Chapter Thirty-Five Bennett
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: BENNETT
W hile Grayson and Vivian were on their date, I’d talked Theo into renting a boat to go fishing on Crystal Lake. Growing up, my grandfather always took me out with him on his pontoon boat. Some of the best days of my life were on that boat with him. I’d gotten pretty good at wrangling fat catfish and bass.
More than anything, I wanted to share my love of fishing with Theo. Although he’d grown up with access to boats, he hadn’t spent any time on them. Since the conversation had flowed so easily with my Papa while we were out on the boat, I wanted the same for me and Theo.
We had so little time with just the two of us. I couldn’t help wanting the same level of intimacy with him that I had with Vivian. She and I could spend hours on end talking about anything and everything. With our busy schedules, it was becoming harder and harder to squeeze in any alone time with Theo. I couldn’t imagine what would happen when he moved to Charleston.
I hadn’t pressed our emotional intimacy too much with him because I knew how hard he was working in therapy to overcome his anger and abandonment issues. At first, I’d put it off because of the pressure he was under with the scouting situation. But once he’d signed with the Swarm and we were outed to our families and the world, the initial pressures of our relationship evaporated.
Now more than ever, I was determined to break through his walls. Of course, since it was Theo, I was going to need a fucking sledgehammer.
When we drove through the gates to the boat ramp, Theo threw me a glance. “ Crystal Lake?”
“What about it?”
“That was the name of the lake in Friday the Thirteenth .”
Seizing on a personal tidbit, I said, “I didn’t know you liked horror movies.”
Theo rolled his eyes. “That’s not the point I was making.”
“Ah, I see. You’re worried someone is going to hack us up while we’re on the boat simply because it has the same name as one in the movie?”
He scowled at me. “Maybe.”
“Considering we’re not a bunch of horny campers, I think we’ll be fine.”
Theo’s scowl turned into a smirk. “I might not be a camper, but I am horny.”
With a groan, I eased into a parking spot. “After last night, how can you possibly be horny?”
After dinner, we’d christened the Novaks’ beach house all night. Many rooms were debauched. Many orifices were debased. And many positions were used.
“What can I say? You drive me crazy,” Theo replied.
When he leaned over to kiss me, I quickly eased him back into his seat. “Sorry, dude, this isn’t the Love Boat. The only thing going down on the boat will be the fishing lines.”
“Tease,” Theo murmured with a grin.
“Come on. I promised Gray and Vivian a fish fry tonight, and daylight is burning.”
Wrinkling his nose, Theo replied, “You’re going to gut and scale a fish?”
“What’s the matter, Rich Boy? Are you afraid you’re going to get those pristine hands of yours dirty?” I teased.
“You know exactly how dirty my hands can be.”
Smacking the steering wheel, I snapped, “Can you please stop making everything about sex?”
Theo’s dark eyes popped wide. “Jesus, Bennie, calm down.”
I shook my head. “I’m serious. Today is about romance with us, the same as it is with Gray and Viv.”
“If today is about romance, then we probably should’ve chosen something other than fishing,” Theo challenged.
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
Grumbling under his breath, Theo threw open his door. I did the same sans the grumbling. After a quick trip to the trunk, I grabbed the fishing equipment. Theo hoisted the cooler out and turned. “Where to now, Captain?”
“The lady I rented the boat from said it would be in #8.”
Theo fell in step behind me as we made our way down the slip. When we reached #8, he turned to me with cocked brows. “That’s it?”
With a snicker, I replied, “Don’t tell me you were expecting a yacht?”
He rolled his eyes. “Obviously not. But at the same time, I thought it would be a little bigger.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“If you say so.”
After stepping on the boat, Theo popped open the cooler and grabbed a beer. I didn't bother arguing that it was barely noon. Instead, I set down the fishing equipment and went over to crank the boat. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” he mused before sitting down on the leather bench seat.
Once the engine hummed on, I shifted the lever before pushing it to the forward gear. There was nothing like the feel of the boat’s engine thrumming to life as you gunned it across the silver water. I think it was my third comfort after the rink and the stage. As we kicked up a spray, I kept an eye out for the best fishing spot. Easing down on the accelerator, I brought us in close to a shady, tree-lined spot.
