“Well, now she knows about us knowing each other. It’s gonna come up, even if one of us stops dating her.”
“Just leave it for now. It’s a big enough shock for her as it is, I’m sure.”
They had come to some nonviolent truce, right there at the back bar in The Dark Hour’s hallowed halls.Sometimes, you meet a guy you become fast friends with and go to places like La Mariposa.Liam wasn’t bothered by that. Neither was Benson. Nor did it get weird when they started dating women together once they were back on the mainland. It made sense, really.We have the same tastes in women, the same weird kinks, all of it.Liam liked showing off, and Benson liked watching. Sparks flew whenever a lucky lady was in the room with them.
Without a lucky lady…
Well, that’s how you get epic falling outs that cause me to move across the country just to get away from this dick.
Liam regretted a lot about it. He hated how angry Drew had been – at both of them – even though she had been too young to understand what exactly happened. Sydney had been a terror thewholetime because she made it clear that she did not approve and didn’t like it being around Drew, even in the most innocent way.Just two guys getting weirdly domestic.As for Liam’s crew? They weren’t surprised, but he had been thirty. Most of his buddies wanted to party and didn’t understand why Liam chose to stay in to watch movies or go to the zoo on a Sunday afternoon because people special to him wanted to go.
“One memory I constantly have,” Liam said, “is when we went to Franklin Park in Boston. Drew hadn’t hit her last growth spurt yet, so I hoisted her up so she could see Anala the tiger over the crowd.”
“Shelovedtigers. Thought she would die when Luther passed.”
“I almost threw my back out doing that.”
“Better you than me. Ididthrow out my back the last time I attempted to pick her up. Ugh. I’m fucking old.”
“You don’t even have gray hairs. Shut up.”
Benson pointed to his scalp. “Yes, I do. You just can’t see them.”
“What? You dyeing?”
“Touch-ups twice a month.”
“You’re kidding, dude. I can’t tell at all.”
“Donottell her.”
“What? About your gender affirming care? I would never.”
“Don’t call it tha…” Benson sighed. “You’re messing with me.”
“Still as easy as it was five years ago. Come on.” Liam hopped off his stool. “Let’s go.”
“Where the hell do you think we’re going?”
Liam was only slightly impatient as a couple of drunken women stumbled toward the bar. Neither he nor Benson was in the mood to be around when the bartender cut them off. “To tell our woman what’s up.”
“Ourwoman?”
He left it at that.
Chapter 15
Eden
In a perfect world, Eden would have gotten all the answers she required when her boyfriends dropped by her place, one of them half drunk and the other pretending that everything was normal.
Instead, they gave her a lot of platitudes.“It’s fine. We’re fine. We’re over it. Sorry, Eden. We didn’t mean to make what was supposed to be fun so awkward for all of us. Please forgive us for how that went down. It’s probably for the best we all go home tonight. Call you tomorrow.”
They both shared similar sentiments, although Benson swayed so much where he stood that Eden neither believed he knew what he was saying, nor understood how he was getting home in one piece. Liam promised he’d see Benson home safely. He then had to explain that he knew where Benson lived already.
Something was going on there. Eden just had to figure it out – or squirrel it out of them.
To say she was pissed was an understatement. She said as much to Benson when he called her, hungover, the next afternoon. “You guys, but especially you, left me feeling so humiliated.” She didn’t have to worry about crying, because that wassofar from her mind when dressing down a man old enough to be her father. “I was standing there with my boobs out, thinking I was gonna get slammed and a half, and you just… walked out? Tossed money at me? Fuck you, Ben.”