebody texted him in the middle of their talk. Since it could have been work-related, Liam glanced at it, half-expecting it to be Eden.
Instead, it was Benson.
“What is it?” Wyatt asked when Liam stuttered through his last spoken sentence.
Liam put his phone down and attempted to focus on the graphs in front of him. “Nothing.”
“Just go take care of it really fast. Better than you being distracted while we talk.”
Sighing, Liam took his phone out to the lobby, where people moved through the coworking space with coffee cups, notebooks, and tablets.
A few gathered on couches or at tiny cubicles that came with the standard membership.
Conference rooms cost more, and Liam just left it to Wyatt to schedule and to tell him when to show up.
I wonder how many other people here deal with millions of dollars in liquid cash at any moment.
Looking around, it was hard to tell. This could easily be a mix of graphic designers who missed an office atmosphere and multimillionaires who did not need a traditional office.
Either way, the coffee was okay, and the jigsaw puzzle that management put out at any moment for people to do was… engaging.
But still not distracting enough for Liam, who sat in a large chair and read Benson’s text.
“Come by my place later if you can. After dinner. Around nine.”
Liam replied. “Well, that’s demanding. Maybe I have plans. Work plans.”
“No, you don’t.”
Liam scrunched his face. “Really?” he muttered. “How would he know?”
“Fine. What’s this about?”
Benson didn’t reply to that. Instead, all he said was, “You’re still cleared with the front desk, so just come up. I’ve got a work breakfast thing in the morning, so we’ll keep it brief.”
Not wanting to look super desperate, Liam wandered into the men’s room, where he spent a few minutes before returning to the coworking lobby, where he finally texted that he would be by around nine.
He then shoved his phone into his pocket and studied the jigsaw puzzle of a lighthouse on a cliff while some coffee brewed behind him.
“Three pieces,” he told Wyatt when he returned with coffee for them both. “I finished that stupid lighthouse for them.”
“Everything good?” Wyatt didn’t even thank him for the coffee.
“Yeah. So, what’s this graph about?”
Liam didn’t retain any of the information his business partner told him. His brain was elsewhere, thinking of the present – and the past.
Liam half-believed that Benson’s lack of creativity meant he would walk right into a similar scenario from the other night. Eden on the other end of his dick, I mean. Not that Liam would complain too much. Hot sex was hot sex. But he rather hoped Benson wasn’t that sad…
No. The man was fully dressed and had no one else in his apartment. Not even Drew, whom Benson mentioned, was on Spring Break that week.
He offered Liam some tea, but Liam instead helped himself to Benson’s fridge and grabbed seltzer water to occupy his mouth while they talked.
Benson gestured to the island counter, so Liam sat on a stool, his jacket still on and his feet awkwardly struggling to find purchase on one of the rests beneath him.
“Feels like old times.” Didn’t help that Benson hadn’t moved since Liam last knew him.
Has he lived anywhere else since his divorce?
Benson was so synonymous with this place that Liam could believe the man had locked in the kind of condo price that could not be overlooked.
After all, he’s a money guy. So was Liam, but Benson was definitely more of a Wyatt type in this regard.
“How often did I drop by right before you went to bed, Ben?”
To his credit, Benson didn’t get angry… but he also wasn’t amused. “That’s what I want to talk about.”
Liam’s heart was suddenly in his throat. Don’t even, Ben…
“That stunt you pulled last weekend,” Benson began, sipping his tea, “was hot. But don’t do it again.”
“You were always good at setting boundaries.”
“I’m serious. We’re not in a relationship here. Stuff like that is cleared beforehand, not sprung on me. Or you.”
Liam leaned back a little, finger on his lips. “It was as much a surprise for Eden as it was for you, but… duly noted. So, what is going on here, exactly?”
Benson grunted into his mug. “Between us? Nothing.”
“Mmhmm.”
“What?”
If Benson was a pro at erecting boundaries, then Liam was even better at pointing out his hypocrisies. “That’s not what I remember from that night.”
Benson’s cheeks were that shade of red that made him look a little older. Most handsomely. “What the hell do you remember?”
“You searching for my tonsils. Twice in the past week, I might remind you.”
“That was just the heat of the moment. We’re familiar with each other. It was a bad habit I fell into.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Just saying. She thought it was really hot.”
“She’s a twenty-five-year-old woman. Of course she thought two men kissing was hot.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We need to make it clear to her that you and I are not a thing.”
“All right. And then, when you suddenly decide to marry her? Where do I fit in, then?”
“Suddenly?”
“Okay. Tomorrow. When you inevitably propose to her.”
“I’m not proposing to Eden anytime soon.”
“Even so, if she says yes, what am I? Chopped liver?” Liam wetted his parched lips with some of his flavored water. Benson’s gaze did not waver. “No way. We’re not doing some dirty back-alley deal where we decide what happens with Eden. Not without her input.”
Benson ran his hands through his hair. “Why do you have to have the same taste in women as me?”
“Are you serious?”
“It’s infuriating. Even if Eden wasn’t a thing, any woman I date could have you making eyes at her from across the room.”
“Must be that incredible animal magnetism we share.”
“Oh, fuck off with that.”
“Why are you so embarrassed about it? We were once engaged, Ben. You’re still dating guys, based on what we both found in your bathroom.”
“Ugh.”
“Eden’s cool with it. The only one being weird is you.”
“Ugh.”
“What?”
“I’m not…” Benson squeezed his eyes shut as he reconsidered what to say.
Liam patiently waited for him to open his mouth really wide and proceed to insert his foot into it.
“You and me. That was a one-time thing. I’ve never been interested in men beyond sexually.
Except for you. You’re the only asshole I’ve thought about marrying. ”
“Specifically, my asshole, or…?”
“Stop making jokes. I’m serious. Ideally, I want a wife. If I ever get married again, I don’t care how old or young she is. I prefer having a wife.”
“Because it’s more socially acceptable, or…?”
“Stop asking me leading questions while you’re at it.” Benson snorted into his mug. “What? Do you really think you’d prefer a husband to a wife?”
“I was gonna marry you, wasn’t I?”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Your questions are all over the place, bro. “I care about the person. I don’t think myself more likely to marry one over the other. I was as likely to marry Libby if that kept us happy.”
“Libby wanted babies.”