After popping out of my seat, I grabbed my pole and went to the edge of the boat. Once I’d baited my hook and readied to cast out my line, I realized Theo wasn’t with me. Turning around, I found him, beer in hand while reclining on the leather-padded seat. “Hurry up and get your rod.”
He eased his sunglasses onto his forehead. “I had another rod in mind.”
Choosing to ignore the innuendo, I asked, “Aren’t you going to join me?”
“I’m enjoying the view where I am.”
When I threw another glance at him over my shoulder, he wagged his brows at me. “You know how much I appreciate your ass.”
To keep the peace, I turned my attention back to the water. “If you don’t know how to cast off, I can teach you. With a little practice, I know you could do it.”
Suddenly, Theo appeared at my back, pressing himself flush against me.
Before I could tell him to go away, my line jerked. “I got something!”
At that moment, Theo’s hand snaked around my hip to grab my cock. “Me too.”
I tried wriggling away from him. “I’m serious, man. I’ve got at least a ten-pounder.”
As he massaged my cock, Theo’s tongue licked up my neck. “I got ten inches myself.”
Shuddering, I once again tried ignoring him. While my mind was in the fishing game, my cock wasn’t. With a steely focus, I pulled the rod back against my chest, giving some tension in the line.
After making some headway wrangling in my fish, I growled at Theo who was still stroking me. “Would you knock it off?”
Theo squeezed my cock. “He doesn’t want me to.”
“Yeah, unlike you, I don’t let my cock make all my decisions.”
“Come on, Bennie,” Theo grunted, thrusting his erection against my backside.
I shook my head. “I came out here to fish with you.”
“And I’d rather fuck than fish.”
At that moment, the line snapped in two, and I lost my fish. Anger rocked through me. My perfect fishing trip had been ruined by Theo’s libido. Whirling around, I shoved him. Hard. “That’s all you ever want with me is to fuck!”
Theo’s eyes bulged. “What the hell, Bennie?”
“You heard me.”
“Yeah and where the fuck is it coming from?”
I threw up my hands. “Excuse me? I asked you back in the car to stop with the innuendo. I wanted today to be about romance. And what did you do? Completely ignore my feelings by making everything sexual, including the fishing rods.”
“You know that’s who I am. For fuck’s sake, I do the same to Vivian.”
Shaking my head, I replied, “You still manage to give yourself to her emotionally.”
“I’m aware of that. It was part of the stipulations of her giving me a chance, remember?”
“Yeah, well, I need it, too. Desperately.”
Theo opened his mouth to say something but then shook his head. After jerking a hand through his hair, he dropped back down on the bench. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m just learning how to have a relationship with Vivian. I have no fucking clue how to do you and me. And then there’s Grayson, too. My head is swimming.”
“Those feelings of your head swimming? That’s what you’re supposed to share with me. You’re supposed to tell me you’re spinning, so we can talk you through it. I don’t know unless you vocalize it.”
“Sometimes it’s hard for me to talk about us when we’re with Vivian and Gray.”
“Which is why I wanted us to have this alone time today.” With a pointed look, I added, “And why I wanted it to be sex free.”
“I get it, and you had every right to request it. I guess I’m still struggling with equating romance with sex and vice versa. I mean, I only romanced girls in the past to get them in bed.”
“Jesus,” I muttered as I ran my hand over my face.
Leaning forward, Theo cocked his head at me. “What do you need from me, Bennie?”
“Only you.” With a wink, I added, “From the waist up.”
He threw his head back with a laugh. “Okay, I think I can do that.” Rising to his feet, Theo grabbed the extra rod. As he held it out, he asked, “Can you teach me?”
A grin curved wide on my cheeks. “You mean it? This is a pity fish?”
He grinned. “Absolutely.”
“Then I’d love to.”
With a nod, Theo asked, “What do I do first?”
“Okay, you stand there.” I then motioned to the place where I’d been standing earlier. “Then, you’re going to hold the rod with your right hand.”
Theo did as he was told. “Then you’re going to place your thumb on top of the handle and wrap your fingers around it.”
