Twenty-One Arya #3
It was surprisingly effective. One, the urge to hurl a kickball into Justin’s nose had rapidly diminished.
Two, Ben’s fingers were just… perfect. Elegant, strong, deft, slightly calloused in spots.
Arya pressed a kiss into them before he could stop himself.
Ben startled with a little smile and withdrew them. “Just, I don’t think anyone had ever broken up with him. He’d always done the breaking up in his past relationships. He’d never lost a job, never really got turned down for promotions or dates or car loans or whatever. I mean, you’ve seen him.”
“Basic-ass white guy,” Arya muttered.
“Exactly!” Ben chuckled. “I think it threw him for a loop when (a) I wasn’t cool with him fucking other people, and then (b) I broke up with him when he still wanted to.
Oh, and (c) didn’t take him back when he backpedaled!
I think he thought I’d just go along with it.
My parents adored him. And up until that, we’d had—at least, I thought we’d had—a good relationship. ”
“I’m sorry,” Arya said. “Want me to kick him off the team?”
Ben snorted. It was unselfconscious and really cute.
Cute?
Arya shook himself. Arya didn’t do cute. He fucked hot men. He didn’t cuddle with cute ones.
That didn’t stop him from making room when Ben swiveled to put his legs across Arya’s lap, though.
Focus!
“I’ll do it, you know. I don’t have any official powers as captain, but I’m pretty sure I could get the whole team on board. We could even egg his car on the way out.”
Ben chuckled. “Don’t. He deserves friends and community just as much as anyone does.”
Arya wasn’t so sure about that. But again, Ben was a kind person.
“Besides, if he’s not on the team, you’ll have way fewer chances to fuck with him so perfectly.”
It was Arya’s turn to chuckle. He had fucked with Justin pretty effectively tonight.
Ben sighed. “He’s not a bad guy. We had some good years. But he’s holding on to something that’s gone. At the end of the day, I’m a one-man guy, and it turns out that he isn’t. At least, he didn’t want to be.”
Arya bit his lip. His insides squirmed. “I mean, full disclosure, neither am I, but still…”
“You’re honest about it, though!” Ben said. “I mean, yeah, we got our wires crossed at the beginning, but you’re honest about who you are and what you want. You don’t guilt other people for not wanting the same as you. And you don’t pout when you don’t get your way.”
Well, Arya had that going for him, at least. He was less of an asshole than Justin.
He didn’t know why the comparison made him so upset. Or why he was so determined to upstage Justin anyway. Justin was nothing. Justin didn’t matter. Justin was just an inconvenience to them both. The Holbrooks, they were the prize.
Well, they were Arya’s prize. And for Ben? For Ben, his freedom was the prize.
Arya had to remember that. This was a deal. A transaction. For both of them.
Ben reached for Arya’s hands; Arya let Ben take his right, though he kept fidgeting with his cube in his left.
“Speaking of which… you were really nice, earlier. When I said I was a side.”
“Uh, thanks?” Arya furrowed his brow. “Was I not supposed to be?”
Ben shook his head. “No, just… not everyone is cool about it.”
“Well, those people are assholes. We’ve all got our preferences. I have mine; you have yours. It’s cool. I’m not gonna judge you or make you feel bad. Who the fuck does that?”
Arya was getting heated again. Justin. That’s who the fuck!
“Well… thanks.” Ben sighed. “This was fun.”
Arya grinned. “Yeah?”
“Really fun. I haven’t been with anyone since…” Ben trailed off. “Well. You. In the vineyard.”
“Same,” Arya sighed. “I don’t know why we thought those rules were a good idea. I mean, we can’t fuck each other, but we can’t fuck other people, either?”
Ben laughed. “Maybe we should… revise them?”
Arya’s breath caught. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying… I know it’s complicated, everything going on. We’re under a lot of pressure, and this was a… release. And maybe we could both use more regular… release.”
“Get it out of our systems,” Arya offered.
“Exactly.”
Arya nodded. That made sense. Pretending to be into Ben—like, really into him—was bound to confuse his body. Of course he’d reacted how he did. Of course they’d both lost their heads. “Yeah. Yeah! It’s a healthy release. And way safer than either of us looking elsewhere.”
“Exactly,” Ben said. “This way, there’s no danger of being caught. And we don’t have to be so…”
“Tense?”
“Yeah. Tense. Around each other. We can relax.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Arya tossed his fidget cube aside. “Okay. Rule number one is hereby officially abrogated.”
Ben blinked at him. “Abrogated?”
“Abrogated,” Arya said again. “Canceled. Nullified. Whatever. I deal with a lot of contracts for work, okay?”
“Okay. It’s a good word.”
“Good.” Arya cleared his throat. “Anyway. Rule number one: abrogated. But that makes rule number three even more important. Remember, no falling in love with me.”
Ben chuckled. “Don’t worry. But we have to add rule three-A. You can’t go falling in love with me, either.”
Arya rolled his eyes.
Like that would ever happen.