After fumbling for a moment, Theo was ready. “Okay, now raise the rod so it’s angled slightly behind you.”
“How far do I angle it?”
“Two o’clock.”
He scowled at me. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Here. Let me show you.” I then gripped his shoulders, pulling him back into the two o’clock position. “Like that.”
“Now what?”
“Swing the rod forward to the ten o’clock position.”
“Once again, what the hell?” Theo growled.
I laughed. “I’ll help you this first time.”
Bringing my arm around his back, I placed my hand over his. “Right when the rod is pointing forward, release your index finger to let the line fly out.”
With my finger over Theo’s, I released our fingers, and the line released perfectly into the water. “There you go. Now you’re ready to catch a fish.”
“What do I do? Just pull the line out of the water?”
“Not exactly. You’ll reel it in and then pull the rod a bit out of the water.”
“All right,” he grumbled.
After getting my pole, I cast out away from his line. Silence echoed around us. “I’m scared out of my mind about leaving you,” Theo said.
Whirling around, I stared at him. “You are?”
“We can barely make this work when we’re in the same city. What the fuck is going to happen when I’m thousands of miles away?”
“We are making this work, Theo. You’ve heard Dr. Zeller tell us that many times.”
“It doesn’t feel that way.”
“That’s because you’ve never been in a relationship before or loved anyone before. It’s work. It’s showing up every day–physically and emotionally.” I cupped his cheek. “We are doing that, Theo. It’s not perfect, but we do. Just like we show up for Vivian, and we’ll show up for our son.”
“How can you always be so disgustingly optimistic?”
I smiled. “Because it’s the only thing that got me through when my father threw me out of the house. I had to be fucking Orphan Annie with the sun coming out tomorrow, or I’d be six feet under.”
“Oh, Bennie,” Theo muttered.
Before I could say I didn’t want his pity, a fish tugged on Theo’s line. “You got one.”
His eyes bulged. “I do?”
“Yeah, start reeling him in.”
Theo’s steely control faltered, and he gave me a pleading look. “Help me.”
With a reassuring smile, I replied, “Always.”
And together we reeled in an enormous striped bass. As I took the hook out of its mouth, I grinned. “I can’t believe you caught this on your first try.”
“It’s a curse being good at everything,” Theo teased.
I playfully rolled my eyes at him before depositing the fish into our second cooler. After placing both my hands on his face, I pronounced, “I’m so proud of you.”
“Seriously?”
“Damn straight.”
A mischievous look flashed in his eyes. “Can I have something for catching a fish?”
“Isn’t the thrill of victory enough?”
“Nope.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I warily asked, “What do you want?”
“A kiss.”
I grunted. “It’s never just a kiss with you.”
“It will be this time.” At my continued apprehension, he replied, “I swear.”
“Fine. But no tongue.”
With a playful roll of his eyes, Theo replied, “I feel like I’m back in middle school.”
“Please. You know you were a horndog in elementary school.”
Chuckling, Theo slid his arms around my waist, drawing me against him. After gripping the sides of my throat in his hands, he brought his lips tenderly to mine. True to his word, he didn’t try to broach my lips with his tongue. Instead of it being sex-starved it was reverent.
When I pulled away, I blinked at him in surprise. “That was amazing.”
“Once again, I’m good at everything.”
With a laugh, I replied, “Always with the ego.”
Theo stared earnestly at me. “Thanks for not giving up on me, Bennie. I know I’m a pain in the ass who will never deserve you. But I appreciate you giving me the chance.”
“Yes, you’re such a pain in the ass,” I mused to which Theo shot me a look. “But I’ll never give up on you, Theo. You mean too much to me and our foursome to ever do that.”
He brought his forehead to rest against mine. “I love you, Bennett.”
My heart skipped a beat at hearing those words without my usual nickname. “I love you, too.”
“Despite you bringing me fishing,” he teased.
“For your information, this was something meaningful to me.”
After explaining about my grandfather, Theo’s smile faded. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t give me the chance to tell you.”
With a jerk of his chin, he said, “All right let’s catch some more fish for tonight, and you can tell me all about your fishing trips with your grandfather.”
“Only if you promise to share something good from your childhood.”
He gave me a genuine smile. “Okay.”